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The 'First Bulgarian Empire' was a medieval Bulgarian state founded in AD 681 in the lands near the Danube Delta and disintegrated in AD 1018 after its annexation to the Byzantine Empire. At the height of its power it spread between Budapest and the Black Sea and from the Dnieper river in modern Ukraine to the Adriatic. It was succeeded by the Second Bulgarian Empire, established in 1185. The official name of the country since its very foundation was 'Bulgaria'. ^[1]

Contents

Background

The Bulgars

Establishment of the Bulgarian state

Establishing a firm foothold in the Balkans

Internal instability and struggle for survival

Territorial expansion

Merger of Bulgars and Slavs

Bulgaria under Boris I

Christianization

Creation of the Slavic writing

The "Golden Age"

Decline

Cultural development

Footnotes

References

See also

Background

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 Getae and Hellenised Thracians. Several consecutive waves of Slavic migration throughout the 6th and the early 7th century led to the almost complete slavicisation of the region.

The Bulgars

Main articles: Bulgars

Little is known about the origins of the Bulgars that reached the Balkan peninsula in the 7th century (according to some sources even earlier) because during the ages the original Bulgars melted into the local population of what is nowadays Bulgaria.
The established theory is that the Bulgars are related to the Huns and originated in Central Asia but their ethnicity is not entirely clear. Clues for this can be found in the advanced calendar and system of government of the early Bulgars.
Nevertheless the so called "Hun theory" is still vehemently supported by some historians who base their thesis on a lot of existing documents and sources. In Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans, a late copy of an ancient document, is written that the first ruler of the Bulgars was Avitohol and the second Irnik. Irnik or Ernakh is the name of Attila's youngest son therefore some historians believe that Avitohol was no other than Attila the Hun.

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 four of the Bulgarian rulers, namely Krum, Omurtag, Malamir and Presian, which were respectively a grandfather, son, grandson and a nephew of Malamir, and after them the title disappears. Other similar but non-kingly titles were attested among Bulgarian noble class and these are ''kavkan'' (vicekhan), ''tarkan'', and ''boritarkan''. Starting from there (if there was a vicekhan (kavkhan) so there was a khan, too) the scholars 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). On the top of that, early Bulgar sacred places featured the plan of two concentric squares, typical to Zoroastrian temples. ^[3]
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 AD 351 and 389, some of these crossed the Caucasus and settled in Armenia. They were eventually assimilated by the Armenians.
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 Russia (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.

Establishment of the Bulgarian state

There are two different dates for the year of establishment of present-day Bulgaria, based upon two different interpretations of history.
Yet another Bulgar tribe, led by Khan Asparuh, moved westward, occupying today’s southern Bessarabia. After a successful war with Byzantium in AD 680, Asparuh’s khanate conquered Moesia and Dobrudja ^[4],^[5] and was recognised as an independent state under the subsequent treaty signed with the Byzantine Empire in AD 681. The same year is usually regarded as the year of the establishment of present-day Bulgaria.
Another theory is that Great Bulgaria, although it suffered a major territory loss from the Khazars, managed to defeat them in the early 670s. Khan Asparuh, the successor of Khan Kubrat, conquered Moesia and Dobrudja after the war with the Byzantine Empire in AD 680. This war ended with a peace treaty in 681. Therefore, according to some researchers, the year of establishment of present-day Bulgaria has to be considered 632, and not AD 681.

Establishing a firm foothold in the Balkans

After the decisive victory at Ongala in 680 the armies of the Bulgars and Slavs advanced to the south of the Balkan mountains, defeating again the Byzantines and in the next year they were forced to sign a humiliating peace treaty which acknowledged the establishment of a new state in the borders of the Empire. They were also to pay an annual tribute to Bulgaria. In the same time the war with the Khazars to the east continued and in 700 Asparough perished in battle with them. The Bulgars lost the territories to the east of the Dnester river but managed to hold the lands to the west. The Bulgars and the Slavs signed a treaty according to which the head of the state became the Khan of the Bulgars who had also the obligation to defent the country against the Byzantine, while the Slavic leaders gained considerable autonomy and had to protect the northern borders along the Carpathian mountains against the Avars.^[5]
Asparough's successor, Tervel helped the deposed Byzantine Emperor Justinian II to regain his throne in 705. In return he was given the area ''Zagore'' in northern Thrace which was the first expansion of the country to the south of the Balkan mountains. However, three years later Justinian tried to take it back by force but his army was defeated at Anchialus. In 716 Tervel signed a trade agreement with Byzantium. During the siege of Constantinople in 717-718 he sent 50,000 troops to help the besieged city. In the decisive battle the Bulgarians massacred around 30,000 Arabs^[7] and Tervel was called ''The saviour of Europe'' by his contemporaries.

Internal instability and struggle for survival

In 753 died Khan Sevar who was the last scion of the Dulo clan. With his death the Khanate fell into a long political crisis during which the young country was on the verge of destruction. For just 15 years ruled 7 Khans who were all murdered. There were two main fractions; some nobles wanted uncompromising war against the Byzantines while others searched for a peaceful settlement of the conflict. That instability was used by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine V (745-775) who launched nine major campaigns aiming at the elimination of Bulgaria. In 763 he defeated the Bulgarian Khan Telets at Anchialus^[8][9] but the Byzantines were unable to advance further north. In 775 Khan Telerig, by tricking Constantine to reveal those loyal to him in the Bulgarian Court, executed all the Byzantine spies in the capital Pliska.^[10] Under his successor Kardam, the war took a favourable turn after the great victory in the battle of Marcelae^[11] in 792. The Byzantines were thoroughly defeated and forced once again to pay tribute to the Khans. As a result of the victory, the crisis was finally overwhelmed and Bulgaria enterred the new century stable, stronfer and consolidated.

Territorial expansion

Under the great Khan Krum (803-814), 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 Odrin) in 813, and threatening Constantinople itself. Between 804 and 806 the Bulgarian armies thouroughly eliminated the Avar Khanate and a border with the Frankish Empire was established along the middle Danube. In 811 a large Byzantine army was decisively defeated in the battle of the Varbitsa Pass.^[12] The Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus I was slain along with most of his troops. Krum immediatelly took the initiative and moved the war towards Thrace, defeating the Byzantines once more at Versinikia^[13] in 813. After a treacherous Byzantine attempt to kill the Khan during negotiations, Krum pillaged the whole of Thrace, seized Odrin and resettled its 10,000 inhabitants in "Bulgaria across the Danube"^[14]. He made enhanced preparation to capture Constantinople: 5,000 iron-plated waggons were built to carry the siege equipment^[15], the Byzantines even pled the Frannkish Emperor Louis the Pious for help.^[16] Due the sudden death of the great Khan, however, the campaign was never launched. 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 by the 827 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.
During the short reign of Malamir (831-836) the important city of Plovdiv was incorporated into the country. Under Khan Presian (836-852), the Bulgarians took most of Macedonia and the borders of the country reached the Adriatic and Aegean Seas. The Byzantine historians do not mention any resistance against the Bulgarian expansion in Macedonia which bring the conclusion that it was largely peaceful.^[17]

Merger of Bulgars and Slavs

It is assumed that 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 Bulgaro-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 ethnic group. Modern Bulgarians are normally considered 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.
Some recent studies suggest that the Bulgars were much more numerous than originally thought.This theory is getting more support amongst new Bulgarian historians.

Bulgaria under Boris I

The reign of Boris I (852-889) began with numerous setbacks. For ten years the country fought against the Byzantine and Eastern Frankish Empires, Great Moravia, the Croats and the Serbs forming several unsuccessful alliances and changing sides. In August 863 there was a period of 40 days of earthquakes and there was a lean year which caused famine throughout the country. To cap it all there was an incursion of locusts.

Christianization

In 864 the Byzantines under Michael III invaded Bulgaria while the Bulgarian army fought to the north. Upon the new of the invasion, Boris I started negotiations for peace.^[18] The Byzantines returned some lands in Macedonia and their only demand was Bulgaria to accept Christianity from Constantinople. Khan Boris agreed to that term and was baptised in September 865 assumeing the name of his godfather Michael.^[19] The pagan title "Khan" was abolished and the title "Knyaz" assumed on its place. The reason for the conversion, however, was not the Byzantine invasion. The Bulgarian ruler was indeed a man of vision he knew that his state was not respected in Christian Europe; its treaties could have been canceled and the country invaded at any time. Also he wanted to further consolidate the emerging Bulgarian nation which was still divided on a religious basis.

Creation of the Slavic writing

The "Golden Age"

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 the Peloponnese in the south. Simeon proclaimed himself "Tsar of the Bulgarians and the Greeks," a title which was recognised by the Pope, but not of course by the Byzantine Emperor nor the The Ecumenical Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Decline

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 968 the country was attacked by Kievan Rus, whose leader, Svyatoslav I, took Preslav and established his capital at Preslavets. Three years later, Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes interfered into the struggle and defeated Svyatoslav at Dorostolon. After that, Boris II was solemnly dethroned at Constantinople and eastern Bulgaria was proclaimed a Byzantine protectorate.
The Bulgarians maintained an independent state for a time in the western part of the country ("Ohrid Empire"), but in 1014 Emperor Basil II defeated the armies of Tsar Samuil in the Battle of Belasitsa 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.

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 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 Clement 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.

Footnotes

1. П. Хр. Петров, Към въпроса за образуването на първата българска държава, Славянска филология, V, София, 1963, стр. 89—112
2. Andras Rona-Tas. Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages. Central European University Press, 1999. Page 217.
3. Brentjes B. On the Prototype of the Proto-Bulgarian Temples at Pliska, Preslav and Madara
4. Theophanes, ibid., р. 358
5. Theophanes, ibid., p. 359
6. Theophanes, ibid., p. 359
7. Theophanes, ibid., p. 397
8. Nicephorus, ibid., p. 69
9. Theophanes, ibid., p. 433
10. Theophanes, ibid., р. 447-448
11. Theophanes, ibid., p. 467
12. Theophanes, ibid. , р. 492
13. Scriptor incertus, ibid., p. 337-339
14. Scriptor incer., ibid., p. 346-347
15. Scriptor incert., ibid., p. 347-348
16. Annales Laurissenses minores, s. an. 814
17. Const. Porphyr., De admin. imp., ed. Bon., p. 154—155
18. Georgius Monachus Continuatus, p. 824
19. Georgius Monachus Continuatus, loa cit., Logomete
20. Map of late 9th century eastern central Europe

References

★ История на българската държава през средните векове. Том I., История на Първото българско царство. Част I. Епоха на хуно-българското надмощие (679—852), София 1918

★ История на българската държава през средните векове. Том I. История на Първото българско царство. Част II. От славянизацията на държавата до падането на Първото царство (852—1018), София 1927

★ Електронна издание – История на България, , Георги, Бакалов, Труд, Сирма, 2003, ISBN 9844830679

★ Български хроники, , Стефан, Цанев, Труд, Жанет 45, 2006, ISBN 954-528-610-5

★ История и цивилизация за 11. клас, , Петър, Делев, Труд, Сирма, 2006,

★ Българите и България, , , , Министерство на външните работи на България, Труд, Сирма, 2005,

★ The Early Medieval Balkans, , John V.A., Fine, Jr., University of Michigan Press, 1991, ISBN 978-0472081493

See also

★ Bulgars

★ Slavs

★ Thracians

★ Bulgarian Orthodox Church

★ House of Comitopuli

★ Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars