After falling almost entirely under Ottoman rule in the end of the 14th century, the Bulgarian state ceased to exist as an independent entity and remained part of the Ottoman Empire for nearly five centuries until 1878. The period is widely regarded as a time of cultural and national decline as contrasted to the best years of the medieval Bulgarian Empire, mainly owing to the foreign character of the dominant empire, as well as its stagnation and decline in the later years.

• history of early ottoman bulgaria - Organisation of Ottoman Bulgaria
  • The Ottomans reorganised the Bulgarian territories as the Beyerlik of Rumili, ruled by a Beylerbey at Sofia. This territory, which included Moesia, Thrace and Macedonia, was divided into several sanjaks , each ruled by a Sanjakbey accountable to the Beylerbey. Significant part of the conquered land was parcelled out to the Sultan's followers, who held it as feudal fiefs (small timars , medium ziyamet and large hases ) directly from him. That category of land could not be sold or inherited, but reverted to the Sultan when the fiefholder died. The rest of 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. 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").
• history of early ottoman bulgaria - Condition of the Bulgarian population
  • In the Ottoman Empire, Christians (known as “gyaurs”, i.e. non-believers) were subordinate to Muslims and lacked many rights that the latter had. In courts they had lower standing than Muslims and their testimony as witnesses was disregarded. In addition, Christians were forced to pay much higher taxes than Muslims. This was one of the main reasons why the Ottomans did not convert much of the Christian population to Islam.
• history of early ottoman bulgaria - The Bulgarian Orthodox Church
  • The Sultan regarded the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Constanstinople Patriarchate as the leader of the Christian peoples 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.
• history of early ottoman bulgaria - First revolts and the Great Powers
  • While the Ottomans were ascendant, there was overt opposition to their rule. First revolt began over 1408 when two Bulgarian nobles, Konstantin and Fruzhin, liberated some regions for several years. Then there were rebellions in 1598 (First Tarnovo Uprising) and 1686 (Second Tarnovo Uprising) around the old capital Tarnovo followed by the 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.
• history of early ottoman bulgaria - The struggle for independence
  • Following the rise of Bulgarian nationalism and cultural revival 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.
• history of early ottoman bulgaria - See also
  • • Treaty of San Stefano
• history of early ottoman bulgaria - References
  • • DEVŞİRME USULÜ - ACEMİ OĞLANLAR OCAĞI MÜESSESESİ - article about devshirme method (in Turkish)
• history of early ottoman bulgaria - Related topics