First Bulgarian Empire

As the state solidified its position in the Balkans, it entered into a centuries-long interaction, sometimes friendly and sometimes hostile, with the Byzantine Empire. Bulgaria emerged as Byzantium's chief antagonist to its north, resulting in several wars. The two powers also enjoyed periods of peace and alliance, most notably during the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, where the Bulgarian army broke the siege and destroyed the Arab army, thus preventing an Arab invasion of Southeastern Europe. Byzantium had a strong cultural influence on Bulgaria, which also led to the eventual adoption of Christianity in 864. After the disintegration of the Avar Khaganate, the country expanded its territory northwest to the Pannonian Plain. Later the Bulgarians confronted the advance of the Pechenegs and Cumans, and achieved a decisive victory over the Magyars, forcing them to establish themselves permanently in Pannonia.


The ruling Bulgars and other non-Slavic tribes in the empire gradually mixed and adopted the prevailing Slavic language, thus gradually forming the Bulgarian nation from the 7th to the 10th century. Since the 10th century, the demonym Bulgarian gained prevalence and became permanent designations for the local population, both in literature and in common parlance. The development of Old Church Slavonic literacy had the effect of preventing the assimilation of the South Slavs into neighbouring cultures, while stimulating the formation of a distinct Bulgarian identity.


After the adoption of Christianity, Bulgaria became the foremost cultural and spiritual centre of Slavic Europe. Its leading cultural position was further consolidated with the adoption of the Glagolitic alphabet, the invention of the Early Cyrillic alphabet shortly after in the capital Preslav, and the literature produced in Old Church Slavonic soon began spreading north. Old Church Slavonic became the lingua franca of much of Eastern Europe. In 927, the fully independent Bulgarian Patriarchate was officially recognized.


During the late 9th and early 10th centuries, Simeon I achieved a string of victories over the Byzantines. Thereafter, he was recognized with the title of Tsar (Caesar in Slavic), and proceeded to expand the state to its greatest extent. After the annihilation of the Byzantine army in the Battle of Anchialus in 917, the Bulgarians laid siege to Constantinople in 923 and 924. The siege failed however, and the Bulgars were forced to retreat. The bulgarians suffered a brutal invasion by Sviatoslav I^[12] Igorevich, the Grand-Prince of the Kievan Rus ^[13] between 967 and 969, that saw the empire vassalised to the Rus. Sviatoslav was killed in 972 however, seeing the empire able to briefly recover, but was unable to reclaim lost territories in Thrace, Romania and Southern Macedonia. Their old rivals, the Byzantines eventually recovered, and in 1014, under Basil II "the Bulgar Slayer", a crushing defeat was inflicted on the Bulgarians at the Battle of Kleidion. Basil famously ordered that every 100 of the captured 15,000 bulgarian prisoners be blinded, with the 100th soldier spared one eye to guide the rest back home, forcing their communities to care for them for the rest of their lives. By 1018, the last Bulgarian strongholds had surrendered to the Byzantine Empire, and the First Bulgarian Empire had ceased to exist. It was succeeded by the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1185.

Nomenclature[edit]

The First Bulgarian Empire became known simply as Bulgaria^[14] since its recognition by the Byzantine Empire in 681. Some historians use the terms Danube Bulgaria,^[15] First Bulgarian State,^[16][17] or First Bulgarian Tsardom (Empire).


Between 681 and 864 the country is also called by modern historians as the Bulgarian Khanate,^[18] or the Bulgar Khaganate,^[19] from the Turkic title of khan/khagan borne by its rulers. It is often further specified as the Danube Bulgarian Khanate, or Danube Bulgar Khanate^[20][21] in order to differentiate it from Volga Bulgaria, which emerged from another Bulgar group.


From the country's Christianization in 864 and the assumption of the imperial title by its rulers in 913, the country is also referred to as the Principality of Bulgaria. In English-language sources, the country is often known as the Bulgarian Empire.^[22]