The First Bulgarian Empire

In 632 the Bulgars, originally from Central Asia, formed under the leadership of Khan Kubrat an independent state that became known as Great Bulgaria. Its territory extended from the lower course of the Danube to the west, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea to the south, the Kuban River to the east, and the Donets River to the north.[1] Pressure from the Khazars led to the subjugation of Great Bulgaria in the second half of the 7th century. Kubrat’s successor, Khan Asparuh, migrated with some of the Bulgar tribes to the lower courses of the rivers Danube, Dniester and Dniepr (known as Ongal), and conquered Moesia and Scythia Minor (Dobrudzha) from the Byzantine Empire, expanding his new khanate further into the Balkan Peninsula.[2] A peace treaty with Byzantium in 681 and the establishment of the Bulgar capital of Pliska south of the Danube mark the beginning of the First Bulgarian Empire. At the same time one of Asparuh's brothers, Kuber, settled with another Bulgar group in present-day[update] Macedonia.[3]

Ruins of Pliska, capital of the First Bulgarian Empire from 680 to ca. 890

During the siege of Constantinople in 717–718 the Bulgarian ruler Khan Tervel honoured his treaty with the Byzantines by sending troops to help the populace of the imperial city. According to the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes, in the decisive battle the Bulgarians killed 22,000 Arabs, thereby eliminating the threat of a full-scale Arab invasion into Eastern and Central Europe.[4]

The influence and territorial expansion of Bulgaria increased further during the rule of Khan Krum,[5] who in 811 won a decisive victory against the Byzantine army led by Nicephorus I in the Battle of Pliska.[6]

In 864, Bulgaria under Boris I The Baptist accepted Eastern Orthodox Christianity.[7]

Bulgaria became a major European power in the ninth and the tenth centuries, while fighting with the Byzantine Empire for the control of the Balkans. This happened under the rule (852–889) of Boris I. During his reign, the Cyrillic alphabet developed in Preslav and Ohrid,[8] adapted from the Glagolitic alphabet invented by the monks Saints Cyril and Methodius.[9]

Baba Vida fortress in Vidin, built in the 10th century

The Cyrillic alphabet became the basis for further cultural development. Centuries later, this alphabet, along with the Old Bulgarian language, fostered the intellectual written language (lingua franca) for Eastern Europe, known as Church Slavonic. The greatest territorial extension of the Bulgarian Empire—covering most of the Balkans—occurred under Emperor Simeon I the Great, the first Bulgarian Tsar (Emperor), who ruled from 893 to 927.[10] The Battle of Anchialos (917), one of the bloodiest battles in the Middle ages.[11] marked one of Bulgaria's most decisive victories against the Byzantines.

However, Simeon's greatest achievement consisted of Bulgaria developing a rich, unique Christian Slavonic culture, which became an example for the other Slavonic peoples in Eastern Europe and also ensured the continued existence of the Bulgarian nation despite forces that threatened to tear it into pieces throughout its long and war-ridden history.

Bulgaria declined in the mid-tenth century, worn out by wars with Croatia, by frequent Serbian rebellions sponsored by Byzantine gold, and by disastrous Magyar and Pecheneg invasions.[12] Because of this, Bulgaria collapsed in the face of an assault of the Rus' in 969–971.[13]

The Bulgarian Empire ca. 893 in dark green, with territorial gains up to 927 in light green

The Byzantines then began campaigns to conquer Bulgaria. In 971, they seized the capital Preslav and captured Emperor Boris II.[14] Resistance continued under Tsar Samuil in the western Bulgarian lands for nearly half a century. The country managed to recover and defeated the Byzantines in several major battles, taking the control of the most of the Balkans and in 991 invaded the Serbian state.[15] But the Byzantines led by Basil II ("the Bulgar-Slayer") destroyed the Bulgarian state in 1018 after their victory at Kleidion.[16]

Notes

1. Zlatarski, pp. 146–153
2. Runciman, p. 26
3. Иван Микулчиќ, "Средновековни градови и тврдини во Македониjа", Скопjе, "Македонска цивилизациjа", 1996, стр. 29–33.
4. C. de Boor (ed), Theophanis chronographia, vol. 1. Leipzig: Teubner, 1883 (repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1963), 397, 25–30 (AM 6209)"φασί δε τινές ότι και ανθρώπους τεθνεώτας και την εαυτών κόπρον εις τα κλίβανα βάλλοντες και ζυμούντες ήσθιον. ενέσκηψε δε εις αυτούς και λοιμική νόσος και αναρίθμητα πλήθη εξ αυτών ώλεσεν. συνήψε δε προς αυτούς πόλεμον και τον των Βουλγάρων έθνος, και, ως φασίν οι ακριβώς επιστάμενοι, [ότι] κβ χιλάδας Αράβων κατέσφαξαν."
5. Runciman, p. 52
6. s:Chronographia/Chapter 61
7. Georgius Monachus Continuatus, loc. cit. [work not previously referenced], Logomete
8. Vita S. démentis
9. Barford, P. M. (2001). The Early Slavs. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press
10. Fine, The Early Medieval Balkans, pp. 144–148.
11. Bojidar Dimitrov: Bulgaria Illustrated History. BORIANA Publishing House 2002, ISBN 9545000449
12. Theophanes Continuatus, pp. 462—3, 480
13. Cedrenus: II, p. 383
14. Leo Diaconus, pp. 158–9
15. Шишић [Šišić], p. 331
16. Skylitzes, p. 457

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.