Khan Asparuh - the first ruler of the united Bulgarian kingdom. Rarely in any Bulgarian city there is no street or square named after him. His story is a good example of how a common misfortune united different tribes and made people the people of one state.
Early Biography
The third son of the leader of a small Onogondurian tribe could not expect great favors from his parent. After the death of his father, Khan Kubrat, the entire Bulgarian people was divided between his sons into five parts. The third son inherited power over part of the Bulgarian horde, and was forced to constantly defend his people from the nomads. The division of the Bulgarian Khanate made this people easy prey for the fast and cruel Khazars, and in order to avoid bloody battles, Khan Asparukh led his tribe far beyond the Dnieper.
Khan Asparukh was well aware that his manpower would not be enough to become an independent and strong people. Therefore, he began to seek support from neighboring tribes. In those distant times, the neighbors of the Bulgarians were Slavs (Smolen, North, Draguvites) and Thracians (Serbs, Astis, Mysians, Odryssians). It was these peoples who founded the first Bulgarian kingdom. Mixed with the Turkic tribes of the Bulgarians, they gave rise to a singleBulgarian people.
Clash with the Byzantines
Rich southern Byzantium has always been a tasty morsel for neighboring tribes. The Scythians and Russians went on campaigns against it, and the Bulgarians ventured into this risky business in 680. A year later, after the Bulgarians seized the vast possessions between the Danube River and the Stara Planina mountain range, the emperor went to the world.
Foreseeing further unsuccessful attempts to fight off the Bulgarians, Constantine VI was forced to make peace with the Bulgarians and pay them an annual tribute. The agreement also provided for the delimitation of the borders of Byzantium and the Bulgarian Kingdom - so Byzantium became the first country to document the existence of the country of the Bulgarians.
First Capital
The ancient fortification of Pliska became the first capital of the Bulgarian kingdom. The city was in the center of the new state and was well fortified. Until now, the remains of stone walls, arches and barrier ramparts, with which Pliska met uninvited guests, have been preserved. After all, the First Bulgarian Kingdom expanded and strengthened its borders through regular aggressive raids, typical of the Turkic peoples. Therefore, any city in those days was obliged to be a well-protected and fortified center of the Bulgarian kingdom.
In his first years of rule, the ruler of the Bulgarians solves several important tasks of the domestic and foreign policy of the young state. It regulates relations with the tribes of the Slavs. Forcing them to move away from the center of the Bulgarian kingdom to the south and west - in order to protect the bordersnew country. This decision was not made in vain - the main ill-wishers of the Bulgarians remained the Slavic tribes, who saw in the new country another source of possible production. The border settlements of Slavic tribes friendly to the Bulgarians were supposed to reduce the threat of invasion.
Khan undertakes new campaigns and strengthens the established borders. Through his efforts, the old fortress of Drastur, built by the ancient Romans, was restored. There are also traces of an earthen rampart with which Khan Asparuh strengthened his southern borders - they can be traced near modern Constanta and in the village of Chrna voda on the Danube.
Khan's further successes only cemented his reputation as a serious military leader and a good ruler. He entered into battle with more powerful opponents - Byzantium, the Khazar Khaganate and the Avar Khanate, and each of these countries was defeated twice. By the beginning of the 8th century A. D. e. The Bulgarian kingdom was one of the most powerful states of that time.
Death of Khan
The leader of the Bolgars fell in an unequal fight in the battle against the Khazars. It happened around 701. It is possible that the vanguard detachment of the khan, which included the most noble and close people to him, was ambushed. Khan Asparuh died, as befits a ruler and a warrior - with weapons in his hands.
The grave of the first Bulgarian king was discovered in Zaporozhye. In 2007, the remains of the leader were solemnly reburied in the city of Veliko Tarnovo, which is the spiritual center of Bulgaria. On his grave there is an inscription carved by Old Bulgarianletters, - "Khan Asparuh". The biography of the ruler was over - so the ancient khan returned to the country he created.
