Ne piše u izvoru da je kroz Hrvatsku prošao na putu ka Kotoru. Niketa Honijat spominje dve Nemanjine akcije, počeo je prisvajati Hrvatsku i nametnuo svoju vlast nad Kotorom.
Sad kad sam malo pregledao, vrlo mi je interesantna hipoteza Mladena Aničića koju je izneo nedavno, 2018. godine:
Dux nomine Reles: How Did Emanuel Komnenos’ Imperial Machine Function?
The starting point of this discussion is the story told by the chronicler of Split, Thomas the Archdeacon. Among many other stories Thomas used in his work, one is about a certain Duke Relja – dux Relles. Thomas speaks of a mysterious duke who attacked his city, Split, whose attack was repelled by the citizens. The story is clearly situated in the timeframe that covers Byzantine rule in Dalmatia during the 1160’s and 1170’s. Because he speaks about events that happened almost a century before his time, Thomas simply reproduces his source without providing context. That led him to the conclusion that Relja, who was clearly called uir Sclavigena in his source, must have been a local Croatian strongman – quidam Chrouatorum dux. My contention is that Thomas misunderstood his source and that dux Relles was in fact the commander of the Serbian detachment that took part in the Byzantine expedition to Dalmatia in 1165. After a small Hungarian detachment captured Niceta Caloupha, the Byzantine administrator of the newly acquired province of Dalmatia in 1166, dux Relles evidently tried to take advantage of the situation and acquire territory for his overlord, the Serbian grand župan Stefan Nemanja. Discussing relevant sources covering those events sheds new light on the subject of the military organization of Emanuel Komnenos’ expeditions.
Split je otprilike u ovo vreme napadao i pokušao osvojiti neki
knez Relja. Nakon što su Ugri zarobili vizantijskog upravnika Dalmacije Nikefora Halupu, Relja je pokušao da iskoristi situaciju i bezuspešno napadao Split. Po Aničiću, rešenje je da je knez Relja bio Nemanjin vazal koji je izvršio ovu akciju ka Splitu u sklopu generalnog Nemanjinog prodora na Jadran, a to bi se odista savršeno uklopilo u Honijatove informacije o Nemanji koji je bio počeo sa podvrgavanjem Hrvatske. Ovu interpretaciju podržao je kasnije i Ivan Majnarić.