The House of Terter (), also Terterids or Terterovtsi (Тертеровци), was a

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 ...

n noble and

royal house A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

Cuman The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Rus' chronicles, as " ...

origin,István Vásáry (2005) ''Cumans and Tatars'', Cambridge University Press, p. 2 a branch of the Cuman noble dynasty of

Terteroba The Terter or Terteroba ( Bulgarian and ) was a Cuman–Kipchak tribe or clan that took refuge in Hungary and then Bulgaria in the mid-13th century and may have produced the Terter dynasty that eventually ruled Bulgaria. According to Pritsak, ' ...

, that ruled the

Second Bulgarian Empire The Second Bulgarian Empire (; ) was a medieval Bulgarians, Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1422. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan of Bulgaria, Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II ...

between 1280 and 1292, as well as between 1300 and 1323.

History

Origin

The Terterids were originally of

origin (from the

Cuman-Kipchak confederation The name Cumania originated as the Latin exonym for the Cuman–Kipchak confederation, which was a tribal confederation in the western part of the Eurasian Steppe, between the 10th and 13th centuries. The confederation was dominated by two Turk ...

), according to Plamen Pavlov they were a branch of the Cuman noble dynasty of Terteroba who had settled in Bulgaria as part of the second wave of Cuman migration, coming from the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

after 1241. The

had ruled the

in the late 11th century, as well as in the mid-13th century under Khan

Köten Köten (; ; ; 1205–1241) was a Cuman–Kipchak chieftain ('' khan'') and military commander active in the mid-13th century. He forged an important alliance with the Kievan Rus' against the Mongols but was ultimately defeated by them at the Ka ...

Monarchy

The earliest representatives of the dynasty in Bulgaria were the ''

despotēs Despot or ''despotes'' () was a senior Byzantine court title that was bestowed on the sons or sons-in-law of reigning emperors, and initially denoted the heir-apparent of the Byzantine emperor. From Byzantium it spread throughout the late mediev ...

Aldimir Aldimir () or EltimirWhile Aldimir is mentioned in Medieval Greek sources solely as Ἐλτιμηρῆς, ''Eltimiris'', his original name ''Aldimir'' has been established thanks to the discovery of his son Ivan Dragushin's epitaph.Андреев ...

(Eltimir) and his older brother George Terter who was crowned emperor of Bulgaria as

George I of Bulgaria George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

(1280-1292), marrying the Bulgarian Maria. After his reign, Bulgaria was under the ''de facto'' control of the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...

, with

Nogai Khan Nogai, or Noğay ( Kypchak and Turki: نوغای; also spelled Nogay, Nogaj, Nohai, Nokhai, Noqai, Ngoche, Noche, Kara Nokhai, and Isa Nogai; died 1299/1300) was a general and kingmaker of the Golden Horde. His great grandfather was Jochi, son o ...

nominating the next ruler,

Smilets Smilets () reigned as tsar of Bulgaria from 1292 to 1298. Life Although Smilets is credited with being descended "from the noblest family of the Bulgarians", his antecedents are completely unknown. Judging by the landholdings of Smilets’ brother ...

(1292-1298), who was of another noble family, and was briefly succeeded by his son Ivan II (1298-1299). In 1299–1300, Bulgaria was controlled by the

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

Chaka. Chaka was deposed by George Terter's son,

Theodore Svetoslav of Bulgaria Theodore Svetoslav (, ''Todor Svetoslav'' and also Теодор Светослав, ''Teodor Svetoslav'') ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from 1300 to 1322. The date of his birth is unknown. He captured northeast fortresses and expanded the ter ...

(1300-1321), beginning the second reign of the Terterids, which also spanned that of his son,

George II of Bulgaria Georgi Terter II () reigned as tsar of Bulgaria between 1322 and 1323. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he was born not long before 1307. History George Terter II was the son of Theodore Svetoslav and Euphrosyne, and was named after h ...

. The Terter dynasty was succeeded by the Shishman noble dynasty of

Vidin Vidin (, ) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as of the Metropolitan of Vidin (since ...

, also of partial Cuman origin.

Members

(Eltimir) **

Ivan Dragushin Ivan Dragushin () was a Bulgarian nobleman, son of despot Aldimir from the Terter dynasty of the Second Bulgarian Empire. Ivanʻs mother was Marina Smilets, the daughter of tsar Smilets of Bulgaria, Smilets of Bulgaria, whilst Ivan's father was ...

(ruled 1280-1292) **

(ruled 1300-1321) ***

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

, wife of

Stefan Uroš II Milutin of Serbia Stephen (honorific), Stefan Uroš II Milutin ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош II Милутин, Stefan Uroš II Milutin; 1253 – 29 October 1321), known as List of Serbian saints, Saint King, was the List of Serbian monarchs, King of Kingdom o ...

** Elena, wife of Chaka

References

{{Authority control Bulgarian noble families 13th century in Bulgaria People of Cuman descent