Triballi

The Seal of the Serbian Parliament, 1805

Golden pitcher from Vratsa

The term "Triballians" appears frequently in Byzantine and other European works of the Middle Ages, referring exclusively to Serbs.[15][16][17][18][19][20] Some of these authors clearly explain that "Triballian" is synonym to "Serbian".[21][22][23][24][25] For example, Niketas Choniates (or Acominatus, 1155–1215 or-16) in his history about Emperor Ioannes Komnenos: "... Shortly after this, he campaigned against the nation of Triballians (whom someone may call Serbians as well) ..."[26] or the much later Demetrios Chalkondyles (1423–1511), referring to an Islamized Christian noble: "... This Mahmud, son of Michael, is Triballian, which means Serbian, by his mother, and Greek by his father."[27] or Mehmed the Conqueror when referring to the plundering of Serbia.[28]

Mihailo Vojislavljević succeeded as Knez of "Duklja" in 1046, or as his realm was called by contemporary Cedrenus: "Triballorum ac Serborum principatum".[29] According to George Kedrenos (fl. 1050s) and John Skylitzes (fl. 1057), he was the Prince of Triballians and Serbs (Τριβαλλών και Σέρβων...αρχηγός[30]/ Τριβαλλῶν καὶ Σέρβων...ἀρχηγός).[31]

In the 15th century, a coat of arms of "Tribalia", depicting a wild boar with an arrow pierced through the head (see Boars in heraldry), appeared in the supposed Coat of Arms of Emperor Stefan Dušan 'the Mighty' (r. 1331–1355).[32] The motif had, in 1415, been used as the Coat of Arms of the Serbian Despotate and is recalled in one of Stefan Lazarević's personal Seals, according to the paper Сабор у Констанци.[33] Pavao Ritter Vitezović also depicts "Triballia" with the same motif in 1701[34] and Hristofor Zhefarovich again in 1741.[35]

Marin Barleti (1450–1513), wrote in his biography of Skanderbeg (published between 1508–10), that father of Skanderbeg's mother Voisava was a "Triballian nobleman" (pater nobilissimus Triballorum princeps).[36] In another chapter, when talking about the inhabitants of Upper Debar that defended Svetigrad, he calls them "Bulgarians or Triballi" (Bulgari sive Tribali habitant).[37]

With the beginning of the First Serbian Uprising, the Parliament adopted the Serbian Coat of Arms in 1805, their official seal depicted the heraldic emblems of Serbia and Tribalia.[38]

The written sources on the Triballi are scarce but the archaeological remains are abundant. The scientific research of the Triballi was boosted with Fanula Papazoglu's book The Central Balkan Tribes in Pre-Roman Times (1968 in Serbia, 1978 in English). Other historians and archaeologists who wrote on the Triballi include Milutin Garašanin, Dragoslav Srejović, Nikola Tasić, Rastko Vasić, Miloš Jevtić and, especially, Milorad Stojić (Tribali u arheologiji i istorijskim izvorima, 2017). Even though the two names were used as synonyms by some Byzantine sources and certain heraldic inheritance, Serbian official historiography is not equalizing the Serbs and the Triballi, nor does it fabricate a cultural continuity between the two.[6] Tribals and Tribalia are often identified in a historical context with Serbs and Serbia, as these interpretations refer only to Laonicus Chalcocondylus of the 15th century, who often resorted to archaisms in his historical writings that have come down to us (Mizi, Illyrians, etc.). ) to indicate the subjects of the individual rulers, without attaching ethnic meaning to their content.

• A male grave at Vratsa, with a female Thracian suttee. Dated to the 4th century BC, the royal tomb contains beautiful goldwork, like pitchers and wreaths.[6]

Archeological findings prove that the Triballi inhabited the Morava Valley (Great Morava and South Morava) region in the Iron Age.[39]

• In 2005, several possibly Triballi graves were found at the Hisar Hill in Leskovac, southeastern Serbia.[40]
• In June 2008, a Triballi grave was found together with ceramics (urns) in Požarevac, central-eastern Serbia.[41]
• Triballi tomb unearthed at Ljuljaci, west of Kragujevac, central Serbia.[42]