] Salan, Salanus or Zalan ( Bulgarian language, Bulgarian and Serbian

Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...

: Салан or Залан; hu, Zalán; ro, Salanus) was, according to the

Gesta Hungarorum ''Gesta Hungarorum'', or ''The Deeds of the Hungarians'', is the earliest book about Hungarian history which has survived for posterity. Its genre is not chronicle, but ''gesta'', meaning "deeds" or "acts", which is a medieval entertaining li ...

, a local

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

http://keptar.niif.hu/000500/000586/magyaro-honf-terkep_nagykep.jpg voivod (

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

) who ruled in the 9th century between

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

and

Tisa The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders. The Tisza be ...

rivers in the south and Carpathians in the north. The capital of his voivodship (duchy) was

Titel Titel ( sr-Cyrl, Тител, hu, Titel) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town of Titel has a population of 5,247, while the population of the municipality of Titel is 15, ...

. The exact border of his duchy is not clear: according to some sources, his duchy included present-day northern

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, much of present-day central

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, present-day eastern

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

and part of present-day western

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and northern

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, while according to other sources his duchy included only present-day Bačka/Bácska region of

and

. His name comes from the toponym Szalánkemén (archaically ''Zoloncaman'', today

Stari Slankamen Stari Slankamen ( sr-cyrl, Стари Сланкамен), also known as Slankamen ( sr-cyrl, Сланкамен), is a village located in the Inđija municipality, in the Syrmia District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Voj ...

History

According to Gesta Hungarorum, Salan (Salanus) was an Orthodox vassal of the Byzantine Empire or of the

tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

. Serbian historian Dr Aleksa Ivić supposes that Salan was a Slavic king. The chronicle states that he was descendant of the Bulgarian Khan who conquered the territory up to the borders of Russia and Poland after the death of

Attila the Hun Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and Ea ...

. At the time of Hungarian conquest (after 896), Hungarians attacked Salan's voivodship and Bulgarians led by the tsar

Simeon Simeon () is a given name, from the Hebrew (Biblical ''Šimʿon'', Tiberian ''Šimʿôn''), usually transliterated as Shimon. In Greek it is written Συμεών, hence the Latinized spelling Symeon. Meaning The name is derived from Simeon, son ...

came to the aid of voivod Salan and even the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Emperor sent auxiliary troops against the

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...

. The Hungarians defeated a united Bulgarian and Byzantine army led by Salan in the early 10th century on the plains of Alpár and the voivodship of Salan fell under Hungarian rule.

Sources

The main historical source about duke Salan is a historical chronicle known as

, written by Magister P., notary of Hungarian King Bela in the late 12th century. Gesta Hungarorum, however, is not considered to be a fully reliable source, thus the existence of Salan is questionable. However, the 10th century Lombard chronicler, Liudprand, also wrote about a Hungarian victory over the Bulgarians and the Byzantines in the early 10th century and other sources also mention that area between Danube and Tisa was under Bulgarian rule, which confirm some claims from Gesta Hungarorum regarding the story about Salan.

Appearances in popular media

The Duke Salan appears as a playable character in the video game

Crusader Kings III ''Crusader Kings III'' is a grand strategy role-playing video game set in the Middle Ages, developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to '' Crusader Kings'' (2004) and ''Crusader Kings II'' (2012). ...

in the 9th century start date.

References

{{Reflist

Literature

* Marko Jovanov, ''Devet vekova od pomena imena Titela'', Titelski letopis, Titel, 2001. * Dr Aleksa Ivić, ''Istorija Srba u Vojvodini'', Novi Sad, 1929. * Prof.dr Radmilo Petrović, ''Vojvodina'', Beograd, 2003.

External links