First Bulgarian Empire
The
First Bulgarian Empire was founded in
681 AD in the lands near the
Danube delta and disintegrated in
1018 AD by annexion to the
Byzantine Empire. At the height of its power it spread between three seas - the
Black sea to the east, the
Egean to the south and the
Adriatic.
During the time of the late
Roman Empire, the lands of present-day Bulgaria had been organised in several provinces -
Scythia Minor,
Moesia (Upper and Lower),
Thrace,
Macedonia (First and Second),
Dacia (south of the Danube),
Dardania,
Rhodope and Hemimont, and had a mixed population of Romanised
Thracians and
Greeks. Several consecutive waves of
Slavic migration throughout the 6th and the early 7th century led to a dramatic change of the demographics of the region and its almost complete "Slavonisation".
Little is known about the origins of the Bulgars that reached the Balkan peninsula in the 7th century AD (according to some sources even earlier) because during the ages the original Bulgars melted into the local population of what is nowadays Bulgaria.
One theory is that the Bulgars originated in central Asia but their origin is not entirely clear. The established theory is that the Bulgars are related to the
Huns. Clues for this can be found in the advanced calendar and system of government of the early Bulgars.
However more recent studies in genetics have tried to show that the Bulgars were not directly linked to the Huns and the Bulgars originated from what is nowadays Eastern Ukraine. It is possible that Bulgarian rulers employed Huns and had close cultural relations with them but were very ethnically different.
It is assumed that the Bulgars were governed by hereditary
khans.The only similar title found so far is
kanasubigi and it was used by only three of the Bulgarian rulers, namely
Krum,
Omurtag and
Malamir, which were respectively a grandfather, son and a grandson and after them the title disappears. Other similar but non-kingly titles were attested among Bulgarian noble class and these are
kavkan (vicekan),
tarkan, and
boritarkan. Starting from there (if there was a vicekhan (kavkhan) so there was a khan, too) the scolars assume the title khan for the early Bulgarian leader. Later iscriptions speak of
archonts (a
Greek title) and
knyaze (a
Slavic title). There were several (probably more than 100) aristocratic families whose members, called
boila (boyars) who bore military titles and formed a governing class. The religion of the Bulgars is also obscure but it is supposed that it was
monotheistic, worshipping the Turkic Sky god
Tangra. There is only one mentioning of Tangra in the 8 century inscription near the
Madara Rider. All other sources simply talk about
Bog, the Slavic and
Aryan word for God. More confunsingly some Bulgar rulers, renowned for their persecution of Christians were depicted with Christian state symbols. There is a theory that Bulgars were
Arians (an early Christian sect).
The migration of Bulgars to the European continent started as early as the 2nd century AD when branches of Bulgars settled on the plains between the Caspian and the Black Sea. Between
351 and
389 AD, some of these crossed the
Caucasus and settled in
Armenia. They were eventually assimilated by the Armenians.
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Bulgar art: The Madara Rider (ca. 710 AD), large rock relief carved on the Madara Plateau east of Shumen, northeast Bulgaria. |
Swept by the Hunnish wave at the beginning of the 4th century AD, other numerous Bulgarian tribes broke loose from their settlements in central Asia to migrate to the fertile lands along the lower valleys of the
Donets and the
Don rivers and the
Azov seashore. Some of these remained for centuries in their new settlements, whereas others moved on with the Huns towards
Central Europe, settling in
Pannonia.
In the 6th and 7th century, the Bulgars formed an independent state, often called
Great Bulgaria, between the lower course of the
Danube to the west, the
Black and the
Azov Seas to the south, the
Kuban river to the east, and the Donets river to the north. The capital of the state was
Phanagoria, on the Azov.
The pressure from peoples further east (such as the
Khazars) led to the dissolution of
Great Bulgaria in the second half of the
7th century. One Bulgar tribe migrated to the confluence of the
Volga and
Kama Rivers in what is now the
Russian Federation (see
Volga Bulgaria). They converted to
Islam in the beginning in the 8th century and maintained an independent state until the 13th century. Smaller Bulgar tribes seceded in
Pannonia and in
Italy, northwest of
Naples, while other Bulgars sought refuge with the
Lombards. Another group of Bulgars remained in the land north of the Black and the Azov Seas. They were, however, soon subdued by the Khazars. These Bulgars converted to
Judaism in the 9th century, along with the Khazars, and were eventually assimilated.
Yet another Bulgar tribe, led by Khan
Asparuh, moved westward, occupying today's southern
Bessarabia. After a successful war with
Byzantium in
680 AD,
Asparuh's khanate conquered
Moesia and
Dobrudja and was recognised as an independent state under the subsequent treaty signed with the
Byzantine Empire in
681 AD. The same year is usually regarded as the year of the establishment of present-day
Bulgaria.
Another opinion is that
Great Bulgaria, although it suffered a major territory loss from the
Khazars, managed to defeat them in the early 70s of the
7th century. Khan
Asparuh, the successor of Khan
Kubrat, conquered
Moesia and
Dobrudja after a war with
Byzantine Empire in
680 AD. This war ended with signing a peace treaty in
681. Therefore the year of establishment of present-day
Bulgaria has to be considered
632, and not
681 AD.
Territorial expansion
Under the warrior Khan
Krum (
802-
814), also known as Crummus and Keanus Magnus, Bulgaria expanded northwest and southwards, occupying the lands between middle Danube and
Moldova, the whole territory of present-day
Romania,
Sofia in
809 and
Adrianople (modern
Edirne) in
813, and threatening
Constantinople itself. According to some late sources Khan Krum implemented law reform intending to reduce the poverty and to strengthen the social ties in his vastly enlarged state. During the reign of Khan Omurtag (814-831), the northwestern boundaries with the Frankish Empire were firmly settled along the middle Danube and magnificent palace, pagan temples, ruler's residence, fortress, citadel, water-main and bath were built in Bulgarian capital Pliska, mainly of stone and brick. Under Boris I the Bulgarians
became Christians, and the
Ecumenical Patriarch agreed to allow an autonomous Bulgarian Archbishop at
Pliska.
The Bulgars were greatly outnumbered by the Slav population among whom they had settled. Between the 7th and the 10th centuries, the Bulgars were gradually absorbed by the Slavs, adopting a
South Slav language and converting to
Christianity (of the Byzantine rite) under
Boris I in
864. At that time the process of absorption of the remnants of the old Romanised Thracian population from south of the
Danube had already been significant in the formation of this new
ethnos. Modern Bulgarians are normally considerred to be of
Southern Slavic origin, even though the Slavs were only one of the peoples that took part in the formation of their ethnicity.
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Ceramic icon of St. Theodor, Preslav, ca. 900 AD, National Archaelogical Museum, Sofia |
With the adoption of christianity the title khan changed to
kniaz (Slavonic for prince). Later on, Simeon I (the son of Boris) adopted the title
Tsar of Bulgaria, and ruler of the Bulgarian Empire.
Cultural development
Missionaries from Constantinople,
Cyril and
Methodius, devised the
Glagolitic alphabet, which was adopted in the Bulgarian Empire around
886. The alphabet and the
Old Bulgarian language gave rise to a rich literary and cultural activity centered around the
Preslav and
Ohrid Literary Schools, established by order of Boris I in 886. In the beginning of 10th century AD, a new alphabet - the
Cyrillic alphabet - was developed on the basis of Greek and Glagolitic cursive at the
Preslav Literary School. According to an alternative theory, the alphabet was devised at the Ohrid Literary School by Saint
Climent of Ohrid, a Bulgarian scholar and disciple of Cyril and Methodius. A pious monk and hermit
St Ivan of Rila (Ivan Rilski,
876-
946), became the patron saint of Bulgaria. After 893
Preslav became truly new and in many aspects authentic Bulgarian capital.
The "Golden Age"
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The First Bulgarian Empire's greatest territorial extent during the reign of Tsar Simeon |
By the late 9th and the beginning of the 10th century, Bulgaria extended to
Epirus and
Thessaly in the south,
Bosnia in the west and controlled the whole of present-day Romania and eastern Hungary to the north. A Serbian state came into existence as a dependency of the Bulgarian Empire. Under Tsar
Simeon I (Simeon the Great), who was educated in Constantinople, Bulgaria became again a serious threat to the Byzantine Empire. Simeon hoped to take Constantinople and make himself Emperor of both Bulgarians and Greeks, and fought a series of wars with the Byzantines through his long reign (
893-
927). The war boundary towards the end of his rule reached
Peloponnese in the south. Simeon proclaimed himself "
Tsar (Caesar) of the Bulgarians and the Greeks," a title which was recognised by the Pope, but not of course by the Byzantine Emperor.
After Simeon's death, however, Bulgarian power declined. Under
Peter I and
Boris II the country was divided by the egalitarian religious heresy of the
Bogomils, and distracted by wars with the
Hungarians to the north and the breakaway state of
Serbia to the west. In
972 Emperor
John Tsimisces was able to make eastern Bulgaria a Byzantine protectorate. The Bulgarians maintained an independent state for a time in the western part of the country, but in
1014 Emperor
Basil II defeated the armies of Tsar
Samuil at the
Balasita and massacred thousands, acquiring the title "Bulgar-slayer" (
Voulgaroktonos). He ordered 14,000 Bulgarian prisoners blinded and sent back to their country. At the sight of his returning armies Samuil suffered a heart attack and died. By
1018 the country had been mostly subjugated by the Byzantines.
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Bulgars*
Slavs*
Thracians*
Bulgarian Orthodox Church*
House of Comitopuli
