Archaeologists from Shumen have found well preserved tomb from the Khan’s period in Bulgaria after excavations at the ” Chair Dere ” area, near the Shumen’s quarter ” Makak ” has told the director of the Historical Museum Dechko Lechev. That finds for now are showing that at the mound has been buried supreme dignitary from the period 7-9th century. At the grave are found head of horse, stirrups, rein, part of human skeleton and fully preserved earthen vessel. There is quite good chance this find to be found as Khan’s obsequies, which should be sensational , because this is going to be the first ever found Khan’s obsequies in Bulgaria,adds Dechko Lechev. He indicates that at Khan’s Bulgaria only the superior dignitaries and Khans have been buried along with their horses. The archaeological expedition, managed by director of the studies Rasho Rashev is working up on the sepulchre. At the area there are four more tombs, that are expecting excavations.

The victory of the Bulgarians over the Avars also marked the triumph of the ideas of sobriety. According to the chronicles, Krum, filled with apprehension, asked the defeated what they thought was the reason for their downfall. Their answer was that their state had declined because of lies, theft, and drunkenness. Krum introduced severe laws in order to avoid this very end. Legislation provided terrible punishment for criminals, and vineyards were uprooted so their fruit could not be made into enticing juice. judging by subsequent information, as with later reformations of this type, the restrictions were met only with the insatiable thirst for wine and fell through soon after.While the emperor inspected his farthest eastern borders, Krum took the chance, invaded the empire, and took the city of Serdica in 809. Centuries later it was to become the capital of the state under the name of Sofia. The conquest was accompanied with the then customary plunder and atrocities, which did not surprise anyone. The valley of the river Strouma also became part of the Bulgarian state.
Continue reading The Rise of the First Bulgarian Kingdom part I

The Bulgarians found themselves on the Balkans at times that were difficult for Byzantium. Inspired by Islam, Arabs had begun the persistent onslaught from the east that was to continue for three centuries and at times bring the empire to the brink of ruin. The state borders so dear to the heart of contemporary man were practically nonexistent. The garrisons along the border were weak and could not stop invaders. There was a niche in power, which the Bulgarians were quick to fill. They began a series of pillaging attacks to the south. And what was more disconcerting from the point of view of Constantinople, the newcomers began to ally themselves with the Slavs on the time-honoured principle that the enemy of one’s enemy is one’s friend.

Emperor Constantine IV Pogonates decided to follow the example of Alexander the Great and cut through the Gordian knot of increasingly complex problems with one blow. He loaded a large army on ships, sent another by land, and besieged the Bulgarians in their fortified camp. The adversary, however, was experienced in making fortifications. The siege dragged on. There were also numerous Bulgarian parties in the steppe, which attacked the Byzantines from the rear.
Continue reading The Establishment of Danubian Bulgaria

The edifice of the state fell after Kubrat’s death and the Bulgarians followed a tradition they had kept from time immemorial. They split into several large groups and sought deliverance and happiness elsewhere.

A large portion of the Bulgarians, led by the youngest son of Kubrat, Asparuh /or Ispor/, headed west along the familiar route to Europe. They settled in the so-called Ongul, in the delta of the Danube. There they encountered both Slavs and Byzantines.

The culture of the Bulgarians was quite different from that of the Slavs and on a higher level in many respects. They had long left behind familial community relations. Their traditions in statehood were impressive. They had been making attempts to establish a stable state structure for hundreds of years. They had both familial hereditary aristocracy, and an administrative apparatus. They were proud of their past. They drew up genealogical lists of their rulers, which went back to time immemorial.
Continue reading An Ancient Horseman Clad In Iron part II

Khan Boris {or Bars} ascended the throne in 852, he was Presiyan’s son. Boris I was not an outstanding military commander. He often suffered defeat but the state’s borders remained unchanged. Boris I was a skillful diplomat. But his greatest act of diplomacy was a domestic one. Boris was surrounded by Christians, Christians everywhere! To the west of him, the Pope, to the east - the Byzantine Patriarch. Bulgaria was a pagan island in an ocean of Christianity.

When Boris inherited the throne from his father, Bulgaria’s territorial, military, and political potential had made it one of the largest states in Europe. Bulgaria’s approximate frontiers were the Dnieper River in the northeast, the Carpathian Mountains in the north, the Tisa {Tisza} River in the northwest, the Adriatic Sea in the west, and the Tomorr {Tomor}, Belasica, Pirin, Rhodope, and Strandzha mountains in the south. Many Slavic tribes lived within the boundaries of the state, together with the Thracians {Vlachs}, and the Bulgars. All of them had different religions, ethnicities, and languages.
Continue reading Tsar Boris the ruler who Christianised Bulgaria and enlarged it greatly

Khan Malamir was the youngest son of Omurtag and ruled between 831 and 836. He maintained the peace with Byzantine and continued the persecution of Christians. Khan Presiyan succeeded his uncle Malamir to the throne, his right-hand man was the old Kav-Khan Isbul who had been the indispensable aide of his grandfather Omurtag. Perssian put an end to the peace with the Roman empire. The Slavic tribes within the empire were rebelling and their chiefs were looking north to Bulgaria where they could find protection together with other Slavs. Now that tells you how successful the policy of the Bulgar ruling elite was and how good relations were between the Slavs and Bulgars, even Slavs outside Bulgaria rebelled just to get to join Bulgaria!

As soon an he ascended the throne in 837, Presiyan sent his army under the command of Kav-Khan Isbul to the Aegean coast of Macedonia. There, they aided the Smolyans, whose revolt had shaken Byzantine rule in the Western Rhodopes and Aegean Thrace. When the emperor sent an army against the rebels, his forces were met by the Kav-Khan-led Bulgarian army. Inscriptions on stone plates tell of fierce battles at Philippi and Siar, the elation of the victories reflected in the engraved words: “Presiyan, through the will of God ruler of many Bulgarians…
Continue reading Khan Presiyan the successor of Khan Malamir