Sabin ( bg, Сабин) was the ruler of

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

from 765 to 766. Some scholars think that Sabin was omitted from the Namelist of Bulgarian Rulers because he was a

Slav Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

, but his name could indicate

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

or even

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian origins. He was related by marriage to

Kormisosh Kormisosh ( bg, Кормисош) was a ruler of Bulgaria during the 8th century. The Namelist of Bulgarian Rulers states that he belonged to the Ukil (or Vokil) clan and ruled for 17 years. According to the chronology developed by Moskov, Kormi ...

, who was either a father-in-law or a brother-in-law of Sabin. Since the relation is by marriage, Sabin would not have actually belonged to the Vokil (= Ukil?) clan. Sabin rose to the throne after the murder of

Telets Telets ( bg, Телец), a member of the Ugain clan, was the ruler of First Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria from 762 to 765. Byzantine sources indicate that Telets replaced the legitimate rulers of Bulgaria. The same sources describe Telets as a b ...

in 765 and represented that part of the Bulgarian nobility which was seeking a policy of accommodation with the

Byzantine Empire 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 ...

. Accordingly, he swiftly dispatched secret emissaries to Emperor

Constantine V Constantine V ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντῖνος, Kōnstantīnos; la, Constantinus; July 718 – 14 September 775), was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. His reign saw a consolidation of Byzantine security from external threats. As an able ...

Kopronymos, who had recently defeated Sabin's predecessor Telets, seeking to re-establish peace. When the negotiations were discovered, the Bulgarians rebelled and held an assembly, in which they accused Sabin of causing Bulgaria's enslavement by the Byzantines. Deserted by his supporters, Sabin fled to Byzantine Mesembria (

Nesebăr Nesebar (often transcribed as Nessebar and sometimes as Nesebur, bg, Несебър, pronounced ) is an ancient city and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative centr ...

) in 766, from whence he went to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. There he was received by the emperor, who arranged for the transfer of Sabin's family from Bulgaria. In 768 Sabin attended Constantine V's negotiations with a new Bulgarian ruler, Pagan, but the emperor's words on behalf of the former monarch made little impression. Sabin passed the remainder of his life in exile. Sabin Point 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, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

is named after Sabin of Bulgaria.

References

* 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), Bahši Iman, ''Džagfar Tarihy'', vol. III, Orenburg 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sabin Of Bulgaria 8th-century births 8th-century deaths Monarchs of the Bulgars 8th-century Bulgarian monarchs