Battle of Southern Buh

Infobox Military Conflict


caption=
conflict=Battle of Southern Buh
partof=Bulgarian-Hungarian Wars
date=896
place=Southern Buh river, Ukraine
result=Decisive Bulgarian victory
combatant1=Bulgarian Empire
combatant2=the Magyars
commander1=Boris I, Simeon I
commander2=Unknown
strength1=Very large army
strength2=Unknown
casualties1=20,000
casualties2=Unknown

The Battle of Southern Buh occurred near the banks of the so called river, in modern Ukraine. The result was a great Bulgarian victory which forced the Magyars to leave forever the steppes of southern Ukraine and to establish the Kingdom of Hungary a hundred years later.

Origins of the conflict

In 894 a war broke out between Bulgaria and Byzantium due to the Emperor moving the marketplace for Bulgarian goods from Constantinople to Thessaloniki, which meant higher taxes on Bulgarian trade. In the same year Simeon I defeated the Byzantines near Odrin and they turned to their old method for such situations: they bribed the Magyars to attack Bulgaria from the northeast. In 895 they crossed the Danube and were victorious over the Bulgarians twice. Simeon I withdrew to Silistra, which he successfully defended. In 896 he persuaded the Pechenegs to help him and while the Magyars were fighting with them to the east he and his father Boris I who left the monastery for this occasion gathered an enormous army and marched to the north eastern borders of the country.

The battle

Simeon I ordered a three day fast, said that the soldier should repent for their sins and to seek help in God. When this was done, the battle began. It was long and unusually fierce but in the end the Bulgarians were victorious.

Aftermath

The victory allowed Simeon to lead his troops to the south where he decisively defeated the Byzantines in the battle of Bulgarophygon. After this a peace was signed which solved the economic issues in favour of the Bulgarians and Byzantium ceded the territory between the Strandzha mountains and the Black Sea to Bulgaria. It took around 4 years for the Magyars to recover fully from the defeat.