Karposh's Rebellion
Encyclopedia
Karposh’s Rebellion or Karposh’s Uprising is a name used for a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 anti-Ottoman
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...

 uprising in the Central Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

 that took place in 1689.

Prelude

After suffering defeat at the Battle of Vienna
Battle of Vienna
The Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...

 in 1683, the Ottomans were forced to withdraw rapidly from Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

. The army of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

, led by General Piccolomini
Piccolomini
Piccolomini is the name of an Italian noble family, which was prominent in Siena from the beginning of the 13th century onwards. In 1220, Engelberto d'Ugo Piccolomini received the fief of Montertari in Val d'Orcia from the emperor Frederick II as a reward for services rendered...

, advanced deep into the Ottoman territory. The military catastrophe and the chaotic situation within 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...

 created widespread social disruption in the Central Balkans, particularly in the regions of Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...

 and Niš
Niš
Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...

, where the rebellion had its origin.

The uprising

In October 1689, an uprising broke out in the region between Kyustendil
Kyustendil
Kyustendil is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of Kyustendil Province, with a population of 44 416 . Kyustendil is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, 90 km southwest of Sofia...

, Pirot
Pirot
Pirot is a town and municipality located in south-eastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the town has a total population of 38,432, while the population of the municipality is 57,911...

, and Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...

. According to the Turkish historian Silahdar Findikli Mehmed Aga, its leader Karposh
Karposh
-People:*Karposh, rebel leader killed by Ottomans in 1689 after leading an uprising.*Hristijan Todorovski Karpoš, a Macedonian partisan who participated in the National Liberation War of Macedonia.-Product identification:...

 initially was voivode of haiduks in the vicinity of Dospat
Dospat
Dospat is a town in the very south of Bulgaria, part of Smolyan Province, situated in the Rhodope Mountains, close to Dospat Dam. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Dospat Municipality...

, in present-day Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, but later the Turks named him chief of Christian auxiliary forces in the area between Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

, Veles
Veles (city)
Veles is a city in the center of the Republic of Macedonia on the Vardar river. The city of Veles is the seat of Veles Municipality.-Name:The city's name was Vylosa in Ancient Greek and before the Balkan Wars, it was a township with the name Köprülü in the Üsküp sandjak, Ottoman empire for 600...

, Dojran
Dojran
Dojran was a city located on the western shore of Dojran Lake in the south-eastern part of the Republic of Macedonia. Today, it is collective name for two villages that exist on the territory of the ruined city: Nov Dojran and Star Dojran, which contains both old ruins and recent construction,...

, Kjustendil and Nevrokop. However, he switshed the side and attacked and captured Kriva Palanka
Kriva Palanka
Kriva Palanka is a town located in the northeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia. It has 14.558 inhabitants. The town of Kriva Palanka is the seat of Kriva Palanka Municipality which has almost 21.000 inhabitants....

, an Ottoman stronghold, which he made center of his resistance. After securing Kriva Palanka
Kriva Palanka
Kriva Palanka is a town located in the northeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia. It has 14.558 inhabitants. The town of Kriva Palanka is the seat of Kriva Palanka Municipality which has almost 21.000 inhabitants....

, the rebels built and secured a new stronghold near Kumanovo
Kumanovo
Kumanovo is a city in the Republic of Macedonia and is the seat of Kumanovo Municipality which is the largest municipality in the country. Municipal institutions include a city council, mayor and other administrative bodies.-Name:...

. It is unclear whether the Austrians
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....

 assisted the rebels. According to contemporary Ottoman chronicles and local legends, Karposh was known as the "King of Kumanovo", a title conferred upon him by Emperor Leopold I
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...

 who sent him a busby
Busby
Busby is the English name for the Hungarian prémes csákó or kucsma, a military head-dress made of fur, worn by Hungarian hussars. In its original Hungarian form the busby was a cylindrical fur cap, having a bag of coloured cloth hanging from the top. The end of this bag was attached to the right...

 (a tall fur hat worn by hussars and guardsmen) as a gift and a sign of recognition. On April 6, 1690, Emperor Leopold I
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...

 (1657-1705) issued a manifesto calling all peoples of Albania, Sebia, Moesia, Bulgaria, Illyria, Macedonia to join the Austrian forses against the Ottomans. Several days later, on April 26th, 1690, Emperor Leopold I
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...

 issued a letter where he took the Macedonian people under his wing.

Suppression

The situation for the rebels did not turn out well due to military and political reversals which played a decisive role in the fate of the uprising. The first step taken by the Turkish Ottoman authorities in the region was to put down the rebellion and drive the Austrian army out of Ottoman
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...

 territory. To do that the Ottomans employed the services of the Crimean Khan
Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate, or Khanate of Crimea , was a state ruled by Crimean Tatars from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was . Its khans were the patrilineal descendants of Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...

 Selim I Giray
Selim I Giray
Selim I Giray was a Crimean khan He reigned four times between 1671 – 1704.-Background:Crimean khans were the direct descendants of Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empreror. After the death of Genghis Khan the empire was partitioned and the part in East Europe and Northwest Asia was named Golden...

.

The council of war which met in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

 on November 14, 1689 decided to attack the rebels through Kyustendil
Kyustendil
Kyustendil is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of Kyustendil Province, with a population of 44 416 . Kyustendil is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, 90 km southwest of Sofia...

. But before they could do that they had to secure Kriva Palanka
Kriva Palanka
Kriva Palanka is a town located in the northeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia. It has 14.558 inhabitants. The town of Kriva Palanka is the seat of Kriva Palanka Municipality which has almost 21.000 inhabitants....

. Upon finding that they were about to be attacked, the rebels set fire to Kriva Palanka
Kriva Palanka
Kriva Palanka is a town located in the northeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia. It has 14.558 inhabitants. The town of Kriva Palanka is the seat of Kriva Palanka Municipality which has almost 21.000 inhabitants....

 and concentrated their forces in the new fortress of Kumanovo
Kumanovo
Kumanovo is a city in the Republic of Macedonia and is the seat of Kumanovo Municipality which is the largest municipality in the country. Municipal institutions include a city council, mayor and other administrative bodies.-Name:...

. They just managed to make some preparations when the Ottoman and Tatar detachments arrived. The rebels were quickly overwhelmed by the numerically superior Ottoman force. A large number of rebels, including Karposh
Karposh
-People:*Karposh, rebel leader killed by Ottomans in 1689 after leading an uprising.*Hristijan Todorovski Karpoš, a Macedonian partisan who participated in the National Liberation War of Macedonia.-Product identification:...

, were captured at the outset.

When the battle was over, all rebels who resisted were slaughtered. Karposh
Karposh
-People:*Karposh, rebel leader killed by Ottomans in 1689 after leading an uprising.*Hristijan Todorovski Karpoš, a Macedonian partisan who participated in the National Liberation War of Macedonia.-Product identification:...

 and the others were taken prisoner. After subduing Kumanovo, the Ottomans left for Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...

 where they executed Karposh
Karposh
-People:*Karposh, rebel leader killed by Ottomans in 1689 after leading an uprising.*Hristijan Todorovski Karpoš, a Macedonian partisan who participated in the National Liberation War of Macedonia.-Product identification:...

 and the others.

Aftermath

For the rebels who survived the battles there was no salvation from the Ottoman backlash except to leave the Balkans. Many fled north beyond the Sava and Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

 Rivers.

Karpoš Municipality
Karpoš municipality
Karpoš is one of the ten municipalities that make up the city of Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia.-Geography:Karpoš borders Saraj Municipality and Gjorče Petrov Municipality to the west, Čučer-Sandevo Municipality to the north, Butel Municipality to the northeast, Čair...

, one of the 10 municipalities that make up the city of Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...

, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

, is named after Karposh.

Hristijan Todorovski Karpoš
Hristijan Todorovski Karpoš
Hristijan Todorovski - Karpoš was a Macedonian communist partisan during the Second World War.As a student he was accepted in the communist youth organization SKOJ...

, a Macedonian partisan during WWII, took his partisan name after Karpos, the 17th Century Macedonian rebel.

Karposh Square, a square across the Stone Bridge
Stone Bridge (Skopje)
The Stone Bridge is a bridge across the Vardar River in Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. The bridge is considered a symbol of Skopje and is the main element of the coat of arms of the city, which in turn is incorporated in the city's flag. The Stone Bridge connects Macedonia...

 on the other side of Macedonia Square in Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...

 is named after Karpos, where the leader of the uprising was executed by the Ottomans. A monument and a plaque commemorate the execution site near the bridge.

Karposh Point
Karposh Point
Karposh Point is the ice-free point on the north coast of Snow Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It is projecting 500 m into Morton Strait, and is situated 2.3 km west of the extreme northeast point of President Head, 2.5 km east-southeast of Gostun Point, and...

 on Snow Island
Snow Island (South Shetland Islands)
Snow Island or Isla Nevada is a completely ice-covered island, in size, lying southwest of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands. Surface area...

 in the South Shetland Islands
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, with a total area of . By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for...

, Antarctica is named after Karposh.
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