He served three Bulgarian Emperors – Samuil (997–1014); Gavril Radomir (1014–1015) and Ivan Vladislav (1015–1018).
In 1015, he defeated a Byzantine army in the battle of Bitola and stopped the disastrous campaign of Basil II in the heart of the Bulgarian Empire.
His stronghold was the fortress Tomornitsa in Mount Tomor, modern south-eastern Albania.
The fortress was soon besieged by Basil II but the 55-day siege was unsuccessful for the Byzantines.
In August 1018 he was treacherously blinded by the Byzantine strategos Eustathios Daphnomeles.