In the 5th and 6th centuries the Bulgarian tribes were scattered between the Caucasus and the middle course of the Danube. Some of them invaded the land south of the river as allies or enemies of Byzantium.
In the 30s of the 7th century, Khan Kubrat united the Bulgarian tribes north of the Black Sea. The state he created is known as Great Bulgaria. After Khan Kubrat’s death, it collapsed.
Khan Kubrat had several sons. Before he died, he called them to himself. He took a bundle of arrows and made them break it. None of his sons managed to do that. Then Khan Kubrat loosened the sheaf and broke the arrows one by one.
Had Khan Asparuh and Khan Kuber listened to their father’s covenant to stay together? After his death, they led the Bulgarians to new lands.
Khan Kuber headed for the Middle Danube. Later, he settled in today’s Macedonia.
Khan Asparuh settled at the firth of the Danube River. In 680 Bulgarians defeated the Byzantine army in a decisive battle. In 681, a peace treaty was concluded between Khan Asparuh and the Byzantine emperor Konstantin IV Pogatan. According to the treaty, Byzantium gave the Bulgarians their lands to the north of the Balkan Mountains.
So begins the history of present-day Bulgaria.
