Thocomerius


Thocomerius, also Tihomir, was the father of Basarab, who would become the first independent voivode of Wallachia. Many Romanian historians, such as Vlad Georgescu and Marcel Popa, believe that Thocomerius was a voivode in Wallachia who succeeded Bărbat, who ruled around 1278; others, such as Tudor Sălăgean, refer to him as a local potentate whose status cannot be specified.
Thocomerius' name is only known from a diploma issued by King Charles I of Hungary on 26 November 1332. The diploma refers to "the schismatic Basarab, son of Thocomerius, our disloyal Vlach.".
The Hungarian László Rásonyi derives the name from a Cuman and Tatar name, Toq-tämir, and refers to a Chingisid prince, Toktomer'', mentioned in the Russian annals in 1295 as abiding in the Crimea. According to István Vásáry, even if Basarab’s father bore a Turkic name, this person can by no means be identified with a Chingisid prince, because being descended from Genghis Khan was a matter of such significance that no one could, or would have wanted, to conceal it.