David (died 976) was a Bulgarian

Bulgarians

The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...

 noble, brother of Emperor Samuil

Samuil of Bulgaria

Samuel was the Emperor of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 6 October 1014. From 980 to 997, he was a general under Roman I of Bulgaria, the second surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria, and co-ruled with him, as Roman bestowed upon him the command of the army and the effective royal...

 and eldest son of Comita Nikola

Comita Nikola

Nikola the Comes was a father of counts David and Samuel. His son Samuel ruled as emperor of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 1014.-Family tree:-Literature:...

. After the disastrous invasion of Rus' armies and the fall of North-eastern Bulgaria under Byzantine

Byzantine

Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

 occupation in 971, he and his three younger brothers took the lead of the defence of the country. They executed their power together and each of them governed and defended a separate region. He ruled the southern-most parts of the realm from Prespa

Prespa

Prespa is a region in Republic of Macedonia. It shares the same name with the two Prespa lakes which are situated in the middle of the region. The largest town is Resen with 9,000 inhabitants....

 and Kostur and was responsible for the defence the dangerous borders with Solun and Thessaly

Thessaly

Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....

. In 976 he participated in the major assault against the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 but was killed by vagrant Vlachs between Prespa and Kostur.

Family tree

However, there's also another version about David’s origin. David gains the title "comes" during his service in the Byzantine army which recruited many Armenians

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

 from the Eastern region of the empire. The 11th century historian Stepanos Asoghik wrote that Samuel had one brother, and they were Armenians from the district Derjan

Tercan

Tercan is a town and district of Erzincan Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The district covers an area of and its total population is 20,072 in which 6,646 live in the town of Tercan....

.This version is supported by the historians Nicholas Adontz

Nicholas Adontz

Nicholas Adontz was a prominent Armenian historian, specialist of Byzantine and Armenian studies, and philologist. Adontz was the author of the Armenia in the Period of Justinian, a highly influential work and landmark study on the social and political structures of early Medieval Armenia.-Early...

, Jordan Ivanov, and Samuil's Inscription

Samuil's Inscription

The image on the right represents the content found on the tombstone of Samuel of Bulgaria's parents cited by several historians such as, F. Uspenskiĭ, Ĭor. Ivanov, and N. Adontz. Тhe letters that appear in brackets are faded away, and have been reconstructed...

  where it’s said that Samuel’s brother is David. Also, the historians Yahya and Al Makin

George Elmacin

George Elmacin , also known as Ibn Amid, was an Arabic Christian historian.-Life:The details of his life come from passages at the end of his own history. He was born in Cairo in Egypt in 1205. His full name in Arabic was Ğirğis ibn Abī Ùl-Yāsir ibn Abī Ùl-Mukārīm ibn Abī Ùt.-T. ayyib al-ÿAmīd ...

clearly distinguish the race of Samuel and David (the Comitopouli) from the one of Moses and Aaron (the royal race). Check out:

• Simeon I of Bulgaria had several daughters and four sons:

1. Michael.

2. Peter I of Bulgaria (married to an Armenian Irina (Maria)/ Boris, Roman.

3. Ivan (married to an Armenian in Caesarea)/ Moses, Aaron/ John (Ivan) Vladislav.

4. Benjamin (Bajan).

• Comes Nikolas had two sons:

1.David.

2.Samuel/ Gabriel (Gavril Radomir) and several other children.