Terter

The House of Terter was a Bulgarian royal house of Cuman origin, descended from the Terteroba clan of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. The clan settled in Bulgaria after 1241. George seized the Bulgarian throne as George Terter I in 1280.

When George stepped down in 1292 the country fell under the Golden Horde, which imposed puppet rulers until George's son Theodore Svetoslav overthrew the Mongol-backed Chaka in 1300 and restored the dynasty. Theodore Svetoslav retook northeastern fortresses, curbed separatist nobles and executed the patriarch Joachim III, leaving a stable, enlarged realm to his son George Terter II.

George's early death in 1323 ended the line on the throne, and the crown passed to the Shishman dynasty of Vidin. Through marriage the Terterids entered Balkan politics: Anna became queen of Stefan Uroš II Milutin of Serbia.