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

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation ...

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking co ...

: Салан or Залан; hu, Zalán; ro, Salanus) was, according to the Gesta Hungarorum, a local Bulgarianhttp://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 r ...

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

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

, 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, Cr ...

, 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 ...

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 inva ...

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).

History

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

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

. 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 E ...

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

. 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 Gesta Hungarorum, 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 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

Duchy of Salan (map)

Duchy of Salan (map)

Duchy of Salan (map)

Gesta Hungarorum Medieval Bulgarian military personnel Medieval Bulgarian nobility 9th-century Bulgarian people History of Bačka Medieval history of Vojvodina 9th century in Hungary 9th century in Serbia