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110-638: Kardzhali is located in the low eastern part of Rhodope Mountains , on both banks of the river Arda between the Kardzhali Reservoir to the west and the Studen Kladenets Reservoir to the east. The town is 260 km (162 mi) southeast of Sofia . It has a crossroad position from Thrace to the Aegean Sea —part of European transportation route 9, via the Makaza mountain pass. Kardzhali has

220-549: A hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification : Csa ), that is bordering closely on a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen climate classification : Cfa ), according to the Köppen climate classification . The city has hot summers and cold winters. The area where the town of Kardzhali is now located has been inhabited since the Neolithic . Many artifacts , comprising ceramics and primitive tools, have been found during

330-476: A Bulgarian majority (many Bulgarians in Kardzhali are Muslims, also known as Pomaks ) of 61%, while Turks are 34.9% and others and undeclared are 4.1%. The Kardzhali municipality has a Turkish majority of 55.5%, while Bulgarians are 40.5% and others and undeclared are 4%. In 2001, the population of Kardzhali municipality consisted of 53% Turks, 42% Bulgarians and others and undeclared. The municipal government today

440-629: A bloodless coup with the Principality of Bulgaria . The Ottomans reorganised the Bulgarian territories, dividing them into several vilayets , each ruled by a Sanjakbey or Subasi accountable to the Beylerbey . Significant parts of the conquered land were parcelled out to the Sultan 's followers, who held it as benefices or fiefs (small timar , medium zeamet and large hass ) directly from him, or from

550-473: A complex set of factors behind the process. These include: pre-existing high population density owing to the late inclusion of the two mountainous regions in the Ottoman system of taxation; immigration of Christian Bulgarians from lowland regions to avoid taxation throughout the 1400s; the relative poverty of the regions; early introduction of local Christian Bulgarians to Islam through contacts with nomadic Yörüks ;

660-551: A form of tax farming , which created conditions for severe exploitation of taxpayers by unscrupulous land holders. According to Radishev, overtaxation became a particularly poignant issue after jizye collection in most of the country was taken over by the Six Divisions of Cavalry . Bulgarians also paid a number of other taxes, including a tithe ("yushur"), a land tax ("ispench"), a levy on commerce, and various irregularly collected taxes, products and corvees ("avariz"). Generally,

770-625: A heavy snow cover to be preserved for a long time, is an excellent example. Temperatures as low as −15 °C (5 °F) are common in winter, and due to this the Rhodopes are the southernmost place in the Balkans where tree species such as the Norway Spruce and the Silver Birch can be found. The mountains have abundant water reserves, with a dense network of mountain springs and rivers. Nearly 80% of

880-405: A municipal holiday since 1937. Kardzhali was declared the center of Kardzhali Province, when it was created from the most southern part of Stara Zagora Province in 1949. According to the 2011 census, Kardzhali has a population of 43,880, while the Kardzhali municipality (which in addition to the city also includes 117 villages) has a population of 67,846. During Ottoman rule before 1912 most of

990-482: A puppet theater and a museum of history medrese , as well as an art gallery. 5 km (3 mi) from Kardzhali, near the village of Zimzelen, is a small badlands , where a series of white pillars have eroded out of the volcanic tuff which are referred to as the "Kardzhali Pyramids". Ensembles have been given names based on resemblances. One is known as "The Mushrooms" and another as the "Stone Wedding". Kardzhali Point on Byers Peninsula , Livingston Island in

1100-653: A rock high above the valley. It is interesting for the fact that it is cut in the rock. The monastery from 11th century is located in the Vesselchane Quarter of the town. It was renovated in 2000 and a new bell tower was built. The town clock is unique in Bulgaria because it sounds Bulgarian revolutionary songs every hour. The Kardzhali Museum of History has one of the most extensive exhibitions in Southern Bulgaria. This includes pre-historic tools and ceramics from

1210-421: A slow, but steady process of Islamisation until the mid-1600s when the tax burden became so unbearable that most of the remaining Christians either converted en masse or left for lowland areas. These factors had an impact on the entire country. Due to them, the population of Ottoman Bulgaria is presumed to have dropped twofold from a peak of approx. 1.8 million (1.2 million Christians and 0.6 million Muslims) in

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1320-720: A true bastion of freedom of the Thracians and last refuge of resistance against the Romans. This explains the fact that Thrace became a Roman province about 200 years after Macedonia. In 2005, German scholars from the University of Heidelberg confirmed that the two rather small fragments discovered by archaeologist Nikolay Ovcharov in the Eastern Rhodopes mountains are written in the Minoan Linear A script from about 15th century BC. In

1430-611: Is commonly accepted to have started with the historical book, Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya , written in 1762 by Paisius , a Bulgarian monk of the Hilandar monastery at Mount Athos , lead to the National awakening of Bulgaria and the modern Bulgarian nationalism , and lasted until the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878 as a result of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 . The Millet system

1540-630: Is developed mainly in the western parts where there are some of the most important forest massifs in the Balkan Peninsula. The Rhodopes are one of the main hydro-power generation regions of Bulgaria with a number of major hydroelectric power plants such as Batak, Peshtera, Aleko, Studen Kladenets, Kardzhali, Vacha and Thisavros and Platanovrysi in Greece. Tourism is an important industry with growing significance. Pamporovo and Chepelare are major winter resorts. There are many resorts, camp sites and refuges on

1650-583: Is its highest peak at 2,191 meters (7,188 ft). The mountain range gives its name to the terrestrial ecoregion Rodope montane mixed forests that belongs in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome and the Palearctic realm . The region is particularly notable for its karst areas with their deep river gorges, large caves and specific sculptured forms, such as the Trigrad Gorge . A significant part of Bulgaria's hydropower resources are located in

1760-484: Is primarily in the hands of the Turkish-dominated Movement for Rights and Freedoms . In December 1989 and January 1990 there were a series of demonstrations in Kardzhali against the liberalization of anti-Turkish laws. A particular issue of contention was whether Turkish should be taught in state schools as an elective. In response Turkish students boycotted schools until the ban on using their mother tongue

1870-513: Is well-developed. One of the largest industries in the area is mining. There are around 80 mines for lead and zinc whose reserves are among the largest in Europe. They are situated mainly in central parts of the mountain and along the border with Greece as well as to the east. Kardzhali Province is rich in non-metalliferous minerals and gold . There are also small reserves of chromite and iron ore as well as significant impurities of rare metals in

1980-615: The Austrians as part of their long war with the Ottomans. All of the uprisings were unsuccessful and were brutally suppressed . 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

2090-846: The Bulgarian church in Constantinople in pursuance of the March 12 [ O.S. February 28] 1870 firman of Sultan Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire. The foundation of the Exarchate was the direct result of the struggle of the Bulgarian Orthodox population against the domination of the Greek Patriarchate of Constantinople in the 1850s and 1860s. In 1872, the Patriarchate accused

2200-532: The Constantinople Conference (1876-1877), and along with the strategic interests of Russia on the Balkans, was a reason for the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 that ended with the reestablishment of independent Bulgarians state in 1878, albeit under the Treaty of Berlin Bulgarians were divided, and the territory of the Principality of Bulgaria was far smaller than what Bulgarians had hoped for and what

2310-577: The Dervendjis , who guarded important passes, roads, bridges, etc., ore-mining settlements such as Chiprovtsi , etc. Some of the most important Bulgarian cultural and economic centres in the 19th century owe their development to a former dervendji status, for example, Gabrovo , Dryanovo , Kalofer , Panagyurishte , Kotel , Zheravna . Similarly, Christians living on wakf holdings were subject to lower tax burden and fewer restrictions. The Ottoman Empire's greatest advantage compared to other colonial powers,

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2420-635: The First Tarnovo Uprising , the Chiprovtsi uprising , the Second Tarnovo uprising and Karposh's rebellion , which led to the massive flight of Christian Bulgarians to Wallachia and the Austrian Empire , the population of present-day Bulgaria in the 1680s is assumed to have dropped to approx. 0.9 million in the 1680s, divided into 450,000 Christians and 450,000 Muslims (or a ratio of 1:1). From

2530-472: The Middle Ages the mountain was part of the Bulgarian and Byzantine Empires and often changed hands between the two countries. There was a dense network of castles which guarded the trade routes and the strategic heights. The largest and most important castles include Lyutitsa , Ustra , Tsepina , Mezek , Asenova krepost and many others. Between 1371 and 1375 the Rhodopes fell under Ottoman occupation in

2640-631: The South Shetland Islands , Antarctica is named after Kardzhali. Longdistance hiking path the Sultans Trail passes Kardzhali dam, city center and many villages. FK Arda Kardzhali , founded on 13 October 1924, is an association football club currently competes in the First League , the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system. They play at the Arda Arena . The town is situated on

2750-604: The Utroba Cave . Exactly at noon, when the sun is highest in the sky, a ray of light comes in through a stone slit forming a falitic shade in the cave. According to the Thracian beliefs, this is the conception of the new sun god. This cave is considered a complex astronomic facility (compared to Stonehenge in Great Britain) as the ray of light enters the cave on a single day of the year. There are many stone castles and palaces that

2860-595: The Vidin Eyalet , Silistra Eyalet and Niš Eyalet . Christians paid disproportionately higher taxes than Muslims, including poll tax, jizye , in lieu of military service. According to İnalcık, jizye was the single most important source of income (48 per cent) to the Ottoman budget, with Rumelia accounting for the lion's share, or 81 per cent of the revenues. By the early 1600s, the timar system had virtually been abolished, and almost all land had been divided into estates ( arpalik ) granted to senior Ottoman dignitaries as

2970-648: The millet system and the autonomy each denomination had within legal, confessional, cultural and family matters, nevertheless, largely did not apply to Bulgarians and most other Orthodox peoples on the Balkans, as the independent Bulgarian Patriarchate was destroyed and all Bulgarian Orthodox dioceses were subjected to the rule of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople and made part of Rum millet (Greek Orthodox millet). Thus, instead of helping Christian Bulgarians maintain their customs and cultural identity,

3080-525: The "Five Bulgarian Sanjaks" as per 1865 Pop. Registry According to the "Kuyûd-ı Atîk" Ottoman Population Register, the male population of the five sanjaks to eventually form the future Principality of Bulgaria was divided into the following ethnoconfessional communities in 1865: Between 1855 and 1865, the population of the Danube Vilayet underwent seismic changes, as the Ottoman authorities settled more than 300,000 Crimean Tatars and Circassians on

3190-450: The "established Muslims" column and additional 20,000 were left out or simply lost in the carry-over. The division of Muslims into "Established" and "Muhacir" in the 1873-1874 Census and the 1875 Ottoman Salname was not based on origin, as the name might suggest, but on "taxability". Thus, colonists whose tax exemption had expired and were liable to taxation (i.e., those of them who had settled prior to 1862—Crimean Tatars, Nogais, etc. and

3300-506: The 1490s. At the same time, there are records of at least two forced relocations of Bulgarians to Anatolia, one right after the fall of Veliko Tarnovo and a second one to İzmir in the mid-1400s. The goal of this "mixing of peoples" was to quell any unrest in the conquered Balkan states, while simultaneously getting rid of troublemakers in the Ottoman backyard in Anatolia. However, Ottomans never pursued or practiced forced Islamisation of

3410-669: The 1580s to approx. 0.9 million in the 1680s (450,000 Christians and 450,000 Muslims), after growing steadily from a base of approx. 600,000 (450,000 Christians and 150,000 Muslims) in the 1450s. While the Ottomans were ascendant, there was overt opposition to their rule. The first revolt began at the time Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund established the chivalric Order of the Dragon , 1408, when two Bulgarian nobles, Konstantin and Fruzhin , revolted and liberated some regions for several years. The earliest evidence of continued local resistance dates from before 1450. Radik ( alternatively Radich)

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3520-511: The 18th and 19th centuries. The name of the Rhodope Mountains is of Thracian origin . Rhod-ope (Род-oпа) is interpreted as the first name of a river, meaning "rusty/reddish river", where Rhod- has the same Indo-European root as the Bulgarian "руда" (ore, "ruda"), "ръжда" (rust, "rǎžda"), "риж" (red-haired, "riž"), Latin "rufus" (red), German "rot" (red), English "red", Greek ροδ- (rhod). In Greek mythology , Queen Rhodope of Thrace ,

3630-489: The 1930s and 1950s as a result of treaties between Bulgaria and Turkey and most notably in 1989 in response to the state sponsored Revival Process which saw the forced Bulgarisation of ethnic Turks. After 1990 the deteriorating economic conditions in Bulgaria (and especially the region) during the post-communist transition led to significant emigration by both Bulgarians and Turks, with the Bulgarians moving to other parts of

3740-508: The 38 species of birds of prey of Europe, like the rare Eastern imperial eagle and Lesser spotted eagle . The Rhodopes have been inhabited since the Prehistoric age. There have been many archaeological finds of ancient tools in some of the caves. The first known human inhabitants in the mountains were the Thracians . They built many temples, cities and fortresses. The most famous town in

3850-503: The Beylerbeys. This category of land could not be sold or inherited but reverted to the Sultan when the fiefholder died. The lands were organised as private possessions of the Sultan or Ottoman nobility, called "mülk", and also as an economic base for religious foundations, called vakιf , as well as other people. The system was meant to make the army self-sufficient and to continuously increase

3960-587: The Bulgarian population, as had earlier been claimed by Communist Bulgarian historiography. According to scholarly consensus, conversion to Islam was voluntary as it offered Bulgarians religious and economic benefits. According to Thomas Walker Arnold , Islam was not spread by force in the areas under the control of the Ottoman Sultan . A 17th-century author said: Meanwhile he (the Turk) wins (converts) by craft more than by force, and snatches away Christ by fraud out of

4070-481: The Danube Vilayet, Bulgarian statistician Dimitar Arkadiev has found that men aged 15–60 represented, on average, 49.5% of all males and that the coefficient that would make it possible to calculate the entire male population is therefore 2.02 . To compute total population, male figures are then usually doubled (Bulgarian authors have suggested a coefficient of 1.956, but this has not gained international acceptance). Using this method of computation, (N=2 x (Y x 2.02)) ,

4180-578: The Eastern Rhodopes is 13 °C (55 °F), the maximum precipitation is in December, the minimum in August. In the Western Rhodopes, the temperature varies from 5 to 9 °C (41 to 48 °F) and in the summer rainfalls prevail. The mild climate, combined with some other factors, works in favour of the development of recreation and tourist activities. The Pamporovo resort, where the microclimate permits

4290-501: The Eastern Rhodopes. The mountains are also one of the regions associated with the Sarakatsani , a nomadic Greek people who traditionally roamed between Northern Thrace and the Aegean coast . Aromanians , a Romance -speaking ethnic group, also live in the Rhodopes. and Agupti who are a blend of Turks, Roma and Pomaks and don’t associate themselves with other Roma groups. The economy of

4400-523: The Empire and the term was used for legally protected religious minority groups , similar to the way other countries use the word nation . New millets were created in 1860 and 1870. The Bulgarian Exarchate (a de facto autocephalous Orthodox church) was created as separate Bulgarian diocese based on voted ethnic identity . It was unilaterally (without the blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarch ) promulgated on May 23 [ O.S. May 11] 1872, in

4510-609: The Exarchate that it introduced ethno-national characteristics in the religious organization of the Orthodox Church, and the secession from the Patriarchate was officially condemned by the Council in Constantinople in September 1872 as schismatic . Nevertheless, Bulgarian religious leaders continued to extend the borders of the Exarchate in the Ottoman Empire by conducting plebiscites in areas contested by both Churches. In this way, in

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4620-711: The Future Principality of Bulgaria in 1875 At the same time, a flash summary of the results of the Danube Vilayet Census published in the Danube Official Gazette on 18 October 1874 (also covering the Sanjak of Tulça ) gave twice as many male Circassian Muhacir , 64,398 vs. 30,573, and slightly fewer "established Muslims" than the final results published in 1875. According to Turkish Ottomanist Koyuncu, 13,825 male Circassians were carried over to

4730-452: The Ottoman administrative system. The boys were picked from one in forty households. They had to be unmarried and, once taken, were ordered to cut all ties with their family. While a minority of authors have argued that "some parents were often eager to have their children enrol in the Janissary service that ensured them a successful career and comfort" , scholarly consensus leans very much

4840-599: The Ottomans. The northern Rhodopes were ceded in 1878 to an autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia until its unification with the Principality of Bulgaria . The other part of the Rhodopes was annexed as a result of the First Balkan War (1912–1913) but after the Second Balkan War (1913) and the First World War (1914–1918) the southern slopes of the mountain was occupied by Greece and the Bulgarian population of

4950-640: The Ovčarica (Ovcharitsa) dam. Kardzhali is twinned with: Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes ( / ˈ r ɒ d ə p iː z / ; Bulgarian : Родопи , Rodopi ; Greek : Ροδόπη , Rodopi ; Turkish : Rodoplar ) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe , and the largest by area in Bulgaria , with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in Greece . Golyam Perelik

5060-615: The Rhodopes are part of the Rila -Rhodope massif , which is the oldest landmass on the Balkan peninsula . The Rhodopes are spread over 14,735 square kilometers (5,689 sq mi), of which 12,233 square kilometers (4,723 sq mi) are on Bulgarian territory. They have the greatest extent of any single mountain range in Bulgaria. The mountains are about 240 kilometers (149 mi) long and about 100 to 120 kilometres (62 to 75 mi) wide, with an average altitude of 785 meters (2,575 ft). To

5170-430: The Rhodopes region is dominated by services, tourism, industry and agriculture. Livestock breeding, forestry and tobacco are the most important agricultural activities. Due to the large Muslim population the number of pigs is relatively low but there are many sheep which are traditional for the Rhodopes. Tobacco is grown in the Eastern Rhodopes and forms a large part of the total national production. The industrial sector

5280-555: The Sanjak of Sofia (male Muslim population of 2,896 and male non-Muslim population of 8,038) to the Ottoman Empire and the kaza of Mankalya from the Sanjak of Varna (male Muslim population of 6,675 and male non-Muslim population of 499) to Romania and attached the kaza of Iznebol (male Muslim population of 149 and male non-Muslim population of 7,072) from the Sanjak of Niš to the Principality of Bulgaria. Ethnoconfessional Groups in

5390-414: The Southern Rhodopes is an area almost deserted. After World War II and the Greek Civil War most villages depopulated permanently and their inhabitants never returned. Even the Sarakatsani stockbreeders abandoned the difficult life of the Rhodopes. The depopulation of the region, that has not been grazed for more than 50 years, combined with high rainfall and its geographical location, has contributed to

5500-457: The Thracian cities of Perperikon and Tatul , Christian icons and ethnographic exhibits. It is located in the old konak (the Turkish town-hall built around 1870) with its period exterior architecture. There are many open-air restaurants, offering a variety of drinks and cocktails in summer time on the dam. It is a popular place among fans of water sports and fishing. The town has two drama theaters — "Dimitar Dimov" and "Kadrie Lyatifova",

5610-405: The Thracians built in the region, including Perperek, Ustra , and Vishegrad . The most magnificent is Perperikon , where a Thracian king resided. The place has become increasingly popular since the recent archaeological works rendered wealth of artifacts. During the Byzantine period, Kardzhali was the center of a Christian eparchy: Achridos. During the reign of the Bulgarian Empire , Kardzhali

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5720-465: The Turkish religion is false. If there is one among them who has some little book or can teach them in some other manner something of God's world, they hear him as diligently as if he were their preacher. When Greek scholar Janus Lascaris visited Constantinople in 1491, he met many Janissaries who not only remembered their former religion and their native land but also favoured their former coreligionists. One of them told him that he regretted having left

5830-408: The archaeological excavations. Most of them are now exhibited in the local historical museum. Later Thracian tribes settled in the area and developed a highly advanced civilization. They built many sanctuaries dedicated to the gods of the sun and the earth . Near the village of Nenkovo (northwest of Kardzhali), an artificial cave was found in 2001. It has the form of a woman's womb and is called

5940-412: The area are Haskovo and Kardzhali , as well as the smaller Momchilgrad , Krumovgrad , Zlatograd and Kirkovo . The Eastern Rhodopes, being significantly lower, are also more populated than the western part. Almost every species of the European birds of prey nest in the rocks and forests of the Eastern Rhodopes including the rare black vulture and Egyptian vulture . The Southern Rhodopes are

6050-418: The area is the sacred city of Perperikon located 15 km northeast of Kardzhali . One of the most important Thracian temples was Tatul near the village of the same name. Additionally, there are archeological sites throughout the region related to the cult of Dionysus , such as the ancient Thracian city of Perperikon . The frequent mention of the Rhodope in Ancient Greek and Latin sources indicates that

6160-431: The area was forced to flee to Bulgaria. The sparsely populated area of the Rhodopes has been a place of ethnic and religious diversity for hundreds of years. Apart from the Eastern Orthodox Bulgarians and Greeks , the mountains are also home to a number of Muslim communities, including the Pomaks , that predominate in the western parts and a large concentration of Bulgarian Turks and Greek Turks , particularly in

6270-477: The area. The Eastern Rhodopes are spread over a territory of about 34% of the mountains' area in Bulgaria, constituting a much lower part. The large artificial dams Kardzhali and Studen Kladenets are located in this part of the mountains. The region is rich in thermal mineral springs. The waters around Dzhebel have national reputation for healing various diseases. Belite Brezi is an important healing centre for respiratory and other ailments. Major cities in

6380-524: The autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia under the stipulations of the Berlin Congress of 1878, but, after the reunification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia in 1885, it was ceded back to the Ottoman Empire as a township of Gümülcine sanjak in Edirne vilayet. Ottoman rule ended during the First Balkan War when the town and the surrounding area were liberated by the Bulgarian General Vasil Delov on 21 October 1912. The day has been celebrated with concerts and commemorative events as

6490-407: The country or abroad and with the Turks moving mainly to Turkey. According to the last census in 2011 Kardzhali Province is the Bulgarian province with the highest relative proportion of ethnic Turks , though Kardzhali municipality and the city itself have a lower proportion of ethnic Turks than the rest of the province. According to the optional question on ethnic identification, the city itself has

6600-464: The course of the Bulgarian–Ottoman wars . During the 16th and 17th centuries the Ottoman authorities began a process of Islamisation of the region. The towns and the villages in the Western Rhodopes took active part in the April Uprising in 1876. When the uprising was crushed the Ottomans slaughtered around 5,000 people in Batak alone . Thousands more perished in Bratsigovo, Perushtitsa and other rebel villages which were also burnt and looted by

6710-434: The creation and maintenance of a biological paradise. There grow coniferous trees, such as the Norway Spruce and the Silver Birch , that cannot be found elsewhere in Greece. In the forest of Frakto there are 300-year-old trees, more than 50 metres high, and the endangered wild goat . In the eastern part of the region there is the well known nature reserve of Dadia Forest , an ideal habitat for birds of prey , with 36 of

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6820-417: The dams of Thisavros and Platanovrysi. They are used mainly for hydro-electric power generation and for irrigation. There are many mineral water springs, the most famous being in Velingrad , Narechen , Devin , Beden , Mihalkovo and others. In Greece there are mineral water springs in Thermes, 40 km. north of ( Xanthi ) and in Thermia, 60 km. north of Drama , at 620 m. The Western Rhodopes are

6930-420: The deepest river gorges in the Rhodopes are located in the western parts, as well as the rock phenomenon Wonderful Bridges . Significant bodies of water include the Chaira lakes and the Dospat , Batak , Shiroka Polyana , Golyam Beglik and Tsigov Chark dams. The town of Batak is also located in this part of the mountains, as well as the popular tourist centres Smolyan , Velingrad , Devin , Chepelare ,

7040-431: The desire to stop paying jizya as a primary incentive for conversion to Islam in the Balkans, and Bulgarian researcher Anton Minkov has argued that it was one among several motivating factors. Two large-scale studies of the causes of adoption of Islam in Bulgaria, one of the Chepino Valley by Dutch Ottomanist Machiel Kiel , and another one of the region of Gotse Delchev in the Western Rhodopes by Evgeni Radushev reveal

7150-569: The early 1700s, the Christian population is assumed to have started growing again. According to the 1831 Ottoman census , the male population in the Ottoman kazas that fall within the current borders of the Republic of Bulgaria stood at 496,744 people, including 296,769 Christians, 181,455 Muslims, 17,474 Romani , 702 Jews and 344 Armenians . The census only covered healthy taxable men between 15 and 60 years of age, who were free from disability. Millets in present-day Bulgaria as per 1831 Ottoman Census By using primary population records from

7260-458: The ethnic boundaries drawn a decade earlier with the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate . The sabotage of the Conference, by either the British or the Russian Empire (depending on theory), led to the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) , whereby the much smaller Principality of Bulgaria , a self-governing, but functionally independent Ottoman vassal state was created. In 1885 the Ottoman autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia unified through

7370-501: 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... Thus, in a number of cases, conversion to Islam can be said to have been the result of tax coercion, due to the much lower tax burden on Muslims. While some authors have argued that other factors, such as desire to retain social status, were of greater importance, Turkish writer Halil İnalcık has referred to

7480-452: The heavy Muslim population losses earlier in the century, but also counteracted continued population loss and led to an increase in its Muslim population. In this connection, Karpat also refers to the material differences between Muslim and non-Muslim fertility rates, with non-Muslims growing at the rate of 2% per annum and Muslims usually averaging 0%. Koyuncu also notes a much higher natural rate of increase among Non-Muslims and attributes

7590-408: The inhabitants killed the recruiting officials. It was not rare for the boys to attempt to preserve their faith and some recollection of their homeland and their families. For example, Stephan Gerlach writes: They gather together and one tells another of his native land and of what he heard in church or learned in school there, and they agree among themselves that Muhammad is no prophet and that

7700-400: The labour force working in agriculture increased from 41% to 47% in just 7 years (the period between 2010 and 2017). Kardzhali has the second highest percentage of people working in agriculture, after Silistra Province . Mosque and tombe of the founder of the modern city of Kırcali is situated in the old city near the marketplace. The Thracian town of Perperikon is located near the city on

7810-452: The largest coniferous woods in the Balkans, their mild relief and the lush vegetation in the western parts as well as the abundance of birds of prey in the eastern areas. The location of the Rhodopes in the southeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula largely determines the climate in the region. It is influenced both by the colder air coming from the north and by the warmer breeze from the Mediterranean . The average annual temperature in

7920-626: The largest (66% of the area of the Rhodopes in Bulgaria), higher, most infrastructurally developed, and most visited part of the mountains. The highest and best known peaks are located in the region (more than 10 are over 2,000 meters (6,562 ft) high) including the highest one, Golyam Perelik (2,191 meters (7,188 ft)). Among the other popular peaks are Shirokolashki Snezhnik (2,188 meters (7,178 ft)), Golyam Persenk (2,091 meters (6,860 ft)), Batashki Snezhnik (2,082 meters (6,831 ft)), Turla (1,800 meters (5,906 ft)). Some of

8030-472: The largest share of local production. The abundance of cultural and natural sights in the area also make it a promising area for tourism. In 2007 in the city were opened hypermarkets of the chains Technomarket, LIDL, Billa and Technopolis and the construction of the city's new marketplace was complete. In 2014 a hypermarket of the chain Kaufland opened too. However the local economy has stalled. The percentage of

8140-514: The last waves of Muslim migrants from Anatolia. As a result of the near-constant war led by the Ottoman Empire from the mid-1500s to the late 1600s, the need for additional tax revenues, the sixfold increase in jizye tax rates, which pauperised the Christian population, the Little Ice Age in the 1600s that caused crop failures and widespread famine and several important Bulgarian uprisings, e.g.,

8250-537: The late 19th century, Bulgaria was liberated from the Ottoman Empire , and by the early 20th century it was declared independent . The brutal suppression of the Bulgarian April Uprising of 1876 and the public outcry it caused across Europe led to the Constantinople Conference , where the Great Powers tabled a joint proposal for the creation of two autonomous Bulgarian vilayets, largely corresponding to

8360-576: The lead and zinc ores. There are several flotation factories which enrich the ores before it is sent to the large lead and zinc refineries in Kardzhali and Plovdiv . The machine-building industry is developed in Smolyan, Kardzhali, Devin, Bratsigovo, Ivailovgrad and others; there is a pharmaceutical plant in Pestera. Some of the centers of textile industry include Zlatograd, Smolyan, Madan, Laki. The timber industry

8470-519: The left bank of the river. A couple of other monasteries were built during this era, with some of them remaining until the early 19th century. The area was of strategic importance for the Bulgarian Empire during the Middle Ages and the remains of numerous Medieval fortress scattered on the surrounding hills can still be seen. The town developed largely due to its position on the trade routes during

8580-556: The millet system actually promoted their assimilation. Bulgarian ceased to be a literary language, the higher clergy was invariably Greek, and the Phanariotes started making persistent efforts to hellenise Bulgarians as early as the early 1700s. It was only after the struggle for church autonomy in the mid-1800s and especially after the Bulgarian Exarchate was established by a firman of Sultan Abdülaziz in 1870 that this policy

8690-480: The monasteries are also visited by many Bulgarian and foreign tourists. Rodopi Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands , Antarctica is named after the Rhodope Mountains. History of Ottoman Bulgaria The history of Ottoman Bulgaria spans nearly 500 years, beginning in the late 14th century, with the Ottoman conquest of smaller kingdoms from the disintegrating Second Bulgarian Empire . In

8800-537: The mountain had played an important role in the political and religious life of the Thracian tribes that lived on it. On the tops of the mountain there was a famous oracle, which they had visited to consult Alexander the Great and later the father of Octavian Augustus . On the mountain were also sanctuaries of various other deities, as was Apollo , Zeus , the Thracian Horseman, Mithras , etc. Finally, Rhodope served as

8910-553: The mountain's territory falls within the drainage of the river Maritsa . The natural lakes are few, the most renown of these being the Smolyan lakes situated at several kilometers from the town of the same name. Some of the largest dams in the country are located in the Rhodopes including the Dospat Dam , Batak Dam , Golyam Beglik , Kardzhali Dam , Studen Kladenets , Vacha Dam , Shiroka Polyana and many others, while in Greece there are

9020-454: The nearly constant Ottoman conflict with the Habsburgs from the mid-1500s to the early 1700s; the resulting massive war expenses that led to a sixfold increase in the jizya rate from 1574 to 1691 and the imposition of a war-time avariz tax; the Little Ice Age in the 1600s that caused crop failures and widespread famine; heavy corruption and overtaxation by local landholders—all of which led to

9130-543: The north and south banks of river Arda and it is bordered to the west by Kardzhali Dam , and by Studen Kladenets Dam to the east. At maximum capacity, the waters of the Studen Kladenets Dam extend to the foot of the old Veselchane bridge. The concrete wall of the Kurdzhali Dam is located about two kilometers (1.2 miles) upstream from that bridge. The banks of the river running through the town have been adjusted by

9240-612: The north the mountain slopes descend steeply towards the Upper Thracian Plain . To the west, the Rhodopes reach the Avram saddle, Yundola and the valley of the Mesta River . To the south and east they extend to the coastal plains of Greek Thrace . The Rhodopes are a complex system of ridges and deep river valleys. Fifteen reserves have been established in the region, some of which are under UNESCO protection. The mountains are famous for

9350-514: The number of Ottoman cavalry soldiers, thus both fuelling new conquests and bringing conquered countries under direct Ottoman control. From the 14th century until the 19th century Sofia was an important administrative centre in the Ottoman Empire. It became the capital of the beylerbeylik of Rumelia ( Rumelia Eyalet ), the province that administered the Ottoman lands in Europe (the Balkans ), one of

9460-459: The other way. Christian parents are described to have resented the forced recruitment of their children, and would beg and seek to buy their children out of the levy. Many different ways of avoiding the devshirme are mentioned, including: marrying the boys at the age of 12, mutilating them or having both father and son convert to Islam. In 1565, the practice led to a revolt in Albania and Epirus, where

9570-652: The overall tax burden on the rayah (i.e., Non-Muslims), was twice as high as that on Muslims. Christians faced a number of other restrictions: they were barred from testifying against Muslims in inter-faith legal disputes. Even though they were free to perform their own religious rituals, this had to be done in a manner that was inconspicuous to Muslims, i.e., loud prayers or bell ringing were forbidden. They were barred from certain professions, from riding horses, from wearing certain colours or from carrying weapons. Nevertheless, there were specific categories of rayah who were exempt from nearly all such restrictions, such as

9680-547: The part of the mountain range that is located in Greece . The Rhodope regional unit in the northern part of the country is named after the region. This area includes the Rodopi Mountain Range National Park . The Southern Rhodopes are characterized by numerous peaks of relatively low altitude. Their highest peak is Delimposka (1,953m) in the mountain of Frakto, near the Greek-Bulgarian border. Nowadays

9790-483: The period of Ottoman rule. However, it remained a small town. During the 18th century, Turkish brigands used this remote town as a hideaway and supply point, and the town was later named after their leader Kırca Ali. The best known of these units was led by Pazvantoğlu Osman Pasha , who ruled most of the northeastern Bulgarian lands and the Danube estuary until his death in 1807. Kardzhali and its neighborhood became part of

9900-565: The population of present-day Bulgaria in 1831 would stand at 2,006,845 people. The Principality of Bulgaria was established on 13 July 1878 and incorporated five of the sanjaks that used to be part of the Ottoman Danube Vilayet : The Sanjaks of Vidin , Tirnova , Rusçuk , Sofya and Varna , with individual border changes, cf. below. The two other sanjaks in the Danube Vilayet, those of Niš and Tulça , were ceded to Serbia and Romania, respectively. Ethnoconfessional Groups in

10010-507: The population of the city were Muslims – Turks , Pomaks , and Muslim Roma . After the Second Balkan war and the First World War , Bulgarian Christian refugees from Eastern and Western Thrace settled in Kardzhali. Some Turks immediately moved to the remains of the Ottoman Empire in 1913 in response to the Bulgarians moving to their lands. Further emigration to Turkey continued between 1913 and 1989. This included two emigration waves in

10120-436: The recently completed Water Mirror reservoir, creating an environment for water sports and recreational activities. In the 1970s, the reservoir of the Kurdzhali Dam was artificially seeded with sheatfish . Today, specimens that reach 100 kg (220 lb) can be found. In the last years 45,000 carp were introduced into the dam as well. Most recently it was artificially seeded with European perch . The fish were taken from

10230-433: The religion of his fathers and that he prayed at night before the cross which he kept carefully concealed. Islam in Bulgaria spread through both colonisation with Muslims from Asia Minor and conversion of native Bulgarians. The Ottomans' mass population transfers began in the late 1300s and continued well into the 1500s. Most of these, but far from all, were involuntary. The first community settled in present-day Bulgaria

10340-529: The shores of the dams or in the green valleys, which can be visited in the summer. The caves along the Greek border such as Yagodinska , Uhlovitsa , Devil's Throat Cave , Snezhanka (near Peshtera) and others are popular among speleologists with their spectacular forms and underground lakes and rivers. The ruins of castles, Thracian sites such as Perperikon and Tatul , the villages in National Revival style and

10450-536: The struggle for recognition of a separate Church, the modern Bulgarian nation was created under the name Bulgar Millet . Also the Bulgarian Uniat Church was created. Armed resistance to the Ottoman rule escalated in the third quarter of the 19th century and reached its climax with the April Uprising of 1876 that covered part of the ethnically Bulgarian territories of the empire. The uprising, provoked

10560-466: The territory of the province. The settlement took place in two waves: one of 142,852 Tatars and Nogais , with a minority of Circassians, who settled in the Danube Vilayet between 1855 and 1862, and a second one of some 35,000 Circassian families (140,000–175,000 settlers), who arrived in 1864. According to Turkish scholar Kemal Karpat , the Tatar and Circassian colonisation of the vilayet not only offset

10670-467: The tremendous rate of increase in the Muslim population of the five Bulgarian sanjaks plus the Sanjak of Tulça of 84.23% (220,276 males) vs. 53.29% (229,188 males) for Non-Muslims from 1860 to 1875 to the colonisation of the vilayet with Crimean Tatars and Circassians. Ethnoconfessional Groups in the "Five Bulgarian sanjaks" as per 1873-74 Census The Congress of Berlin ceded the kaza of Cuma-i Bâlâ from

10780-532: The two together with the beylerbeylik of Anatolia . It was the capital of the important Sanjak of Sofia as well, including the whole of Thrace with Plovdiv and Edirne , and part of Macedonia with Thessaloniki and Skopje . The Danube Vilayet was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire from 1864 to 1878 with a capital in Ruse . In the late 19th century it reportedly had an area of 34,120 square miles (88,400 km ) and incorporated

10890-483: The western areas of the range. There are a number of hydro-cascades and dams used for electricity production, irrigation, and as tourist destinations. In Greece, there are also the hydroelectric power plants of Thisavros and Platanovrysi. The Rhodopes have a rich cultural heritage including ancient Thracian sites such as Perperikon , Tatul and Belintash , and medieval castles, churches, monasteries , and picturesque villages with traditional Bulgarian architecture from

11000-469: The wide-scale migration of Muslims from Anatolia and emigration of Christians to Wallachia, etc. Both the Christian and Muslim population then grew steadily until the 1580s, reaching approx. 1.8 million, or 1.2 million Christians and 0.6 million Muslims (or a Christian-to-Muslim ratio of 2:1 or 66 per cent to 33 per cent), where the higher growth among the Muslims is attributed to both conversion of Christians and

11110-647: The wife of King Haemus of Thrace, offended the gods, and was changed into a mountain by Zeus and Hera as a punishment along with her husband. The mountains are also associated with the mythic figure of Orpheus . In the Middle Ages , the mountains were known as the Slavey Mountains (Slaveyev Mountains), and under Ottoman rule were known as the Dospatsky Mountains, after the Dospat Municipality and Dospat River . In geomorphological terms,

11220-591: The winter resort Pamporovo , the Eastern Orthodox Bachkovo Monastery , the ruins of the Asen dynasty 's fortress, and the Devil's Throat, Yagodinska, and Uhlovitsa caves. The highest village in Bulgaria, Manastir (over 1,500 meters (4,921 ft)), is crouched in the northern foot of Prespa Peak. A number of architectural reserves, such as Shiroka Laka, Kovachevitsa, Momchilovtsi, Kosovo , are also located in

11330-631: Was a set of confessional communities in the Ottoman Empire . It referred to the separate legal courts pertaining to "personal law" under which religious communities were allowed to rule themselves under their own system. The Sultan regarded the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Constantinople Patriarchate as the leader of the Orthodox Christian peoples of his empire. After the Ottoman Tanzimat (1839–76) reforms, Nationalism arose in

11440-494: Was discontinued. Formerly Kardzhali was a tobacco processing center, but for economic reasons all of the communist era industrial plants are no longer operative. The large deposits of lead and zinc ore in the area once made the town an attractive location for the metallurgy and machine building industry. However, in 2016 the no-longer-operative large Lead and Zinc Complex near the city met its final end with its two stacks being torn down. Nowadays retail trade and services constitute

11550-505: Was known as Zherkovo a name that was used by the Bulgarians until the 17th century. The Monastery of John the Precursor (Bulgarian: Йоан Продром or Йоан Предтеча) was built in the 6th-8th centuries and is now a monument of medieval architecture. Apart from the fortress of Vishegrad on the right bank of the Arda, the eastern approaches of the town were protected by the medieval castle of Monyak on

11660-407: Was made up of Tatars who willingly arrived to begin a settled life as farmers, the second one a tribe of nomads that had run afoul of the Ottoman administration. Both groups settled in the Upper Thracian Plain , in the vicinity of Plovdiv. Another large group of Tatars was moved by Mehmed I to Thrace in 1418, followed by the relocation of more than 1000 Turkoman families to Northeastern Bulgaria in

11770-479: 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. The Bulgarian National Revival was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarians under Ottoman rule. It

11880-412: Was originally proposed in the Treaty of San Stefano . The effect of the Ottoman conquest on Bulgarian demography is uncertain and subject to much contention. However, the population of present-day Bulgaria in the 1450s is estimated to have hit a low of 600,000 people, divided into approx. 450,000 Christians and 150,000 Muslims (or a Christian-to-Muslim ratio of 3:1 or 75 per cent to 25 per cent) following

11990-646: 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 hayduk 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

12100-474: Was reversed. 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 , where young Christian Bulgarian boys were taken from their families, enslaved and converted to Islam and later employed either in the Janissary military corps or

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