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THE SAMUIL'S STATE

1. The Bitola inscription of tsar Ioan Vladislav in which he explicitly declares himself "Bulgarian by birth".

2. The fact that Simeon's grandson Roman was the nominal ruler of that state in Skopje, where he built the "Sveti Georgi Brzi" monastery, until 991, when he was captured in battle by the Greeks; Samuil proclaimed himself a tsar only in 997 AD, when Roman died in the Byzantine dungeon.

3. The fact that the state organization exactly copied the organization of the 1st Bulgarian empire from the pre-Christian times, i.e. the high officials had proto-Bulgarian ("Tartar") titles; the same was in Petar Deljan's state; the same was during the Georgi Voiteh's and Konstantin Bodin's uprising of 1072.

4. The fact that on account of vanquishing Samuil Basil II was called "Bulgaroctonos" - Bulgar slayer and not Macedonian slayer; Basil II himself was Macedonian, from the theme Macedonia in nowaday Thrace where the remnants of the ancient Macedonians were resettled.

5. The fact that the conqured lands of Samuil's empire were designated "theme Bulgaria" whereas the Northern Bulgarian lands were called "Paristrion" - Danubian region.

6. The fact that Basil II granted autonomy to the Ohrid archbishopric under the name "Archbishopric of Bulgaria" as it was known until 1767.

7. The fact that later Bulgarian royal family members of the 2nd Bulgarian empire claimed lineage from Samuil's dynasty.

8. The fact that Samuil and his state were named Bulgarian by all contemporary and later chronographers and historians.

9. The fact that the act of the assimilation of the proto-Bulgars by the Slavs had already finished by the beginning of the 10th century, so the Slavs can't have rebelled against the Bulgarians; nevertheless, no historian describes those people as Slavs, everywhere they are presented as Bulgars.

by: http://www.bulgaria.com/VMRO/drzhava.htm