Bulgaria Shall Not Fall: Old Great Bulgaria TL

[Alpha_North]

Chapter One: An Oath of Sons

"Heed me, my sons, as when I am no longer here, you shall either lead our people to greatness or to despair." - Khan Kubrat in the 16th-century play Sons of Bulgaria

"The Bulgarian Oath" by Dobri Bozhilov​

Khan Kubrat of Great Bulgaria was approaching his dying years. The man was successful in revolting against the Avars thanks to Byzantine assistance and soon a confederation north of the Black Sea called Great Bulgaria would be formed and Kubrat would be considered a great leader. He became a major player in the Pontic steppe, many Byzantine historians would call him "chief of the Huns", and he would hold off against the Khazar danger to the east. Now, he was an old man. The Byzantine Emperor, Constans II, was preoccupied with things to the west and he feared his death would be capitalized on by his enemies. With great haste, it was said that Kubrat gathered his five sons: Batbayan, Kotrag, Asparukh, Kuber, and Alcek, having them swear an oath to "never shed blood on one another", with some sources saying that Kubrat would no longer be their father if the oath was broken. This whole oath thing had been speculated by historians to this day, but the event is recognized as Bulgarian history by many Bulgarians and gives an explanation to the unified cause of Kubrat's sons, which all historians agree was due to their father's words.

With Kubrat's death in 665 CE, his eldest son, Batbayan would become Khan of Great Bulgaria and he would soon be tested to see if he was a worthy leader. The Khazar Khagan would attempt to exploit the death of Kubrat to widen the Khazars' influence. While some sources claimed that the Khagan was by the name Khalga, Bulgarians would call the Khagan who faced Batbayan, Irbis, who's considered the founder of Khazaria. This debate would be largely concluded with Irbis being the Khagan who faced Batbayan after a text found in 1965 that bookmarked a battle between Batbayan and Irbis during the conflict, although this is a sole source and some claim that article was forged. [1] Batbayan would be successful in holding off the Khazars long enough for Byzantine assistance to arrive, culminating in the Battle of the Kuban River, where the combined Bulgar-Byzantine army routed the Khazars, cementing Bulgar rule in the Black Sea-Caspian Steppe around the 670s, forcing tribes like the Alans to submit, but couldn't do much to beat past the Caucasus, those tribes falling under Sassanid or Byzantine overlordship.

Batbayan would return the favor to the Byzantines in the Siege of Constantinople when Caliph Yazid I of the Umayyad Caliphate would lead a siege upon the Byzantine capital to deal a death blow to the Romans. While the Byzantines were preoccupied with the Muslims, Slavic tribes took advantage of the situation and began sieging Thessalonica, until the Bulgarian army led by Batbayan himself encountered them on their way to help at the Siege of Constantinople, running down these Slavic tribes. When Batbayan met with the city's citizens, who claimed the arrival of the Bulgars was the work of deceased Saint Demetrius. The story was cemented as the Bulgar arrival was written down in the second book of the Miracles of Saint Demetrius. Batbayan would, like his father, convert to Christianity, which enraged some, enough for one of Batbayan's brothers, Kotrag, would attempt to become Khan, but the other sons would unite against Kotrag and defeat him, being killed in battle. After that and all of Batbayan's achievements, the pagans of Bulgaria would not rise up against their Khan.

Monument to Batbayan on site of the Battle of the Kuban River​

He would soon force the Khazars to submit to his rule in his late reign, which they did, but that would be fairly much all he did. Some sources claim Batbayan fell in love with a Byzantine peasant woman and married her, embellished in Earl William de Pere's romantic play "Bezmer and Maria", where some barbarian warlord named Bezmer, the alternative name for Batbayan, falls in love with a Byzantine peasant woman and both become married and live together in his homeland until a thunderstrike kills Maria and Bezmer is assassinated by his brothers. Although "Bezmer and Maria" became very popular, all sources stated this romance did not happen and it's agreed upon that Batbayan would simply rule peacefully, or as peaceful as a nomad Khan can be, until his death on 688 CE.

The children of Batbayan were considered to be cursed by many. Some would die of disease, the rest in battle, one son was even killed on the way to Constantinople where the sailors mutinied and threw the son of the ship in bindings, drowning in the Black Sea. After this incident occurred, Batbayan supposedly to an oath of celibacy, while some historians claimed developed sterility after being exposed to some disease in one of his campaigns, the disease itself has been debated amongst scholars. Either way, with no offspring to be his heir, he would name his brother, Asparuh, as his heir before he passed. Naming Asparuh heir had surprised historians on why Batbayan would do so. Asparuh would be the sole brother be remain pagan after Kotrag's uprising, so it would seem that he should be the last choice.

"Asparuh" by Mihail Savov​

Some speculate that Asparuh was just a more capable leader and more trusted by the people, while Kuber and Alcek were less trusted, and engravings near Kuber's burial mounds reveal that Kuber and Alcek may have had a falling out. So it's assumed that if Batbayan would choose one of his Christian brothers, the other would vie to depose him, so he chose Asparuh, who was as nearly respected as Batbayan in their family. Asparuh would focus on building upon what his brother conquered. He would expand upon the capital of Great Bulgaria, Phanagoria, as well as setting up proper trade ports all the way down the Pontic steppe in the Black Sea, promoting more trade with the Byzantines. This work would greatly improve the Bulgar economy. His brothers would seem to lose relevance within Great Bulgaria, with their feud with one another and their adherence to Christianity leading them to have one of them killed, evidence leading for that to be Alcek. Kuber or Alcek would then have likely led a community of Bulgars located near where the Khazars would live, until their death in a battle fighting against the rowdy Khazars.

Asparuh would maintain the Bulgar-Byzantine alliance, with the Bulgars sending men to help subdue the Slavic tribes in the Balkans. However, this alliance would strain with Emperor Justinian II leading the Byzantines. Justinian often spoke of the Bulgars as if they were his tributaries and he refused to even visit Great Bulgaria, often sending representatives instead. It was even stated from Justinian II that he would "rather have his nose cut off then take one step into the Bulgar capital of Phanagoria". Asparuh had must distaste for the Emperor but maintained the alliance, knowing that the Byzantines were crucial in keeping the balance with the Avars and the Caliphate. The Ummayads had even had border scruffles with the Bulgars at the Caucasus. However, the balance would soon be threatened.

Illustration of Emperor Leotios's coinage

Coinage of Emperor Justinian II​

Justinian had all of the ambition of his father, without all the finesse. Emperor Justinian would foster many enemies during his reign and would soon be overthrown in 695 CE from a popular uprising led by the military governor of Hellas, Leontios, who proclaimed himself as Emperor, with Justinian having his nose cut off and be exiled to Crimea by Leontos. Justinian would, funnily enough, flee to Great Bulgaria and ask Khan Asparuh to help him restore him to his throne. Surprisingly, Asparuh agreed, only asking for the marriage between his heir, Tervel, and Justinian's daughter, Anastasia, which Justinian begrudgingly agreed to. After the marriage of his son to Justinian's daughter, Asparuh would march his army to Constantinople.

This journey of Constantinople was greatly recorded over by Byzantine chroniclers, which shed some light on the strong relationship between Asparuh and his heir, Tervel. The chroniclers would also go over the well-known Battle of Sofia. A Byzantine force led by Artemius would face the Bulgar host near the city of Sofia. It was said the Byzantine general would attempt to break the Bulgar force by setting up defenses and harassing them with Byzantine cavalry, in hopes to have Asparuh go all in and be defeated by the well-defended and better Byzantine infantry. Asparuh would respond by always cutting off the Byzantine cavalry's retreat with his own cavalry and forcing them to be enveloped. Soon, Artemius was forced to keep back his cavalry and soon Asparuh sent his son, Tervel, to lead a large contingent of his cavalry to circle all the way around and force the Byzantines to divert their cavalry away. Soon, Asparuh himself would lead his Bulgars and circled around the Byzantine defenses and slaughtered them from behind. Artemius would survive this encounter, fleeing with his remaining cavalry, but the Byzantine army defending Thrace was no more.

When Asparuh arrived at Constantinople, it couldn't have timed better as Byzantine troops led by Apsimar, who took on the regnal name Tiberius, was trying to depose Leontios. Both Tiberius and Leontios were unaware of Asparuh's harboring of Justinian II. Tiberius proposed the Khan join his siege, being promised lands in the Balkans be ceded to Great Bulgaria if he did so. Asparuh would agree to this deal, setting up camp with Tiberius's men. However, when night came and all the Byzantines slept, in what is called the "Night of Heavy Heads", the Bulgars slaughtered Tiberius's men as they slept, with Tiberius himself personally killed by Tervel. By morning, Asparuh had defeated Tiberius's army outside of Constantinople and would ask to meet Leontios in person. The foolish Emperor would do as the Bulgar asked and opened the gates to Constantinople, where the Bulgars soon overran the Byzantine capital, deposed Leontios, and placed Justinian II back on the throne.

"I have never seen such insolence from an Emperor that can only be beaten by the likes of Caligula." - Trajan the Patrician in the Chronicle of the Chaos in Constantinople​

Emperor Justinian II would thank Asparuh by demanding they leave Constantinople as quickly as possible, thinking that the Bulgars would be seen as the superior to Justinian if they remained in Constantinople. While Tervel, who came along with his father, was outraged by Justinian's response after they were practically kicked out, Asparuh refused to enact vengeance on the Byzantines and peacefully went back to Great Bulgaria. Some Byzantine courtiers feared that the Bulgars would return for blood, so to soften the diplomatic blow that Justinian made, they sent the Khan a golden statue of himself. The story goes that Asparuh melted down the statue to coins, then donated them all to the widows of the warriors that joined him to Constantinople. The kindness and mercy that Asparuh gave would have him be called Asparuh "The Good" by Byzantine chroniclers. It was said Asparuh died during a skirmish with a Khazar uprising in 699 CE. He would be succeeded by his son, Tervel. Unbeknownst to him, this new Khan of Great Bulgaria would prove pivotal in this stage of Byzantine history.

[1] When this Khazar-Bulgar conflict takes place is also where the ruler of the Khazars is largely disputed, the targets being the Khagans Khalga and Kaban, so I decided it was best to create an argument of my own in this timeline's distant future between historians and take some liberties.

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What's up! I've been out of the timeline-making game for a while now, so I'd thought the best way to slide back into it is to make a unique timeline! I had been looking around and I quickly found that there were no timelines of Old Great Bulgaria here. So, I decided to have an Old Great Bulgaria survival story, with the oath made by the sons being greatly inspired by the first image in this post. Anyways, I'd love to see some comments and thoughts below. Have a great day!