“Nomads and their Neighbors in the Middle Ages” is the topic of a conference organized by the Institute for Historical Studies at BAS and Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski “. The event was opened on 20 November in “Prof. Marin Drinov” Hall of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and is funded by the “Cultural Heritage, National Memory and Social Development” National Research Program.

More than 60 historians from 17 countries around the world will discuss topics from the medieval history of the Eurasian Steppe during plenary sessions to be held at Sofia University from 20 to 22 November.

Due to the history of our country, the topic of the steppe nomads is of exceptional interest not only to the academic circles but also to the Bulgarian society, says the congratulatory address read by the Vice-President of BAS corr.-mem. Vassil Nikolov. That is why this conference fully fits in with the traditions inherited from the founders of contemporary Bulgarian medieval studies which set the Black Sea steppes at the heart of Bulgarian statehood, he added.

The International Conference on medieval history of the Eurasian Steppe was organized for the first time in 2004 by the Department of Medieval Studies and the Department of Archaeology at Szeged University, Hungary, together with the Hungarian Medieval Studies Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Regional Committee. The conference in Sofia is the eighth in a row after successful forums in Hungary, Egypt, Russia and China.