Mongol invasion of Bulgaria and Serbia

During the Mongol invasion of Europe, Mongol tumens led by Batu Khan and Kadan invaded Serbia and then Bulgaria in the spring of 1242 after defeating the Hungarians at the Battle of Mohi and ravaging the Hungarian regions of Croatia, Dalmatia, and Bosnia.

Initially, the troops of Kadan moved south along the Adriatic Sea into Serbian territory. Then, turning east, it crossed the centre of the country—plundering as it went—and entered Bulgaria, where it was joined by the rest of the army under Batu. The campaigning in Bulgaria probably happened mainly in the north, where archaeology yields evidence of destruction from this period. The Mongols did, however, cross Bulgaria to attack the Latin Empire to its south before withdrawing completely. Bulgaria was forced to pay tribute to the Mongols, and this continued thereafter.

Background

Relations between Hungary and Serbia were poor on the eve of the Mongol invasion. The Serbian king, Stefan Vladislav, had married Beloslava, daughter of Tsar Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria, in 1234 in an effort to form an anti-Hungarian alliance. By the time of the Mongol invasion, however, there were good relations between Hungary and Bulgaria. The Bulgarian tsar, the child Kaliman I, was a nephew of the Hungarian king, Béla IV, being the son of Béla's sister, Anna Maria, and Ivan Asen II. Around 1240, facing the threat of Mongol invasion, the Hungarians, Bulgarians, and Cumans may have entered into an alliance, as evidenced by the presence in that year of a Bulgarian emissary at Béla IV's court.