Gradar
The gradar was a lower-ranking official attested in the Mraka and Rila charters. Although the title has sometimes been interpreted as “gardener,” the office was more probably connected with mobilizing labor or supervising the construction and repair of fortifications.
The term gradar is Slavic and occurs in only two known Bulgarian royal charters, those of Mraka and Rila. An older interpretation connects it with the word “gardener.” A derivation from the verb meaning “to build” or “to construct” is more convincing, however. The scant evidence does not permit the office’s precise emergence, development, or disappearance to be traced.
The gradar’s probable activity can be understood through the obligation called gradozidanie. This was an angaria, or compulsory labor service imposed on the population, for building and repairing fortresses and other defensive works. A comparable obligation appears in Serbian royal documents and corresponds to the Byzantine kastroktisia (καστροκτισία). The gradar’s inclusion in the protective formulas of charters indicates that his actions could burden people or estates exempted from such services.
It is not known whether the gradar assembled builders and other laborers, supervised the construction itself, or performed both tasks. His position near the end of lists of officials indicates that he did not belong to the empire’s senior or influential officeholders. Because the evidence is limited, identifying him simply as a “gardener” remains uncertain, whereas an association with fortress construction provides a more coherent explanation of the institution.