Despotate of Dobruja

Despotate of Dobruja Добруджанско Деспотство (Bulgarian) Dobrudzhansko Despotstvo (Bulgarian)
1356–1411
Flag around 1350 mentioned by Spanish Franciscan friar probably belongs to Dobruja[A] Coat of arms of Terter dynasty (ruling despots)
The successors of the Second Bulgarian Empire after the death of Ivan Alexander[1]
Status	Principality Despotate
Capital	Karvuna (Balchik)
Common languages	Bulgarian, Romanian
Religion	Eastern Orthodox
Government	Hereditary monarchy
Despot / Prince
• 1340s-1347	Balik
• 1356-1386	Dobrotitsa
• 1385-1389, 1393-1399	Ivanko
Historical era	Late Middle Ages
• Established	1340s
• Conquest and incorporation into the Ottoman Empire	1411
Preceded by Succeeded by Second Bulgarian Empire Ottoman Empire
Today part of	Bulgaria Romania Ukraine

The Despotate of Dobruja or Principality of Karvuna (Bulgarian: Добруджанско деспотство or Карвунско княжество; Romanian: Despotatul Dobrogei or Țara Cărvunei) was a 14th-century quasi-independent Bulgarian polity in the region of modern Dobruja, that split off from the Second Bulgarian Empire under the influence of the Byzantine Empire. The Despotate of Dobruja existed from 1356 to 1411.

The principality's name is derived from the fortress of Karvuna (present-day Balchik, not to be confused with Karnava/Kavarna), mentioned in Bulgarian and Byzantine documents and Italian portolans of the 14th century as its first capital,^{[citation needed]} and located between Varna and Cape Kaliakra.

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