THE TATAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST BULGARIA AND BYZANTIUM IN 1285
Études balkaniques (Sofia) 2025, N 4, pp. 1074-1104, DOI: https://doi.org/10.62761/645.EB.LXI4.10
Krasimir KRASTEV 
Sofia University “St Kliment Ohridski”, Bulgaria
Abstract: The study presents the problem of a plundering campaign organized by the Tatar Khan Nogai (c. 1240 – 1299/1300), which was directed against the Kingdom of Hungary, the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire. In Bulgarian historiography, the thesis that the campaign on the Balkan Peninsula should be dated to the first half of 1285 is imposed. It is also assumed that as a result of it, Emperor George I Terter (1279/80 – 1291/2) was recognized as a Tatar vassal and was forced to send his son Theodore Svetoslav along with one of his daughters as hostages to the Golden Horde. Recently, these conclusions have been disputed mostly through logical considerations, and the main goal of this paper is to assess the validity of the arguments on both sides of the discussion. In addition, attention will be paid to sources that complement the information of the Byzantine historian George Pachymeres (1242 – c. 1310) and can at least partially expand the picture of the Tatar campaign against Bulgaria and Byzantium in 1285.
Keywords: Tatar campaign, Nogai Khan, 1285, Bulgarian Empire, George I Terter, Byzantine Empire