Bulgaria Serbia The Bulgarian–Serbian wars were a series of conflicts between the Bulgarian Empire and medieval Serbian states between the 9th and 14th centuries in the central Balkans.

Before the 12th century, the Serbian states were dependent upon and strongly influenced by the dominant Balkan powers, the Bulgarian and Byzantine Empires.

The Bulgarian Emperor Peter I granted formal independence to Serbia in 931 and appointed his protégé Časlav Klonimirović as its ruler.

Omurtag launched an attack into in 827, secured control over territory as far as Pannonia, expelled the local Slavic chiefs, and installed Bulgarian governors.

[7] The war ended with the death of Theophilos in 842, releasing Vlastimir from his obligations to the emperor and giving Bulgaria the opportunity to attack the Byzantine Empire and annex the area of Ohrid, Bitola, and Devol in 842–843.

In 853 or 854, the new Bulgarian ruler Boris I sent an army, led by his son Vladimir, to attack the Serbs, aiming to replace Byzantine influence over them.

[14][15][9][10][16] The Serbian army led by Mutimir and his brothers defeated the Bulgarians, capturing Vladimir and twelve leading boyars, who had to be ransomed.

[15] A power struggle ensued within the ruling family before Mutimir's nephew Peter emerged to capture the throne in 892, gaining the recognition of the Bulgarian ruler Simeon the Great.

[15] For the next half century following the campaign of Boris I, both countries were at peace, and the Serbs looked to Bulgaria as a source of their culture.

After the Byzantine army was annihilated in the battle of Achelous on 20 August that year, the Bulgarian emperor had to delay his march to Constantinople in order to secure his western borders.

In the autumn of 917 Simeon sent an army under the generals Theodore Sigritsa and Marmais to invade Serbia and punish Gojniković for his treason.

[31] Angered with his betrayal, in 924 Simeon sent an army led by Theodore Sigritsa and Marmais to crush the Serbs, but the Bulgarians were insufficient in number.

[33] Serbia was included in the borders of the Bulgarian Empire[33][34][35] for a period of several years until 930-931 when prince Časlav managed to escape from Preslav and organized a successful revolt against the new emperor Peter I.

[41] When Samuil arrived he left part of his army to bar the Serbs, and with the rest of his troops he besieged the coastal fortress of Ulcinj.

However, in 1203 the Bulgarian army pushed the Serbs out of Niš (which Fine suggests had been under Serbian rule since the 1190s)[47] and defeated the Hungarians in battles along the Morava river.

In 1296 the Bulgarian Emperor Smilets married his daughter Theodora to the future Serbian King Stefan Uroš III Dečanski.

However, the growth of the Serbian Kingdom in the late 13th and early 14th century raised serious concern in the royal courts in Tarnovo and Constantinople – while both Empires had numerous external and internal problems, the Serbs expanded their state in northern Macedonia.

Despite the one-day truce agreed by the two rulers, the Serbs broke their word and attacked the Bulgarians while the latter were scattered to search for provisions.

After short negotiations near the castle of Izvor, Belaur and Dečanski concluded a peace treaty according to which the Bulgarian throne was inherited by the son of Michael III Shishman and Anna Neda, Ivan Stefan.

Fine writes that although sources mention no territorial changes, many scholars believe that the Serbs seized Niš and the surrounding region in the aftermath of the battle.