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Khan Malamir was the youngest son of Omurtag and ruled between 831 and 836. He maintained the peace with Byzantine and continued the persecution of Christians. Khan Presiyan succeeded his uncle Malamir to the throne, his right-hand man was the old Kav-Khan Isbul who had been the indispensable aide of his grandfather Omurtag. Perssian put an end to the peace with the Roman empire. The Slavic tribes within the empire were rebelling and their chiefs were looking north to Bulgaria where they could find protection together with other Slavs. Now that tells you how successful the policy of the Bulgar ruling elite was and how good relations were between the Slavs and Bulgars, even Slavs outside Bulgaria rebelled just to get to join Bulgaria! As soon an he ascended the throne in 837, Pressian sent his army under the command of Kav-Khan Isbul to the Aegean coast of Macedonia. There, they aided the Smolyans, whose revolt had shaken Byzantine rule in the Western Rhodopes and Aegean Thrace. When the emperor sent an army against the rebels, his forces were met by the Kav-Khan-led Bulgarian army. Inscriptions on stone plates tell of fierce battles at Philippi and Siar, the elation of the victories reflected in the engraved words: "Perssian, through the will of God ruler of many Bulgarians... The Bulgarian frontiers were now extended to the region of the Vardar, the Black Drin, Prilep, Ohrida, and part of the Struzmi region. This expansion brought the Bulgarians into contact with the Serbs, who in that period used to live in small principalities. In face of the increasing power of the Bulgarians they now united and defended their territories. It makes you wonder how Serbia's history would have turned out if the Serbs hadn't been motivated to unite because of Bulgaria. Perssian waged a war with the Serbs from 839 to 842, this was the first war in the history of the two countries' relations. The war did not result in any gain of territory for Bulgaria. Khan Persian annexed to Bulgaria its present-day mountains to the south: Rhodopes, Rila and Pirin, as well as the northern coast of the Aegian and Macedonia, including the towns Ohrid, Prilep and Bitola. Kossovo Pole also became part of Bulgaria. Thus in Khan Pressian's state, the Slavs from the "Bulgarian" group, inhabiting Moesia, Thrace and Macedonia achieved long-sought unity. Thus by 852 Bulgaria, comprising the territories of Panonnia {present-day Hungary}, Transilvania, Wallachia {present-day Romania}, Moldavia, Moesia, Thrace and Macedonia with their numerous inhabitants, became a European super-power.
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