tribal confederation · Balkans and Hungary

Severians (Balkan)

600 CE – 681 CE (approx.)

Slavic tribe in north-eastern Bulgaria whom the Bulgars under Asparuh placed to guard the eastern passes of the Balkan Mountains.

Origins

Known mainly from Byzantine chronicles, the Severi were a Slavic tribe that settled in Moesia in the 7th century, in the area between the Danube delta and the eastern Balkan Mountains.

Rule and society

They lived as a tribal people under their own chiefs. When the Bulgars arrived under Asparuh in 680–681, Theophanes records that the Severi were moved to guard the passes towards Byzantium, while the Seven Slavic Tribes held other borders.

Decline and legacy

They became part of the First Bulgarian Empire, keeping their own leaders for some time; in the 760s the Byzantine emperor Constantine V captured Slavun, chief of the Severi. They then merged into the Bulgarian population.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

Severians (Balkan)First Bulgarian Empire 681 CE – 1018 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Severians (Balkan). In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/severians-balkan
MLA
“Severians (Balkan).” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/severians-balkan. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Severians (Balkan).” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/severians-balkan.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Severians (Balkan)’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/severians-balkan (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻