In the account of Theophanes, Balgitzin was the Khazar tudun of Phanagoria during the sojourn of Justinian II in that town. He was dispatched, along with Papatzys, by Busir Khagan to kill Justinian in 704, after Busir was bribed by Tiberius III. Justinian's Khazar wife Theodora warned him in advance and Justinian escaped by sea, but not before murdering both Papatzys and Balgitzin. Theophanes (died 817 or 818) was a Byzantine monk and chronicler. ... The Khazars were a Turkic semi-nomadic people from Central Asia who adopted Judaism. ... In pre-Islamic Turkic empires, particularly those of the Gokturks and the Khazars, a tudun was a governor resident in a town or other settlement. ... Ancient Greek colony on the penninsula between the Black Sea and the Azov, roughly on the site of modern Tmutarakan. ... Justinian II, known as Rhinotmetus (the Split-nosed) (669-711) was Byzantine emperor from 685 to 695 and again from 704 to 711. ... Busir or Busir Glavan (in Greek, Ibouzir or Ibousiros Gliabanos, Khagan of the Khazars in the late 600s and early 700s. ... Khagan, alternatively spelled Chagan, Qaqan etc. ... Tiberius III (d. ...

Some scholars, notably Peter B. Golden, have speculated that Balgitzin is not a proper name but rather a title, identical with Baliqchi