WAldimir or Eltimir (Елтимир) was a Bulgarian noble of the 13th–14th century. A member of the Terter dynasty and a younger brother of Tsar George I Terter, Aldimir was an influential local ruler as the despot of Kran. Aldimir rose to that position under his brother George, though as Smilets assumed the throne he was forced into exile. At the turn of the 14th century, Aldimir returned to Bulgaria as an ally of the regent widowed consort Smiltsena. He did not oppose the accession of his nephew Theodore Svetoslav and even assisted him in ousting his contenders. However, he was promptly eliminated by Theodore Svetoslav when he betrayed him to ally with the Byzantines.
WAlexius Slav was a Bulgarian nobleman (bolyarin), a member of the Bulgarian Asen dynasty, a nephew of the first three Asen brothers. He was first probably the governor of the Rhodopes domain of the Second Bulgarian Empire, and then an autocrat in these lands.
WAlusian was a Bulgarian and Byzantine noble who ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria for a short time in 1041.
WAsparuh was а ruler of Bulgars in the second half of the 7th century and is credited with the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681.
WBoris I, also known as Boris-Mihail (Michael) and Bogoris, was the ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire in 852–889. At the time of his baptism in 864, Boris was named Michael after his godfather, Emperor Michael III. The historian Steven Runciman called him one of the greatest persons in history.
WGavril Radomir was the emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from October 1014 to August or September 1015. He was the son of tsar Samuel.
WMichael Asen III, ruled as tsar of Bulgaria from 1323 to 1330. The exact year of his birth is unknown but it was between 1280 and 1292. He was the founder of the last ruling dynasty of the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Shishman dynasty. After he was crowned, however, Michael used the name Asen to emphasize his connection with the Asen dynasty, the first one to rule over the Second Empire.
WKhan Tervel also called Tarvel, or Terval, or Terbelis in some Byzantine sources, was the khan of Bulgaria during the First Bulgarian Empire at the beginning of the 8th century. In 705 Emperor Justinian II named him caesar, the first foreigner to receive this title. He was raised a pagan like his grandfather Khan Kubrat. but was later possibly baptised by the Byzantine clergy. Tervel played an important role in defeating the Arabs during the Siege of Constantinople in 717–718.
WTheodore Svetoslav ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from 1300 to 1322. The date of his birth is unknown. He was a wise and capable ruler who brought stability and relative prosperity to the Bulgarian Empire after two decades of constant Mongol intervention in the internal issues of the Empire. Theodore Svetoslav's reign began with the return of Southern Bessarabia to Bulgaria and a few years later he managed to defeat the Byzantines and retake most of northern Thrace occupied by them during the crisis. After 1307 he led a peaceful policy towards all neighbours, which resulted in expanded trade and economy.
WDobromir, known to the Byzantines as Chrysos, was a leader of the Vlachs and Bulgarian Slavs in eastern Macedonia during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos. According to Niketas Choniates, Dobromir-Chrysus was, despite his Slavic name, a "Vlach" by birth. However, most probably he was of mixed Slavic - Vlach origins. Due to the complexity of pre-nationalist ethnic labels, references to modern ethnic groups in the Middle ages are obscure. He became prominent in 1197 and is last heard of in 1202.
WPetar II Delyan was the leader of an uprising against Byzantine rule in the Theme of Bulgaria during the summer of 1040. He was proclaimed Tsar of Bulgaria, as Samuel's grandson in Belgrade, then in the theme of Bulgaria. His original name may have been simply Delyan, in which case he assumed the name Petar II upon his accession, commemorating the sainted Emperor Petar I, who had died in 970. The year of his birth is uncertain, but probably not long after 1000, and before 1014. He probably died in 1041.
WGeorge Terter I, of the Terter dynasty ruled as tsar of Bulgaria 1280–1292. The date of his birth is unknown, and he died in 1308/1309.
WIvan Alexander, also sometimes Anglicized as John Alexander, ruled as Emperor (Tsar) of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371, during the Second Bulgarian Empire. The date of his birth is unknown. He died on 17 February 1371. The long reign of Ivan Alexander is considered a transitional period in Bulgarian medieval history. Ivan Alexander began his rule by dealing with internal problems and external threats from Bulgaria's neighbours, the Byzantine Empire and Serbia, as well as leading his empire into a period of economic recovery and cultural and religious renaissance.
WIvan Asen I, also known as Asen I or John Asen I was emperor of Bulgaria from 1187 or 1188 to 1196 as the co-ruler with his elder brother, Peter II. He was the son of a wealthy shepherd from the mountains of the Byzantine theme (district) of Paristrion. All contemporaneous chronicles describe Asen I and his brothers as Vlachs.
WIvan Asen II, also known as John Asen II or John Asan II, was Emperor (Tsar) of Bulgaria from 1218 to 1241. He was still a child when his father Ivan Asen I – one of the founders of the Second Bulgarian Empire – was killed in 1196. His supporters tried to secure the throne for him after his uncle, Kaloyan, was murdered in 1207, but Kaloyan's other nephew, Boril, overcame them. Ivan Asen fled from Bulgaria and settled in the Rus' principalities.
WIvan Stefan ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria for eight months from 1330 to 1331. He was the eldest son of emperor Michael III Shishman and Anna Neda of Serbia, a daughter of King Stefan Uroš II Milutin of Serbia. Ivan Stephen was a descendant of the Terter dynasty, the Asen dynasty and the Shishman dynasty. After his father's ascension to the throne in 1323 Ivan Stefan was associated as co-emperor. When Michael III Shishman divorced Anna Neda to marry Theodora Palaiologina, the daughter of Byzantine emperor Michael IX Palaiologos, in 1324, Ivan Stefan was exiled along with his mother and brother in a monastery. In the summer of 1330 he became emperor of Bulgaria with the help of his uncle Stephen Dečanski. After he was deposed in a coup d'état by the Tarnovo nobility, he fled along with Anna Neda in the domains of his father's brother Belaur in Niš and later to Dubrovnik. He was later expelled from there by Stephen Dušan under the pressure of Ivan Alexander. Ivan Stefan probably died in Naples.
WKardam was the ruler of Bulgaria.
WKonstantin Tih or Constantine I Tikh, was the tsar of Bulgaria from 1257 to 1277.
WKrakra of Pernik, also known as Krakra Voevoda or simply Krakra, was an 11th-century feudal lord in the First Bulgarian Empire whose domain encompassed 36 fortresses in what is today southwestern Bulgaria, with his capital at Pernik. He is known for heroically resisting Byzantine sieges on multiple occasions as the Byzantines overran the Bulgarian Empire.
WKrum, often referred to as Krum the Fearsome was the Khan of Bulgaria from sometime between 796 and 803 until his death in 814. During his reign the Bulgarian territory doubled in size, spreading from the middle Danube to the Dnieper and from Odrin to the Tatra Mountains. His able and energetic rule brought law and order to Bulgaria and developed the rudiments of state organization.
WMalamir was the ruler of Bulgaria 831–836.
WMichael II Asen, more accurately Michael Asen I, was Emperor (Tsar) of Bulgaria from 1246 to 1256 or 1257. He was the son of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria and Irene Komnene Doukaina. He succeeded his half-brother, Kaliman I Asen. His mother or other relative must have ruled Bulgaria during his minority.
WNikulitsa was a Bulgarian noble from Larissa, governor of Servia during the reign of Samuil. He received his name because of his short height. In 1001 the Byzantines led by Basil II besieged the city and after a long siege they managed to break through despite the garrison's desperate defence. To secure the fortress, the entire Bulgarian population deported in the area called Boleron between the rivers Nestos and Hebros (Maritsa).
WOmurtag was a Great Khan (Kanasubigi) of Bulgaria from 814 to 831. He is known as "the Builder".
WPresian, sometimes referred to as Presian II was probably the oldest son of the last tsar of the First Bulgarian Empire, Ivan Vladislav, who after the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria entered Byzantine service, until his involvement in a conspiracy to usurp the throne in c. 1029. He was blinded and tonsured, after which he disappears from the historical record. It is possible, however, that in later life he emigrated to Hungary, as a tombstone of a certain "Prince Presian" has been found, in what is now Slovakia, giving his date of death as 1060/61.
WPresian was the Khan of Bulgaria from 836–852. He ruled during an extensive expansion in Macedonia.
WSamuel was the Tsar (Emperor) of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 6 October 1014. From 977 to 997, he was a general under Roman I of Bulgaria, the second surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria, and co-ruled with him, as Roman bestowed upon him the command of the army and the effective royal authority. As Samuel struggled to preserve his country's independence from the Byzantine Empire, his rule was characterized by constant warfare against the Byzantines and their equally ambitious ruler Basil II.
WTsar Simeon I the Great ruled over Bulgaria from 893 to 927, during the First Bulgarian Empire. Simeon's successful campaigns against the Byzantines, Magyars and Serbs led Bulgaria to its greatest territorial expansion ever, making it the most powerful state in contemporary Eastern and Southeast Europe. His reign was also a period of unmatched cultural prosperity and enlightenment later deemed the Golden Age of Bulgarian culture.
WTihomir was an 11th-century Bulgarian military commander of Dyrrhachium, who had been sent to tackle an uprising in the north headed by the Bulgarian noble Peter Delyan. He defected and joined him, but later came into conflict with Delyan because he had his own claim to the throne.