History of Banat - History - Hungarian Administration (early 10th Century - 16th Century)

16th Century)

Banat was administered by the Kingdom of Hungary from the 10th century up until 1552, when the region of Temesvár was taken by the Ottoman Empire. Before the Hungarian conquest, according to Gesta Hungarorum chronicle, a local Bulgarian ruler known as Glad ruled over Banat.

The area of the Timiș river was not the land of the Hungarian royal tribe, and from the middle of the 10th century - the weakening of the royal rule - the local Slavic-Bulgarian tribes began to pursue a more and more independent foreign policy. As a consequence, in the eastern part of the Pannonian basin, the Byzantine rite started to gain ground. This was halted with the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary, and István I's country-unitive efforts, who made the last local leader, Ahtum (Ajtony in other sources) bow. Ahtum was a semi-independent ruler of Banat and an Orthodox Christian.

In 1233, during administration of the Kingdom of Hungary, the Banat of Severin was formed and it included eastern parts of modern Banat. In the 14th century, the region became a number one priority, as the southern border of the Banat was the most important defensive line against Ottoman expansion.

• Duchy of Glad, 9th century

• Duchy of Ahtum, 11th century