Shishman's domain comprised "much of the Bulgarian land" as well as "adjacent countries", as reported by the account of Serbian archbishop Danilo [REF].Indeed, his lands constituted the largest autonomous region of Bulgaria at the time [REF].
In 1285, increasing Tatar pressure from the northeast had forced the Second Bulgarian Empire to come under the political dependence of Nogai Khan, the ruler of the Golden Horde [REF].