Telerig () was the ruler of

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

from 768 to 777. Although Telerig is first mentioned by Byzantine sources in 774, he is considered as the immediate successor of Pagan, who was murdered in 768. In May 774, Byzantine Emperor Constantine V embarked on a major expedition against Bulgaria, led his field army on land and dispatched a fleet of 2000 ships carrying horsemen towards the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

Delta. The fleet disembarked in the vicinity of Varna, but Constantine did not press his potential advantage and inexplicably retreated. Shortly afterwards, both sides signed a truce promising the cessation of hostilities. However, in October 774, Telerig sent an army of 12,000 men to raid Berzitia, Macedonia, and transfer its population to Bulgaria. Collecting a large army of 80,000 troops, Constantine surprised the Bulgarians and won a resounding victory. The subsequent attack on Bulgaria failed since the imperial fleet had encountered contrary winds in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

. Telerig then sent a secret emissary to Constantine that indicated his intention to flee Bulgaria and to seek refuge with the emperor and sought assurances of hospitality and a list of Byzantines who might help him. Telerig succeeded in having Constantine betray his own agents in Bulgaria, who were duly rounded up and executed. The expected Byzantine retaliation failed to materialise, as Constantine died in 775. In spite of his apparent success, Telerig found it necessary to flee to the new Byzantine emperor, Leo IV the Khazar, in 777. The Byzantine government gave Telerig asylum and the title of '' patrikios''. Telerig converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

under the name of Theophylaktos and married a cousin of Empress Eirene. The 17th-century Volga Bulgar compilation '' Ja'far Tarikh'' (a work of disputed authenticity) represents Dilyarek (Telerig) as the son of the former ruler Teles ( Telets).

Legacy

Telerig Nunatak, on Greenwich Island, in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...

, in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

, is named after Telerig.

In fiction

Telerikh is a major character in

Harry Turtledove Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed his ...

's "Islands in the Sea" (1989). The

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

alternate history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

originally appeared in ''Alternatives'', edited by Robert Adams, and was reprinted in '' Departures'' and ''The Best Alternate History Stories of the Twentieth Century''.

References

Sources

* Mosko Moskov, ''Imennik na bălgarskite hanove (novo tălkuvane)'', Sofia 1988. * Jordan Andreev, Ivan Lazarov, Plamen Pavlov, ''Koj koj e v srednovekovna Bălgarija'', Sofia 1999. * (primary source), Bahshi Iman, ''Djagfar Tarihi'', vol. III, Orenburg 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:Telerig Of Bulgaria 700s births Converts to Christianity from pagan religions 8th-century Bulgarian monarchs 777 deaths Patricii

Legacy

In fiction

See also

References

Sources