List of rulers of Bulgaria

The first Bulgarian empire was founded in 681 by Knjas Asparuch and lasted until submission to Byzantium in 1018 .

Although the Bulgarian rulers up to Simeon I are referred to by the title Khan in most history books, there is not a single historical source to confirm the title. Since Simeon I , the rulers called themselves Tsars .

The second Bulgarian empire existed from 1186 to 1396 .

After the liberation from Ottoman rule in 1878 , the third state first emerged as a principality , before Ferdinand I proclaimed himself tsar again in 1908 . In 1946 the monarchy was abolished after a referendum .

Greater Bulgarian Empire

title	Surname	dynasty	Years of reign / remark
Mythical rulers of the (old) Greater Bulgarian Empire
	Avitochol	House Dulo	ruled for 300 years
	Irnik	House Dulo	ruled for 150 years
	Gostun	House Ermi	ruled for 2 years
Ruler of the (old) Greater Bulgarian Empire
Patricius	Kubrat	House Dulo	632-665
	Batbajan	House Dulo	665-668

First Bulgarian Empire

title	Surname	dynasty	Years of reign / remark
Ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire
Knyaz	Asparuch	House Dulo	668-700
Knyaz	Terwel	House Dulo	700 - approx. 721
Knyaz	Kormesij	House Dulo	approx. 721-738
Knyaz	Sewar	House Dulo	738-753 or 754
Knyaz	Kormisosh	House Wokil	753 or 754-756
Knyaz	Winech	House Wokil	756-760
	Telez	House Ugain	760-765
	Subin	House Wokil	765-766
	Umor	House Wokil	August - September 766
	Toktu	presumably House Ugain	766-767
	Pagan	unknown house	767-768
	Telerig	unknown house	768-777
	Cardam	unknown house	777-803
	Krum	unknown house, maybe house Dulo	803-814
	Omurtag	House Krum	814-831
	Malamir	House Krum	831-836 (probably with regency of Vice Khan Isbul)
	Presian I.	House Krum	836-852 (probably initially with the reign of Vice Khan Isbul)
Knjaz	Boris I. (Michael) (Saint Boris)	House Krum	852-864 - Khan 864-889 - Knjaz
Knjaz	Vladimir Rassate	House Krum	889-893
Knjaz / Tsar	Simeon I.	House Krum	893-913 - Knjaz 913-927 - Tsar
Tsar	Peter I. (Holy Tsar Peter)	House Krum	927-969
Tsar	Boris II	House Krum	970-977
	common reign of the Komitopuli		971-977
Tsar	novel	House Krum	977-997
Tsar	Samuil	House Komitopuli	997-1014
Tsar	Gavril Radomir	House Komitopuli	1014-1015
Tsar	Ivan Vladislav	House Komitopuli	1015-1018
Knjaz	Presian II.	House Komitopuli	1018

Byzantine rule

title	Surname	dynasty	Reign
Appointed rulers during the revolts against Byzantine rule
Tsar	Peter II (Deljan)	House Komitopuli	1040-1041
Tsar	Peter III (Konstantin Bodin)	Komitopuli House and the Serbian House Vojisavljević	1072

Second Bulgarian Empire

title	Surname	dynasty	Reign
Ruler of the Second Bulgarian Empire
Tsar	Ivan Assen I.	House Assen	1186-1196
Tsar	Peter IV (Teodor)	House Assen	1186-1197
Tsar	Ivanko	House Assen	1196
Tsar	Kaloyan	House Assen	1197-1207
Tsar	Boril	House Assen	1207-1218
Tsar	Ivan Assen II.	House Assen	1218-1241
Tsar	Kaliman I. Assen	House Assen	1241–1246 (council of rulers)
Tsar	Michael II. Assen	House Assen	1246 - approx. 1253 - Council of rulers, led by Irene Komnene approx. 1253–1256 - independent rule
Tsar	Kaliman II. Assen	House Assen	1256
Tsar	Mizo Assen	House Mizo / House Assen	1256-1257
Tsar	Konstantin Tich Assen	House Tich / House Assen	1257-1277
Tsar	Ivajlo	unknown	1278-1279
Tsar	Ivan Assen III.	House Mizo / House Assen	1279-1280
Tsar	Georgi I. Terter	House Terter	1280-1292
Tsar	Smilez	House Smilez	1292-1298
Tsar	Ivan IV Smilez	House Smilez	1298-1300
Tsar	Tschaka Nogai	Tatars, descendants of Genghis Khan / House of Terter	1299-1300
Tsar	Todor Svetoslav	House Terter	1300-1321
Tsar	Georgi II.	House Terter	1321-1322
Tsar	Michael III Schischman	Schischmaniden / House Assen	1323-1330
Tsar	Ivan Stefan	Schischmaniden / House Assen	1330-1331
Tsar	Ivan Alexander	Schischmaniden ( Strazimir )	1331-1371
Tsar	Ivan Shishman	Schischmaniden (Strazimir)	1371-1393
Tsar	Ivan Strazimir	Schischmaniden (Strazimir)	1356–1396 (in Vidin )

Ottoman rule

title	Surname	dynasty	Reign
Appointed rulers during the uprisings against Ottoman rule
Tsar	Constantine II. Assen	Schischmaniden (Strazimir)	1396 - approx. 1422 (in Vidin )
Tsar	Schischman III.	Schischmaniden (Strazimir)	1598
Knjaz	Rostislav Stratimirovich	Schischmaniden ( Strazimir )	1686
king	Karposch		1689

Third Bulgarian Empire

title	Surname	dynasty	Reign
Ruler (constitutional monarch) of the Third Bulgarian Empire
Knjaz	Alexander I.	House Battenberg	April 17, 1879 to August 26, 1886
Knjaz / Tsar	Ferdinand I.	House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	July 7, 1887 to October 5, 1908 - Knjaz October 5, 1908 to October 3, 1918 - Tsar
Tsar	Boris III	House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	October 3, 1918 to August 28, 1943
Tsar	Simeon II	House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	August 28, 1943 to September 15, 1946 (Council of Rulers)

literature

Jordan Andreev, Milcho Lalkov: The Bulgarian Khans and Tsars ( Bulgarian ). Abagar, Veliko Tarnovo 1996, ISBN 954-427-216-X .
Georgi Bakalov: The Medieval Bulgarian Ruler (Title and Insignia) ( Bulgarian ) 1995.
Yordan Ivanov: Bulgarian Antiquities from Macedonia ( Bulgarian ). BAN, Sofia 1970.
M. Laskaris: Bulgarian Antiquities (Book XI). The Vatopedi Charter of Emperor Ivan Asen II ( Bulgarian ). BAN, Darzhavna Pechatnitsa, Sofia 1930.
Steven Runciman : A History of the First Bulgarian Empire . George Bell & Sons , London 1930, OCLC 832687 .
Paul Stephenson: Byzantium's Balkan Frontier. A Political Study of the Northern Balkans (900-1204) ( English ). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2004, ISBN 0-511-03402-4 .
Mark Whittow: The Making of Byzantium (600-1025) ( English ). University of California Press, Los Angeles 1996, ISBN 0-520-20497-2 .
Daniel Ziemann: From wandering people to great power. The emergence of Bulgaria in the early Middle Ages (7th – 9th centuries). Böhlau, Cologne / Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-412-09106-4
Vasil Zlatarski [1927]: History of the Bulgarian state in the Middle Ages. Volume I. History of the First Bulgarian Empire. ( Bulgarian ), 2nd edition, Nauka i izkustvo, Sofia 1971, OCLC 67080314 .