ABSTRACT
The reign of Ivan Asen II is considered the heyday of the Second Bulgarian Empire. Due to the favourable circumstances and his strong leadership, Bulgaria emerged as the strongest political power in the European southeast. An intriguing information is also preserved in the ‘Rhymed Chronicle’ of Phillipe Mouskes from Tournai, according to which unnamed ‘king of the Vlachs’ (obviously Bulgarians) had a fierce fight with the Tatars on their return and managed to defeat them in a mountain pass. The settlement of the Tatars in northwest Bulgaria is attested in toponymy, particularly in the name of the village ‘Tatarlar’, recorded in the Ottoman dephter for the Sanjak of Vidin from 1455, but undoubtedly of an earlier date. Archaeological findings reveal that there were other prominent Tatars (or Alans) who distinguished themselves in the Bulgarian service during the first half of the fourteenth century. In such a way, the hegemony of the Golden Horde in the region ended.
