page_title: Bulgarian lands across the Danube
section_title: First Bulgarian Empire
hierarchical_section_title: Bulgarian lands across the Danube / First Bulgarian Empire
caption_attribution_description: Български: Структура на Първата българска държава през ІХ-Х век. English: Structure of the First Bulgarian Empire during the IX-X century. Основана на карта №2 "Схема за структурата на българската държава през IX-X в." в книгата "Политическа география на средновековната българска държава. Част I. От 681 до 1018 г.", Петър Коледаров, София, 1979 г., Издателство на Българска Академия на науките. [1]
context_page_description: In the Middle Ages the Bulgarian Empire controlled vast areas to the north of the river Danube from its establishment in 681 to its fragmentation in 1371-1422. These lands were called by contemporary Byzantine historians Bulgaria across the Danube, or Transdanubian Bulgaria. Original information for the centuries-old Bulgarian rule there is scarce as the archives of the Bulgarian rulers were destroyed and little is mentioned for this area in Byzantine or Hungarian manuscripts.
context_section_description: After the disintegration of Great Bulgaria following Khan Kubrat's death in 668 a large group of Bulgars followed the third son of the great Khan, Asparukh, who headed westwards. In the 670's they settled in the area known as the Ongal to the north of the Danube delta. From there Asparukh's cavalry in alliance with local Slavs annually attacked the Byzantine territories in the south. In 680 the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IV lead a large army to face the Bulgars but was defeated in the battle of Ongal and as a result the Byzantines were forced to acknowledge the formation of a new country, the First Bulgarian Empire. The northern border of the country followed the southern slopes of the Carpathian mountains from the Iron Gates and reached the Dneper river (or possibly just the Dniester river) to the east.
  The Bulgarian's main rivals in the area were the Avars to the west and the Khazars to the east. The latter were a serious threat: after they crushed the resistance of Kubrat's eldest son, Bayan they marched westwards. They waged a war against Asparukh who perished in battle fighting the invaders in 700.
  To protect their northern borders, the Bulgarians built several enormous ditches which ran throughout the whole length of the border from the Timok river to the Black Sea.
  In 803 Krum became Khan. The new energetic ruler pointed his attention to the north-west where Bulgaria's old enemies, the Avars experienced difficulties and setbacks against the Franks under Charlemagne. Between 804 and 806 the Bulgarian armies militarily annihilated the Avars and destroyed their state. Krum took the eastern parts of the former Avar Khaganate and took over rule of the local Slavic tribes. Bulgaria's territory extended twice from the middle Danube to the north of Budapest to the Dnester though possession of Transylvania is debatable.
  In 813 Khan Krum seized Odrin and plundered the whole of Eastern Thrace. He took 50,000 captivities who were settled in Bulgaria across the Danube.
  During the First Bulgarian Empire, the Balkan–Danubian culture developed in the 8th century and flourished until the 11th century. It represents an early medieval archaeological culture which emerged in the region of the Lower Danube. In Romania it is called Dridu culture while in Bulgaria it is usually referred to as Pliska-Preslav culture.
caption: First Bulgarian Empire, late 9th century (894)
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