Smolyani

The Smolyani (Bulgarian: смоляни; in Byzantine sources Smolenoi or Smoleanoi) were a medieval Slavic tribe that settled in the Rhodope Mountains, the valley of the Mesta River and the region around Blagoevgrad Province, possibly in the 7th–8th century. The tribe revolted against the Byzantine authorities of Constantinople in 837 and were supported by Bulgarian ruler Presian, who, together with his deputy Kavhan Isbul, crossed the lands of the Smolyani and conquered the territory as far south as Philippi, including most of Macedonia.^[1]

Etymology

Their name etymologically derives from Proto-Slavic word "smola" ('resin'), with same derivation being ethnonym of the West Slavic tribe of Smeldingi and the East Slavic toponym of the city of Smolensk.^[1] The city of Smolyan in southern Bulgaria is named after this tribe.

References

^ Komatina, Predrag (2019). "Рани јужнословенски етноними и питање порекла и постанка јужнословенских племена" [Early South Slavic Ethnonyms and the Issue of Origin and Genesis of the South Slavic Tribes]. Наслеђе и стварање Свети Ћирило: Свети Сава 869-1219-2019 I (in Serbian). Belgrade: Institute of the Serbian Language of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-86-82873-70-9.

Collective (2002). Balgarska entsiklopediya A-YA (in Bulgarian). Sofia: IK Trud.

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[Komatina2019-1] Komatina, Predrag (2019). "Рани јужнословенски етноними и питање порекла и постанка јужнословенских племена" [Early South Slavic Ethnonyms and the Issue of Origin and Genesis of the South Slavic Tribes]. Наслеђе и стварање Свети Ћирило: Свети Сава 869-1219-2019 I (in Serbian). Belgrade: Institute of the Serbian Language of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-86-82873-70-9.

[1]

Etymology

See also

References