The Battle of Pliska which is better known in Bulgaria as the Battle in Vъrbitsa Pass (Bulgarian: Битката във Върбишкия проход) was a series of battles between Bulgaria governed by knyaz Krum, and troops gathered from all parts of the Byzantine Empire led by the Emperor Nicephorus I Genik. The Byzantines plundered and burned the Bulgar capital Pliska which gave time for the Bulgars to block passes in the Balkan Mountain that served as exits out of Bulgaria. The decisive battle took place on July 26, 811, in some of the passes in the Eastern Balkan Mountain, most probably the Vărbitsa Pass. There, the Bulgars used the tactics of ambush and surprise night attack to effectively trap and immobilize the Byzantine Army, thus annihilating almost the whole army, including the Emperor. After the battle, Krum encased Nicephorus's skull in silver, and used it as a cup for wine-drinking. This is probably the best documented instance of the custom of the skull cup.
Bulgarian language takes а prominent place in comparative linguistics and constitutes an important link in the chain of Indo-European languages. The historical study of Bulgarian language is important not only to Bulgarians but to all other Slavs, too, because it answers many questions about the history of all Slavic languages. Bulgarian language prides itself with very old written monuments: Slavic linguistics would not be as advanced as it is now without these Old Bulgarian manuscripts; it would not be so useful to the general comparative linguistics if there wasn't Old Bulgarian language, preserved and transferred to us through millenia clearly and accurately with its living pronunciation in Bulgarian dialects.
