Battle of the Rishki Pass
| Battle of the Rishki Pass | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars | |||||||
 Rishki pass | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Bulgarian Empire | Byzantine Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Vinekh | Constantine V[1] | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 12,000 | 30,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 500-700 | 10,000-15,000 | ||||||
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Byzantine–Bulgarian wars
Early wars
- Ongal
- 1st Anchialus
- 1st Marcellae
- Rishki Pass
- 2nd Anchialus
- Litosoria
- 2nd Marcellae
Krum's campaigns
- Serdica
- Pliska
- Debeltos
- Versinikia
- 1st Adrianople
- Burdizon
Simeon I's campaigns
- War of 894–896
- Boulgarophygon
- War of 913–927
- Achelous
- Katasyrtai
- Pegae
- Constantinople
Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria
- 1st Arcadiopolis
- Dorostolon
Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria
- Trajan's Gates
- 1st Thessalonica
- Spercheios
- Skopje
- 2nd Thessalonica
- Kreta
- 3rd Thessalonica
- Kleidion
- Strumitsa
- Bitola
- Setina
- Dyrrhachium
- 4th Thessalonica
- 5th Thessalonica
- Ostrovo
- Lovech
- Tryavna
- 2nd Arcadiopolis
- Serres
- Varna
- Klokotnitsa
- 2nd Adrianople
- Uprising of Ivaylo
- Devina
- Skafida
- Rusokastro
The Battle of the Rishki Pass (Bulgarian: Битката при Ришкия проход) or Battle of Veregava took place in the pass of the same name, in Stara Planina, Bulgaria in 759. It was fought between the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire. The result was a Bulgarian victory.[1][2]
Origins of the conflict
Between 755 and 775, the Byzantine emperor Constantine V organised nine campaigns to eliminate Bulgaria and although he managed to defeat the Bulgarians several times, he never achieved his goal.
The battle
In 759, the emperor led an army towards Bulgaria, but Khan Vinekh had enough time to bar several mountain passes. When the Byzantines reached the Rishki Pass (identification tentative, originally εἰς Βερεγάβαν, εἰς τήν κλεισȣ́ραν ‘to the klisura of Veregava’) they were ambushed and completely defeated. The Byzantine historian Theophanes the Confessor wrote that the Bulgarians killed the strategos of Thrace Leo, the commander of Drama, and many soldiers.
Aftermath
Khan Vinekh did not take the favourable opportunity to advance on enemy territory and sued for peace. This act was very unpopular among the nobles and the Khan was murdered in 761.
References
- ^ a b Rise and Fall of the First Bulgarian Empire - Zenith of Bulgaria and Serbia - Turkish Conquest. In: Cambridge Medieval History, vol. IV, chaps. VIII - XVII - XVIII.
- ^ Miller, William. The Rise and Fall of the First Bulgarian Empire.
Further reading
- Stoyanov, Aleksandr (July 2019). "The Size of Bulgaria's Medieval Field Armies: A Case Study of Military Mobilization Capacity in the Middle Ages". Journal of Military History. 83 (3): 719–746.
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