Balgitzin ( el, Βαλγίτζιν ''Valgítzin''; died 704), in the account of

Theophanes the Confessor Theophanes the Confessor ( el, Θεοφάνης Ὁμολογητής; c. 758/760 – 12 March 817/818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking ...

, was the

Khazar The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...

tudun A tudun was a governor resident in a town or other settlement in the ancient Bulgar, Avar or Gokturk empires, particularly those of the Bulgars and the Khazars. The tudun was the personal representative of the imperial government and could ...

of Phanagoria during the sojourn of

Justinian II Justinian II ( la, Iustinianus; gr, Ἰουστινιανός, Ioustinianós; 668/69 – 4 November 711), nicknamed "the Slit-Nosed" ( la, Rhinotmetus; gr, ὁ Ῥινότμητος, ho Rhinótmētos), was the last Eastern Roman emperor of the ...

in that town. He was dispatched, along with Papatzys, by Busir

Khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Mongolian:; or ''Khagan''; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣 ), or , tr, Kağan or ; ug, قاغان, Qaghan, Mongolian Script: ; or ; fa, خاقان ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan ...

to kill Justinian in 704, after Busir was bribed by Tiberius III. Justinian's Khazar wife Theodora warned him in advance and Justinian escaped by sea, but not before murdering both Papatzys and Balgitzin. Some scholars, notably

Peter B. Golden Peter Benjamin Golden (born 1941) is an American historian who is Professor Emeritus of History, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University. He has written many books and articles on Turkic and Central Asian Studies, such as ''An i ...

, have speculated that Balgitzin is not a proper name but rather a title, identical with '' Baliqchi''.

Sources

. ''Khazar Studies: An Historico-Philological Inquiry into the Origins of the Khazars''. Vol. 1. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1980. {{DEFAULTSORT:Balgitzin 7th-century births 704 deaths Khazar people Medieval Crimea