Bulgarian Kings: Omurtag (Bulgarian: Омуртаг)

From Wikipedia:

Omurtag or Omortag (Bulgarian: Омуртаг) was a Great Khan (Kana syubigi) of Bulgaria from 815 to 831. He is known as "the Builder".

In the very beginning of his reign he signed a 30-year peace treaty with the Byzantines which remained in force to the end of his life. Omurtag successfully coped with the aggressive policy of the Frankish Empire to take Bulgaria's north-western lands and suppressed the unrest among several Slavic tribes. He made administrative reforms which increased the power and the authority of the central government. His reign was marked with a strong development of the Bulgarian architecture with a number of significant construction projects.

Omurtag's Tarnovo Inscription

The Omurtag's Tarnovo Inscription is an inscription in Greek language, engraved on a column of dark syenite found in the SS. Forty Martyrs Church in Tarnovo. The inscription was known since 1858 when Hristo Daskalov from Tryavna managed to visit the church (which was converted to a mosque at that time) and to make a replica of the inscription.

Along with the Chatalar Inscription, the Tarnovo inscription testifies for the active construction during the reign of Khan Omurtag (814-831). It is assumed that the inscription was made in 822. The historians are uncertain about the original location of the inscription (probably Pliska) and the location of the "new home on the Danube", for which the inscription was created - Silistra, the village of Malak Preslavets.

The final lines of Omurtag's Turnovo Inscription reveal Omurtag's message to future generations:

"Even if a man lives well, he dies and another one comes into existence. Let the one who comes later upon seeing this inscription remember the one who had made it."

Persecution of the Christians


Omurtag pursued policy of repression against Christians, in particular against the Byzantine prisoners of war settled by his father Krum in Bulgaria (mostly north of the Danube). This policy may have been motivated in part by the Byzantine invasion of 811 or with the beginning of Christian proselytizing by members of the substantial captive population. In connection with these policies, Omurtag disinherited his eldest son Enravota (Voin or Boyan), who had shown himself sympathetic to Christianity.

References:
Omurtag. Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omurtag_of_Bulgaria
Omurtag's Tarnovo Inscription
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omurtag's_Tarnovo_Inscription