Overview
Omurtag, son of Krum, turned the conquests of his father into a settled state. His Greek-language inscriptions, more than those of any other Bulgar ruler, style him 'kanasubigi Omurtag, ruler from God', the clearest record of the Bulgar ruler's title.
Rise to Power
He succeeded his father at the end of 814 or early in 815. Byzantine saints' lives name two short-lived rulers between them, Dukum and Ditzevg, but most historians now think Omurtag followed Krum directly.
Rule and Achievements
- Made a thirty-year peace treaty with Byzantium in 815 and fixed the border in Thrace
- Helped Emperor Michael II against the rebel Thomas the Slav in 823
- Fought the Franks over the middle Danube in the 820s
- Built a palace on the Danube and rebuilt Pliska; his inscriptions record his buildings and his officials
Legacy
He died in 831 and was succeeded by his youngest son Malamir. One of his inscriptions reflects on mortality: even a man who lives well dies, and another is born.