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Voivodship (Duchy) of Glad

Glad (Bulgarian and Serbian Cyrillic: Глад) was, according to the Gesta Hungarorum, a voivod (dux) from Bundyn (Vidin), ruler of the territory of Banat, during the 9th and 10th centuries. He also ruled part of south Transylvania, and Vidin region, and was a local governor or vassal of the First Bulgarian Empire under Bulgarian tsar Simeon. Glad had authority over the Slavs and Vlachs, which consisted most of the population of mentioned regions at the time.

Glad was defeated by the Hungarians during the 10th century. The Hungarians sent an army against duke Glad and subdued the population between the Morisio (Mureş) and Temes (Timiş) rivers. When they tried to pass the Timiş river Glad came against them with a great army including Cuman, Bulgarian and Vlach support. [1] On the following day Glad was defeated by the Hungarians. The Hungarian attack against the duke Glad in Banat is dated in 934.

One of his descendants, Ahtum, was a duke of Banat and the last ruler who opposed to the establishment of the Hungarian Kingdom in the 11th century, but he was too, defeated by the Hungarian Crown.

In Banat there are still today villages Gladna and Galad, which probably were named after duke Glad. Town Kladovo near Danube in Serbia was probably also named after duke Glad (the original name of this town could be Gladovo, with meaning "a place that belong to Glad" in the Slavic languages). In the 15th century, near the river Zlatica in Banat, a fortress Galad was built. This fortress gained that name because place where it was founded was named Galad. There was also a record about Glad monastery (Galadmonostra) in 1426.

The origin of the name Glad is likely of Slavic origin, thought meaning of the name is not clear, though in the Balkans there are many places with names similar to name Glad could be found in area, where the earliest Slavic names appeared: Gladnica, Gladnić, Gladnik, Gladojević, Gladović, Gladovići, Glade, Gladov do, Gladova vrtača, Gladov vrh, Gladov krš (all in Republika Srpska), Gladište (in Montenegro), Gladišev Dol (in Metohia).

The Romanian historian Neagu Djuvara suggests that Glad probably was a Bulgarian by origin which could be confirmed by the fact that since the rule of Khan Omurtag (814-831) the governors of the Bulgarian provinces were chosen among the ruler's closest nobles, not from the local population.

Main historical source about duke Glad is historical chronicle known as Gesta Hungarorum, written by Peter, a high priest in Buda, during the time of Hungarian King Bela III in the late 12th century.

• Jovan M. Pejin, Iz prošlosti Kikinde, Kikinda, 2000.
• Prof.dr Radmilo Petrović, Vojvodina, Beograd, 2003.
• O scurta istorie a romanilor, povestita celor tineri de Neagu Djuvara, Bucuresti, 2002 (Translated into Serbian as Njagu Đuvara, Kratka istorija Rumuna za mlade, Novi Sad, 2004).
• Halasi-Kun, T. The Realm of Glad/Gilad, Precursor of Ajtony According to Some Ottoman Data. – In: Turkish-Bulgarian-Hungarian Relations (VI.-XI c.). Budapest, 1981 (Studia Turco-Hungarica, 5), 113-118.

• Banat
• Rulers of Vojvodina

• The "Gesta Hungarorum" and the Romanian continuity theory
• The Romanians in the work of anonymous notary
• A critical analysis of the theory of continuity
• Duchy of Glad (map)
• Duchy of Glad (map)
• Duchy of Glad (map)