Omurtag of Bulgaria
Omurtag | |
---|---|
Krum |
Omurtag (or Omortag) also known as Murtag or Murtagon (
from 814 to 831. He is known as "the Builder".In the very beginning of his reign he signed a
Rise to the throne
After the death of Khan
Foreign policy
First years of Omurtag
After the abrupt death of Khan Krum there were many Bulgarian troops in
Besides that assault the Byzantines took other precautions against the Bulgarians. In the beginning of 814 they sent emissaries to the
- the border in Thrace. It began on the Rhodope mountains but without including Plovdivwithin Bulgaria's borders.
- the issue with the Slavs which remained in Byzantium. The Bulgarians proposed to exchange the Byzantine captives for the Slavic population of Thrace.
- the exchange of the other prisoners of war.
The two rulers had sworn to uphold the conditions of the treaty by each other's rites, which scandalized the Byzantine court. The treaty was very favourable for Bulgaria because the country needed peace. The army was exhausted, the capital Pliska was still in ruins after the
Relations with the Frankish Empire
In 818 the Slavic tribes of the Timočani, Abodrites, and Braničevci (who inhabited the lands along the middle Danube, former Avar domains) rebelled against the increasingly centralized Bulgarian suzerainty in the west and sought the support of the Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious. Between 824 and 826 Omurtag approached the Frankish court with an attempt to seek a diplomatic resolution of the problem. Failing to gain Frankish co-operation, Omurtag issued an ultimatum in 826 and in 827 sent a fleet along the Danube and the Drava, which restored Bulgarian control over portions of southeastern Pannonia. The Franks were defeated in several minor fights. The Bulgarian victory was to a large extent because the Franks did not have claims for Bulgarian territories. After that short-term conflict the relations between the two countries improved and Omurtag replaced the local Slavic chiefs with his deputies. Similar events took place again in 829 with the same result. Those events were described in a memorial inscription for the zera-tarkhan Onegavon who drowned in the Tisza river. Furthermore, there was a large buffer zone between the Danube and the Tisza called Kazárország (inhabited by certain "Cozar" people) which separated the two states. The problems in that case were the attempts of several Slavic tribes to gain more autonomy which was at variance to the Bulgarian policy of centralization and incorporation of the Slavs.
Another memorial inscription, for kopan Okorsis who drowned in the
Internal policy
The long peace was a favourable time for an active internal policy for the further consolidation of the forming Bulgarian Nation, removal of many internal threats to improve stability, and intensive building.
Administration
After the unsuccessful attempts of several
Building activity
...Even if a man lives well, he dies and another one comes into existence. Let the one who comes later upon seeing this inscription remember the one who had made it. And the name is Omurtag, Kanasubigi.
— fromOmurtag's Tarnovo Inscription
At home Omurtag undertook large-scale construction, intended to both restore his capital
Persecution of the Christians
Omurtag pursued a policy of repression against Christians, particularly the Byzantine prisoners of war settled by his father Krum in Bulgaria (mostly north of the Danube). The Menologion of Basil II glorifies Emperor Basil II, showing him as a warrior defending Orthodox Christendom against the Bulgarian Empire, whose attacks on Christians are graphically illustrated. Even figures like the archangels were depicted in military guise by the painters. The persecution may have been motivated in part by the Byzantine invasion of 811 or with the beginning of Christian proselytizing by members of the substantial captive population. In connection with these policies, Omurtag disinherited his eldest son Enravota (Voin or Boyan), who had shown himself sympathetic to Christianity. Inferences about Omurtag's policy towards the Slavs based on his naming Slavic tribes among his enemies in one inscription or on the alleged Slavic names of his three sons are overly speculative.
The 17th century Volga Bulgar compilation
Honour
Omurtag Pass on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Omurtag of Bulgaria.
See also
References
- Jordan Andreev, Ivan Lazarov, Plamen Pavlov, Koj koj e v srednovekovna Bălgarija, Sofia 1999.
- ISBN 0-472-08149-7.
- (primary source), Bahši Iman, Džagfar Tarihy, vol. III, Orenburg 1997.
Footnotes
- ^ Theophanes Continuatus, p.64 and George Kedrenos
- ^ a b "Inscriptions of Madara", Inscription No.64. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ Търновски надпис на кан Омуртаг Archived 2011-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Beshevliev.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - ^ B. Golden, Peter (1992). An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples: Ethnogenesis and State-Formation in Medieval and Early Modern Eurasia and the Middle East. p. 251.
- JSTOR 44168150.
- ^ Johanson, Lars; Csató, Éva Á. The Turkic Languages. Routledge. pp. Last page of chapter 9, West Old Turkic.
- ISBN 978-90-04-07109-4.