Krum

Lore & Background

Krum was born around the middle of the 8th century, but his family background and the circumstances of his accession are unknown. It has been speculated that Krum might have been a descendant of Khan Kubrat through his son Kuber. Krum engaged in a policy of territorial expansion. Krum mobilized soldiers, women, and peasants, trapping and wiping out the Byzantine army in the Varbitsa Pass; Nikephoros was killed, and Krum reportedly had his skull lined with silver and used it as a drinking cup. Krum continued his campaigns against Byzantine emperors Michael I Rangabe and Leo V the Armenian. After a failed assassination attempt by Leo V, Krum ordered the looting of churches and the capture of Adrianople.

Reader's Guide

Krum's significance lies in his transformative impact on the First Bulgarian Empire. He doubled its territory, extending from the middle Danube to the Dnieper and from Odrin to the Tatra Mountains, and established a common border with the Frankish Empire, shaping future geopolitics. His military campaigns resulted in the defeat of three Byzantine emperors—Nikephoros I, Michael I Rangabe, and Leo V the Armenian—and brought the empire to the brink of capturing Constantinople. Krum is also remembered for instituting the first known written Bulgarian law code, which ensured subsidies to beggars and state protection to all poor Bulgarians, and severely punished drinking of alcohol, slander, and robbery. Through his laws, he became known as a strict but just ruler, bringing Slavs and Bulgars into a centralized state.

Did You Know?

• Krum's name may come from the Old Turkic qurum, meaning 'ruler'.
• After defeating Nikephoros I, Krum reportedly had the emperor's skull lined with silver and used it as a drinking cup.
• Krum instituted the first known written Bulgarian law code, which established strict penalties for theft and false accusations, and aimed to unify legal practices across his realm.

The Turbulent Succession of 814–815

When Khan Krum died unexpectedly at roughly thirty-five to forty years of age, his son Omurtag was still very young, leaving a dangerous power vacuum at the head of the Bulgarian state. Dukum, Krum's probable brother and a man with substantial political and military experience, appears to have assumed supreme authority for a brief period—perhaps only a month or two. His death came under mysterious circumstances, and no definitive explanation has survived; some scholars have even floated the possibility that Omurtag himself played a role in it. Dukum was followed by Ditzeng, who also perished shortly under unclear conditions. The entire interregnum lasted mere weeks or months, yet it left a complicated and contested trace in the historical record.

A Century of Scholarly Dispute

For much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the dominant view in Bulgarian historiography was straightforward: Omurtag succeeded his father Krum directly, with no intervening rulers. This position was reinforced by an inscription commissioned by Omurtag's own son and successor Malamir, which named only Krum and Omurtag in the dynastic line. However, a group of scholars, including the prominent academician Konstantin Jireček, challenged this simplicity, arguing that two or even three monarchs had briefly held power in the gap. Steven Runciman offered a middle reading, suggesting these figures might have been leaders of rebel factions who temporarily controlled the government at Pliska rather than legitimate khans. The prevailing consensus eventually settled on the idea that they were military commanders whom Byzantine chroniclers mistakenly elevated to the status of rulers.

Commander at the Center of the Bulgarian Army

If Dukum was indeed the brother of Krum referenced in contemporary inscriptions, his military significance was considerable. He took part in the pivotal battle of Versinikia, where the Bulgarians achieved a decisive victory over Byzantine forces. In the immediate aftermath, the two brothers divided their responsibilities: Dukum was entrusted with the siege of Adrianople, while Krum himself drove a more ambitious push toward the Byzantine capital, Constantinople. A few weeks later, the two forces converged, and Constantinople was eventually captured. The chronicler Theophanes the Confessor, writing in the early ninth century, identified Krum's brother as his first associate in the wars against Byzantium, though he did not trouble to name him—presuming the reader would already know. This unnamed but prominent figure is widely understood to be Dukum, whose military merits were later highlighted by Krum himself in the contemporary Malamirovo inscription.

Reading the Gaps in Byzantine and Bulgarian Sources

Reconstructing Dukum's brief life is an exercise in working with fragmentary and often unreliable testimony. The principal sources, such as the Menologion of Basil II, belong to the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Byzantine imperial chancellery, meaning they were composed in a later period and filtered through a foreign bureaucratic lens. Theophanes the Confessor mentions Krum's brother as a key wartime companion but omits his name entirely, apparently assuming it was common knowledge. The Malamirovo inscription, a contemporary Bulgarian text, references Krum's military associates and highlights the brother's merits, yet it does not provide a clear dynastic sequence. Yet the total absence of Dukum from Malamir's dynastic inscription, and the silence of most other records, leaves his exact status—regent, co-ruler, or brief independent khan—permanently uncertain.