Battle of the Bosnian Highlands

Part of the Croatian–Bulgarian wars

Date	926
Location	Croatian–Bulgarian border in the Bosnian highlands (present-day eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Result	Decisive Croatian victory

Belligerents

Kingdom of Croatia

Bulgarian Empire

Commanders and leaders

unknown
(Tomislav?)

Duke Alogobotur †

Casualties and losses

unknown

heavy, almost the entire army was lost on the battlefield

In 926 a battle was fought in the Bosnian highlands between the armies the Bulgarian Empire, under the rule of Bulgarian Tsar Simeon I, who at the time also fought a war with the Byzantine Empire, and the Kingdom of Croatia under Tomislav, the first king of the Croatian state. The battle is also known as the Battle of the Bosnian Highlands (Bulgarian: Битка при Босненските планини, Croatian: Bitka na Bosanskim visoravnima). It was fought in the mountainous area of Eastern Bosnia near the rivers Bosna and Drina, the border area between the Kingdom of Croatia and the Bulgarian Empire.

Principal information on the battle is provided by the emperor Constantine VII of the Byzantine Empire in his work De Administrando Imperio ("On the Governance of the Empire") and in the collection of preserved historical writings called Theophanes Continuatus. Simeon's aim was to defeat the Byzantine Empire and conquer Constantinople. To achieve his aim, Simeon overran the eastern and central Balkans several times, occupied Serbia and finally attacked Croatia. The result of the battle was an overwhelming Croatian victory.

After the war between Trpimir I and Bulgarian Khan Boris I in 853, which resulted in a peace treaty, the relations between Bulgaria and Croatia improved greatly. Ambassadors from Rome regularly went through Croatian territory to Bulgaria and received escorts to the border, while the Pope had regular conversations with both countries. Croatia bordered Bulgaria probably somewhere in present-day Bosnia, between the rivers Bosna and Drina. The situation started changing in the early 10th century when the new Bulgarian ruler Simeon I started a campaign against the Byzantine Empire. The conflict went in favor of Bulgaria and the Byzantines found themselves in great danger.

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Wikipedia