Asparouh's successor, Khan Tervel, not only succeeded in preserving what he had inherited from his father, but also expanded Bulgaria's frontiers to the south of the Balkan Range as far as Eastern Thrace. The Bulgarian ruler got involved in the struggles for the Byzan-tine throne which broke out in 705, helped Justinian II to ascend to it and in return had the new frontiers of his state confirmed by the new Emperor. Three years later the Byzantines broke the peace but the Bulgarians dealt them a crushing blow and their triumphant march ended under the walls of Constantinople. In 717 they were once again at the walls of Constantinople, this time as allies of the Byzantine Emperor in his war with the Arabs who had laid siege to his capital. The invincible Bulgarian cavalry at-tacked the camp of the Arabs, destroyed it and thus saved the Byzantine capital which was at the end of its resources. In expression of his gratitude, the Byzantine Emperor gave rich presents to Khan Tervel and proclaimed him Caesar.

Proto Bulgarian aristocracy

The death of Khan Tervel was followed by internecine struggles among the Proto-Bulgarian aristocracy, the 'bolls', but the military campaigns undertaken by the Byzantines for doing away with the new state proved fruitless. By the century's end, under Khan Kardam, the internecine struggles were quenched, and under his successor, Khan Kroum (803-814) the Bulgarian state became one of the great political powers in Europe of those days. Khan Kroum was a tested warrior and a wise statesman; he ruled firmly and evoked respect in his enemies who gave him the name of 'Kroum the Terrible'. In 805 the Bulgarians destroyed the once powerful state of the Avars in Pannoma, and in 809 they took the Byzantine stronghold of Serdica (later Sredets, present-day Sofia), thus cutting off the Old Road which was of vital impor-tance to the Empire. The frontiers of the Bulgarian state reached as far as the River Hron (in present-day Slovakia) and the Bulgarians became neighbours of the Frankish Empire.

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