Mostich (, Old Bulgarian: МОСТИЧЬ) was a high-ranking official in the 10th-century

First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led by Asparuh of Bulgaria, Asparuh, moved south to the northe ...

, during the rule of Simeon I and Peter I. He bore the title of

Ichirgu-boil The Ichirgu-boila or Chargobilya (; Old Bulgarian: , ) was a high-ranking official in the First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It ...

and was most likely the commander of the state capital

Preslav The modern Veliki Preslav or Great Preslav (, ), former Preslav (; until 1993), is a city and the seat of government of the Veliki Preslav Municipality (Great Preslav Municipality, new Bulgarian: ''obshtina''), which in turn is part of Shumen P ...

's garrison. Mostich is known from the 10th-century Old Bulgarian inscription on his

tombstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

, found in a church (now known as "Mostich's Church") in the Selishte area of Preslav, then the

inner city The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...

of the Bulgarian capital. The tombstone was discovered in 1952 by Professor Stancho Vaklinov and is preserved in the National Archaeological Museum. The inscription is Mostich's

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

, indicating that he was buried in the church: his remains were also found, revealing that he was relatively short (165–170 cm). The text is notable for being one of the earliest sources mentioning the title "Цѣсарь" (" Tsesar"Станислав Станилов, Българската монархия през средните векове, Класика и стил, 2003, , p. 69.). It reads as follows: Mostich Hill on Rugged Island in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

is named after Mostich.

References

External links

* * {{cite web , url= http://www.museum-preslav.com/inscription.html , title= Надгробен надпис на Мостич — втора четвърт на Х век /копие/ , date= 2018-08-18 , publisher= Музей Преслав , language= Bulgarian 10th-century deaths 10th-century Bulgarian people Medieval Bulgarian military personnel Medieval Bulgarian nobility Old Bulgarian inscriptions People from Veliki Preslav Year of birth unknown Preslav