History of early Ottoman Bulgaria
Encyclopedia
The history of Ottoman Bulgaria spans nearly 500 years, from the conquest of the Second Bulgarian Empire
by the Ottoman Empire
in 1396, to its liberation
in 1878. Bulgarian territories were administrated as the Rumelia Eyalet
. The Ottoman rule was a period marked by oppression and misgovernment and represents a deviation of Bulgaria's development as a Christian European state. A process of cultural revival occurred with the weakening of the Ottoman administration after 1700, which ultimately resulted in an organized, armed struggle for liberation. As a result of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), Bulgaria regained its freedom but was divided into the Principality of Bulgaria
, a self-governing Ottoman vassal state, and the vilayet of Eastern Rumelia
. It was reunified
in 1885 and recognized as a fully independent state in 1908.
accountable to the Beylerbey. Significant part of the conquered land was parceled out to the Sultan
's followers, who held it as benefices fiefs (small timars, medium ziyamet and large hases) directly from him, or from the Beylerbegs. That category of land could not be sold or inherited, but reverted to the Sultan when the fiefholder died. The lands were organized as private possessions of the Sultan or Ottoman nobility, called "mülk", and also as economic base for religious foundations, called vakιf
and other people. Bulgarians gave multiple regularly paid taxes as a tithe ("yushur"), a capitation tax (jizyah), a land tax ("ispench"), a levy on commerce and so on and also various group of irregularly collected taxes, products and corvees ("avariz").
In the Ottoman Empire, Christian subjects (known as “gavurs
”, deformed version of "kuffar" plural form of Arabic kafir, i.e. non-believers) had a legal, tributary and judicial status different from those of Muslims
The Ottomans did not normally require the Christians to become Muslims. Nevertheless, there were many cases of individual or mass conversion, especially in the Rhodopes. According to Thomas Walker Arnold
Islam was not spread by force in the areas under the control of the Ottoman Sultan. Rather, Arnold concludes by quoting a 17th century author who stated:
Non-Muslims did not serve in the Sultan's army. The exception to this were some groups of the population with specific statute, usually used for auxiliary or rear services, and the infamous blood tax (кръвен данък), also known as devşirme, whereby every fifth young boy was taken to be trained as a warrior of the Empire. These boys went through harsh religious and military training that turned them into an elite corps subservient to the Sultan. These corps were called Janissaries (yeni çeri or "new soldier") and were an elite and loyal unit of the Ottoman army. Recruits were sometimes gained through voluntarily accessions, as some parents were often eager to have their children enroll in the Janissary service that ensured them a successful career and comfort.
After the Ottoman conquest all major centers of Bulgarian culture were destroyed, most of the written works were lost and the educated clergy that survived escaped to other Slavic countries. Bulgarian culture entered a long period of slumber, during which it was isolated from many of the processes that occurred throughout the rest of Europe.
as the leader of the Orthodox Christian peoples (millet
) of his empire. The independent Bulgarian Patriarchate was suppressed, and the Patriarch of Constantinople given control of the Bulgarian Church. The autonomous Ochrid Archbishopric
was abolished in 1767. This remained a source of discontent throughout the Ottoman period. Since few outside the church were literate, the dominance of the Greek clergy led to the decline of Bulgarian elite culture. There was not a single pure Bulgarian-language modern school in the country until 1835.
for several years. The earliest evidence of continued local resistance dates from before 1450. Radik (alternatively Radich) was recognised by the Ottomans as a voyvoda of the Sofia region in 1413, but later he turned against them and is regarded as the first haydut
in Bulgarian history. More than a century later, two Tarnovo uprisings occurred - in 1598 (First Tarnovo Uprising
) and 1686 (Second Tarnovo Uprising
) around the old capital Tarnovo. Those were followed by the Catholic Chiprovtsi Uprising
in 1688 and insurrection in Macedonia
led by Karposh in 1689, both provoked by the Austrians
as part of their long war with the Ottomans. All of the uprisings were unsuccessful and were drowned in blood. Most of them resulted in massive waves of exiles, often numbering hundreds of thousands. In 1739 the Treaty of Belgrade
between Austrian empire
and the Ottoman Empire
ended Austrian interest in the Balkans for a century. But by the 18th century the rising power of Russia
was making itself felt in the area. The Russians, as fellow Orthodox Slavs, could appeal to the Bulgarians in a way that the Austrians could not. The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca
of 1774 gave Russia the right to interfere in Ottoman affairs to protect the Sultan's Christian subjects.
in the 18th and 19th century as part of a region-wide trend, an autonomous Bulgarian Church was established in 1870, the Bulgarian Exarchate
, which was the result of a decade-long struggle with the Ottoman and Greek authorities and paved the way to the Bulgarian independence.
Armed resistance to the Ottoman rule escalated in the third quarter of the 19th century and reached its climax with the massive April Uprising
of 1876 that covered much of the ethnically Bulgarian territories of the empire and was suppressed by Ottoman troops, taking the lives of many. The uprising was a reason for the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 that ended with the establishment of an independent Bulgarian state in 1878, albeit far smaller than what Bulgarians had hoped and what was projected by the preliminary Treaty of San Stefano
of 1878.
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...
by the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in 1396, to its liberation
Liberation of Bulgaria
In Bulgarian historiography, the term Liberation of Bulgaria is used to denote the events of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 that led to the re-establishment of Bulgarian state with the Treaty of San Stefano of March 3, 1878, after the complete conquest of the Second Bulgarian Empire, which...
in 1878. Bulgarian territories were administrated as the Rumelia Eyalet
Rumelia Eyalet
The eyalet of Rumeli or eyalet of Rumelia , also known as Rumeli Beylerbeyliği was a eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. The capital was in Adrianople , Monastir and Sofia. Its reported area in the 19th century was .It was formed during the reign of Murad I as the first Beylerbeylik of the Ottoman Empire...
. The Ottoman rule was a period marked by oppression and misgovernment and represents a deviation of Bulgaria's development as a Christian European state. A process of cultural revival occurred with the weakening of the Ottoman administration after 1700, which ultimately resulted in an organized, armed struggle for liberation. As a result of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), Bulgaria regained its freedom but was divided into the Principality of Bulgaria
Principality of Bulgaria
The Principality of Bulgaria was a self-governing entity created as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. The preliminary treaty of San Stefano between the Russian Empire and the Porte , on March 3, had originally proposed a significantly larger Bulgarian territory: its...
, a self-governing Ottoman vassal state, and the vilayet of Eastern Rumelia
Eastern Rumelia
Eastern Rumelia or Eastern Roumelia was an administratively autonomous province in the Ottoman Empire and Principality of Bulgaria from 1878 to 1908. It was under full Bulgarian control from 1885 on, when it willingly united with the tributary Principality of Bulgaria after a bloodless revolution...
. It was reunified
Bulgarian unification
The Unification of Bulgaria was the act of unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and the then-Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia in the autumn of 1885. It was co-ordinated by the Bulgarian Secret Central Revolutionary Committee...
in 1885 and recognized as a fully independent state in 1908.
Organization
The Ottomans reorganized the Bulgarian territories dividing them into several vilayets, each ruled by a Sanjakbey or SubasiSanjak-bey
Sanjak-bey, Sanjaq-bey or -beg was the Turkish title of the Bey in military and administrative command of a sanjak , answerable to a Wāli or other provincial governor. In a few cases the Sanjak-Bey was himself a governor directly answering to Istanbul....
accountable to the Beylerbey. Significant part of the conquered land was parceled out to the Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
's followers, who held it as benefices fiefs (small timars, medium ziyamet and large hases) directly from him, or from the Beylerbegs. That category of land could not be sold or inherited, but reverted to the Sultan when the fiefholder died. The lands were organized as private possessions of the Sultan or Ottoman nobility, called "mülk", and also as economic base for religious foundations, called vakιf
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...
and other people. Bulgarians gave multiple regularly paid taxes as a tithe ("yushur"), a capitation tax (jizyah), a land tax ("ispench"), a levy on commerce and so on and also various group of irregularly collected taxes, products and corvees ("avariz").
Condition of the Bulgarian population
Giaour
Giaour, Gawur or Ghiaour written gâvur in modern Turkish, is an offensive ethnic slur used by Muslims in Turkey and the Balkans to describe all who are non Muslim, with particular reference to Christians like Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians, Serbs and Assyrians...
”, deformed version of "kuffar" plural form of Arabic kafir, i.e. non-believers) had a legal, tributary and judicial status different from those of Muslims
The Ottomans did not normally require the Christians to become Muslims. Nevertheless, there were many cases of individual or mass conversion, especially in the Rhodopes. According to Thomas Walker Arnold
Thomas Walker Arnold
Sir Thomas Walker Arnold was an eminent British orientalist and historian of Islamic art who taught at MAO College, Aligarh Muslim University, then Aligarh College, and Government College University, Lahore. He was a friend of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, and wrote his famous book "The preaching of Islam"...
Islam was not spread by force in the areas under the control of the Ottoman Sultan. Rather, Arnold concludes by quoting a 17th century author who stated:
Meanwhile he (the Turk) wins (converts) by craft more than by force, and snatches away Christ by fraud out of the hearts of men. For the Turk, it is true, at the present time compels no country by violence to apostatise; but he uses other means whereby imperceptibly he roots out Christianity...
Non-Muslims did not serve in the Sultan's army. The exception to this were some groups of the population with specific statute, usually used for auxiliary or rear services, and the infamous blood tax (кръвен данък), also known as devşirme, whereby every fifth young boy was taken to be trained as a warrior of the Empire. These boys went through harsh religious and military training that turned them into an elite corps subservient to the Sultan. These corps were called Janissaries (yeni çeri or "new soldier") and were an elite and loyal unit of the Ottoman army. Recruits were sometimes gained through voluntarily accessions, as some parents were often eager to have their children enroll in the Janissary service that ensured them a successful career and comfort.
After the Ottoman conquest all major centers of Bulgarian culture were destroyed, most of the written works were lost and the educated clergy that survived escaped to other Slavic countries. Bulgarian culture entered a long period of slumber, during which it was isolated from many of the processes that occurred throughout the rest of Europe.
Bulgarian Orthodox Church
The Sultan regarded the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Constanstinople PatriarchatePatriarch of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarch is the Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome – ranking as primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which is seen by followers as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church....
as the leader of the Orthodox Christian peoples (millet
Millet (Ottoman Empire)
Millet is a term for the confessional communities in the Ottoman Empire. It refers to the separate legal courts pertaining to "personal law" under which communities were allowed to rule themselves under their own system...
) of his empire. The independent Bulgarian Patriarchate was suppressed, and the Patriarch of Constantinople given control of the Bulgarian Church. The autonomous Ochrid Archbishopric
Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid
The Archbishopric of Ochrid was an autonomous Orthodox Church under the tutelage of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople between 1019 and 1767...
was abolished in 1767. This remained a source of discontent throughout the Ottoman period. Since few outside the church were literate, the dominance of the Greek clergy led to the decline of Bulgarian elite culture. There was not a single pure Bulgarian-language modern school in the country until 1835.
First revolts and the Great Powers
While the Ottomans were ascendant, there was overt opposition to their rule. The first revolt began in 1408 when two Bulgarian nobles, Konstantin and Fruzhin, liberated some regionsUprising of Konstantin and Fruzhin
The Uprising of Konstantin and Fruzhin was the earliest Bulgarian uprising against the Ottoman rule. It was organized in the early 15th century by two nobles and was supported by a Christian coalition, but failed to liberate Bulgaria....
for several years. The earliest evidence of continued local resistance dates from before 1450. Radik (alternatively Radich) was recognised by the Ottomans as a voyvoda of the Sofia region in 1413, but later he turned against them and is regarded as the first haydut
Hajduk
Hajduk is a term most commonly referring to outlaws, highwaymen or freedom fighters in the Balkans, Central- and Eastern Europe....
in Bulgarian history. More than a century later, two Tarnovo uprisings occurred - in 1598 (First Tarnovo Uprising
First Tarnovo Uprising
The First Tarnovo Uprising was a Bulgarian uprising against the Ottoman rule based in the former Bulgarian capital, Tarnovo, that broke out in 1598 and was severely crushed by the Ottoman authorities....
) and 1686 (Second Tarnovo Uprising
Second Tarnovo Uprising
The Second Tarnovo Uprising was a Bulgarian uprising against Ottoman rule based in the former Bulgarian capital, Tarnovo, that broke out in 1686 and was severely crushed by the Ottoman authorities....
) around the old capital Tarnovo. Those were followed by the Catholic Chiprovtsi Uprising
Chiprovtsi Uprising
The Chiprovtsi Uprising was an uprising against Ottoman rule organized in northwestern Bulgaria by Roman Catholic Bulgarians, but also involving many Eastern Orthodox Christians...
in 1688 and insurrection in Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
led by Karposh in 1689, both provoked by the Austrians
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
as part of their long war with the Ottomans. All of the uprisings were unsuccessful and were drowned in blood. Most of them resulted in massive waves of exiles, often numbering hundreds of thousands. In 1739 the Treaty of Belgrade
Treaty of Belgrade
The Treaty of Belgrade was the peace treaty signed on September 18, 1739 in Belgrade, Habsburg Kingdom of Serbia , by the Ottoman Empire on one side and the Habsburg Monarchy on the other....
between Austrian empire
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
and the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
ended Austrian interest in the Balkans for a century. But by the 18th century the rising power of Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
was making itself felt in the area. The Russians, as fellow Orthodox Slavs, could appeal to the Bulgarians in a way that the Austrians could not. The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca
Treaty of Kucuk Kaynarca
The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was signed on 21 July 1774, in Küçük Kaynarca , Dobruja between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire after the Ottoman Empire was defeated in the...
of 1774 gave Russia the right to interfere in Ottoman affairs to protect the Sultan's Christian subjects.
National awakening
Following the rise of Bulgarian nationalism and cultural revivalBulgarian National Revival
The Bulgarian National Revival , sometimes called the Bulgarian Renaissance, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian people under Ottoman rule...
in the 18th and 19th century as part of a region-wide trend, an autonomous Bulgarian Church was established in 1870, the Bulgarian Exarchate
Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
, which was the result of a decade-long struggle with the Ottoman and Greek authorities and paved the way to the Bulgarian independence.
Armed resistance to the Ottoman rule escalated in the third quarter of the 19th century and reached its climax with the massive April Uprising
April Uprising
The April Uprising was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876, which indirectly resulted in the re-establishment of Bulgaria as an autonomous nation in 1878...
of 1876 that covered much of the ethnically Bulgarian territories of the empire and was suppressed by Ottoman troops, taking the lives of many. The uprising was a reason for the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 that ended with the establishment of an independent Bulgarian state in 1878, albeit far smaller than what Bulgarians had hoped and what was projected by the preliminary Treaty of San Stefano
Treaty of San Stefano
The Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed at the end of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78...
of 1878.
See also
- Treaty of San StefanoTreaty of San StefanoThe Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed at the end of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78...
- Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 was a conflict between the Ottoman Empire and the Eastern Orthodox coalition led by the Russian Empire and composed of numerous Balkan...
- A Guide to Ottoman Bulgaria" by Dimana Trankova, Anthony Georgieff and Professor Hristo Matanov; published by Vagabond Media, Sofia, 2011 http://www.vagabond.bg/ottomanbulgaria