Medieval Bulgarian Army

Medieval Bulgarian army
Participant in the wars of the Bulgarian Empire
Khan Krum feasts with a skull cup made of Emperor Nicephorus Is head following the victory in the battle of Pliska.
Active	632  – 1422 AD
Leaders	Bulgarian Emperor (Commander-in-chief)
Area of operations	Balkans, Pannonia, Ukrainian Steppes
Strength	c. 60,000 (9th – 10th century); 100,000(13th century)
Part of	Bulgarian Empire
Allies	Slavs, Pechenegs, East Franks, Cumans
Opponents	Byzantines, Avars, Hungarians, the Caliphate, Franks, Serbs, Rus', Crusader states, Pechenegs, Khazars, Mongols, Ottomans and others

The medieval Bulgarian army was the primary military body of the First and the Second Bulgarian Empires. During the first decades after the foundation of the country, the army consisted of a Bulgar cavalry and a Slavic infantry. The core of the Bulgarian army was the heavy cavalry, which consisted of 12,000–30,000 heavily armed riders. At its height in the 9th and 10th centuries, it was one of the most formidable military forces in Europe and was feared by its enemies. There are several documented cases of Byzantine commanders abandoning an invasion because of a reluctance to confront the Bulgarian army on its home territory.

The army was intrinsically linked to the very existence of the Bulgarian state. Its success under Tsar Simeon I marked the creation of a wide-ranging empire, and its defeat in a prolonged war of attrition in the early 11th century meant the end of Bulgarian independence. When the Bulgarian state was reestablished in 1185, a series of capable emperors achieved a remarkable string of victories over the Byzantines and the Western Crusaders, but as the state and its army fragmented in the 13th and 14th centuries, it proved unable to halt the Ottoman advance, which resulted in the conquest of all of Bulgaria by 1422. It would not be until 1878, with the Liberation of Bulgaria, that a Bulgarian military would be restored.

The early Bulgars were a warlike people and war was part of their everyday life, with every adult Bulgar obliged to fight. The early Bulgars were exclusively horsemen: in their culture, the horse was considered a sacred animal and received special care.

The supreme commander was the khan, who mustered the army with the help of the aristocracy. The military ranks from lowest to highest were bagain, bagatur, boil, tarkhan. The permanent army consisted of the khan's guard of select warriors, while the campaign army consisted practically of the entire nation, assembled by clans. In the field, the army was divided into right and left wings.

The Bulgars were well versed in the use of . They often held a strong cavalry unit in reserve, which would attack the enemy at an opportune moment. They also sometimes concentrated their free horses behind their battle formation to avoid surprise attacks from the rear.They used ambushes and feigned retreats, during which they rode with their backs to the horse, firing clouds of arrows on the enemy. If the enemy pursued disorganized, they would turn back and fiercely attack them. According to contemporary historians, the Bulgars "could see in the dark like bats" and often fought at night.