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Battle of Silistra

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Battle of Silistra
Part of Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria

Rus' invasion of Bulgaria
Datespring 967/968[1][a]
Location
Result

Rus' victory

Belligerents
Bulgaria Kievan Rus
Commanders and leaders
Peter I of Bulgaria[2] Sviatoslav Igorevich
Strength
30,000[3][4][5][6] 10,000[5][6]-60,000[7][8]
Casualties and losses
Heavy Heavy

The Battle of Silistra occurred in the spring of 968 near the Bulgarian town of Silistra, but most probably on the modern territory of Romania. It was fought between the armies of Bulgaria and Kievan Rus' and resulted in a Rus' victory. Upon the news of the defeat, the Bulgarian emperor Peter I abdicated. The invasion of the Rus' prince Sviatoslav was a heavy blow for the Bulgarian Empire, which by 971 lost its eastern provinces to the Byzantine Empire.

Origins of the conflict

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From the 940s the Magyars began repeatedly to launch pillage raids into the Bulgarian Empire. Emperor Peter I was unable to stop them and as the Byzantines were unwilling to send any help he finally allied with the Magyars and gave them safe passage through Bulgaria to attack Byzantine Thrace. In 968 the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phokas paid the Kievan knyaz Sviatoslav Igorevich to attack Bulgaria in answer of the alliance between the Bulgarian emperor Peter I and the Magyars.

Battle

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Sviatoslav Igorevich gathered 10,000 or 60,000 troops and started his campaign in the early spring of 968. He met the Bulgarians, who were less than his army , near Silistra. The battle continued the whole day and until dark the Bulgarians seemed to have overwhelmed the Kievans, but, elated by Sviatoslav's personal example, the latter were victorious. The loss forced the Bulgarian tsar to shut himself up in Druster. During this time, Svetoslav plundered the Bulgarian lands unhindered, but soon a message about a Pecheneg attack on Kiev made him return to his homeland, taking with him a rich booty.[9]

Aftermath

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The Rus' forces continued their victorious campaign. According to the Bulgarian historian Vasil Zlatarski, Sviatoslav seized 80 towns in northeastern Bulgaria. They were looted and destroyed but not permanently occupied. Tsar Peter I suffered an epileptic stroke when he received news of the defeat.[10] The Rus' wintered at Pereyaslavets,[11] while the Bulgarians retreated to the fortress of Dorostolon (Silistra).[12] Sviatoslav Igorevich was eventually forced to return to Kiev after Bulgarian diplomacy inspired the Pechenegs to besiege his capital. During his absence, the new Bulgarian army managed to temporarily recapture the fortress of Pereyaslavets and repulse the Rus' garrisons from the remaining conquered fortresses out of the Bulgarian lands.[13]

Siege

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The reality of what happened during the siege remains a debatable issue, Russian sources claim that after the victory in the battle, the Rus' warriors took the remaining Dorostolon and other cities in Bulgaria,[5][7][14] Bulgarian sources claim that the Bulgarians successfully repelled the siege of the Rus.[15][16][17] Some sources do not mention the siege at all after the battle.[18]

References

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  1. ^ Zlatarski 1971, pp. 554–555.
  2. ^ Kolev, Ivomir. "The fall of Preslav - the blow that shaped Bulgarian history (In Bulgarian)". Bulgarian History.
  3. ^ Pavlov, Plamen (2014). Векът на цар Самуил [The century of tsar Samuel] (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Изток и запад. p. 33. ISBN 978-619-152-502-7.
  4. ^ Kolev, Ivomir. "The fall of Preslav - the blow that shaped Bulgarian history (In Bulgarian)". Bulgarian History.
  5. ^ a b c Егоршина 2023, p. 9.
  6. ^ a b Velichko et al. 1912.
  7. ^ a b Karamzin 2020, p. 62.
  8. ^ Kolev, Ivomir. "The fall of Preslav - the blow that shaped Bulgarian history (In Bulgarian)". Bulgarian History.
  9. ^ Kolev, Ivomir. "The fall of Preslav - the blow that shaped Bulgarian history (In Bulgarian)". Bulgarian History.
  10. ^ Zlatarski 1971, pp. 554–555
  11. ^ "It is not my pleasure to be in Kiev, but I will live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube. That shall be the centre of my land; for there all good things flow: gold from the Greeks [Byzantines], precious cloths, wines and fruits of many kinds; silver and horses from the Czechs and Magyars; and from the Rus' furs, wax, honey and slaves." – Sviatoslav, according to the Primary Chronicle.Stephenson 2000, p. 49
  12. ^ Whittow 1996, p. 260
  13. ^ Pavlov, Plamen (2024). Забравеното средновековие [The forgotten Medieval ages] (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Българска история. p. 76. ISBN 978-619-7688-32-0.
  14. ^ Gumilev 2023, p. 67.
  15. ^ Pavlov, Plamen (2014). Векът на цар Самуил [The century of tsar Samuel] (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Изток и запад. p. 33. ISBN 978-619-152-502-7.
  16. ^ Velikova, Neli. "Druster - the glorious palace on the Danube". Bulgarian history."However, in 969, the Kiev prince Svetoslav was in front of the walls of the city and managed to capture it".
  17. ^ Ivanov, Ivelin. "Knyaz Svyatoslav of Kiev's 968-971 campaigns against Bulgaria in the context of the 9 th - 11 th c. Norman invasion". Research gate.
  18. ^ Wasilewski T. Historia Bułgarii. — Wrocław: Ossolineum, 1983. — P. 62. — ISBN 83-0402466-7

Bibliography

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Notes

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  1. ^ Russian sources give the date 967, and Bulgarian sources 968