Decline
Under Ivan Asen II's successors, Bulgaria declined. The Mongols raided the Balkans in the early 13th century, devastating Bulgaria in 1242, and Bulgaria was forced to pay tribute to the Khans of the Golden Horde. After 1256 the Empire of Nicaea annexed southern Macedonia, Rhodope mountains and part of Thrace. The Hungarian kingdom occupied the province of Belgrade. Gradually Bulgaria lost control and traditional significant political influence over Wallachia, where the power of the regional nobles was strengthened and subsequently were established local kingdoms. By the reign of Michael II Asen (1246–1256), Bulgaria had lost significant territories to its enemies without any major military disaster, mostly due of the disloyal nobles who surrendered territories for personal enrichment. Under Constantine I Tikh the country lost northern and central Macedonia to Byzantium as well as Severin Banat to Hungary and the crisis drove to peasant war, raised by the swineherd Ivailo, who managed to sit on the Bulgarian throne from 1277 to 1280.
Ivailo achieved great military success against the external enemies: defeated the Byzantines in two major battles and temporarily drove away the Tatars from the northeastern parts of the Empire. However, he failed to cope with the aristocracy and was later killed. The Tatar hegemony continued to 1300, when after the death of Nogai Khan their khan Toktu ceded Bessarabia the new Bulgarian Emperor Theodore Svetoslav. But the Horde's claim on Bulgaria was still strong. This had positive economic effect. During the reign of Theodore Svetoslav Bulgaria regained much of its former strength and prestige. After a successful war against Byzantium he signed peace with continued to his death in 1322. Ozbeg Khan (1313–41) repeatedly raided Thrace, partly in service of Bulgaria's war against both Byzantium and Serbia from 1319. His armies pillaged Thrace for 40 days in 1324 and for 15 days in 1337, taking 300,000 captives. After Ozbeg's death in 1341, his successors did not continue his aggressive policy and contacts with Bulgaria lapsed.
Read more about this topic: Second Bulgarian Empire
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