Salan, Dux Salanus or Zalan (Bulgarian and Serbian Cyrillic: Салан or Залан; Hungarian: Zalán) was, according to the Gesta Hungarorum, a Bulgarian voivod (duke) who ruled in the 9th century between Danube and Tisa rivers, mainly in the territory of present-day Bačka region of Serbia and Hungary. The capital city of his voivodship (duchy) was Titel. The exact northern border of his duchy is not clear: according to some sources, his duchy included only Bačka, [1] while according to other sources his duchy also included much of present-day central Hungary, present-day eastern Slovakia and part of present-day western Ukraine.[2]
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According to Gesta Hungarorum, Salan was a vassal of the Bulgarian tsar (Emperor), but it is not clear if he was of Bulgarian origin or from the local Slavic or Avar population. Serbian historian Dr Aleksa Ivić mention that Salan was an Slavic king.[3] The chronicle states that he was descendant of the Bulgarian Khan who conquered the territory up to the border of Russians and Poles after the death of Attila the Hun.
There is a theory that his name means "the salt man", so it could be a name given to him by the authors of the chronicles, describing the role he had: supplying salt for his suzerain (tsar Simeon the Great of Bulgaria).
At the time of Hungarian conquest (after 896), Hungarians attacked Salan's voivodship and Bulgarian tsar Simeon came to the aid to voivod Salan and even the Byzantine Emperor sent auxiliary troops against the Hungarians. The Hungarians defeated a united Bulgarian and Byzantine army led by Salan in the early 10th century on the plains of Alpar [1] and the voivodship of Salan fell under Hungarian rule.
The main historical source about duke Salan is a historical chronicle known as Gesta Hungarorum, written by Magister P., notary of Hungarian King Bela in the late 12th century. Gesta Hungarorum, however, is not considered to be a fully reliable source, thus the existence of Salan is questionable. However, the 10th century Lombard chronicler, Liudprand, also wrote about a Hungarian victory over the Bulgarians and the Byzantines in the early 10th century [2] and other sources also mention that area between Danube and Tisa was under Bulgarian rule, which confirm some claims from Gesta Hungarorum regarding the story about Salan.
