Presian of Bulgaria (802-852) was the King of the First Bulgarian Empire from 836 to 852, succeeding Khan Malamir of Bulgaria and preceding Boris I of Bulgaria.
Biography[]
Presian was born in 802, and he was the son of Zvinica Omortagov, the son of Khan Omortag of Bulgaria and brother of Khan Malamir of Bulgaria. Presian's father died in 830, and Malamir died in 836, six years later. Therefore, his nephew Presian succeeded him as king when he died. Presian saw a threat in the consolidation of the Serbs into the Principality of Serbia (after the Byzantine Empire's Emperor Theophilos gave them independence), so from 839 to 842 he fought the Serbs. He made no territorial gains, was heavily defeated, and lost lots of his men to the Serbs. The war ended when Theophilos died, releasing the Serbs from their obligations to the Byzantines. When Presian died in 852, he was succeeded by Boris I of Bulgaria.