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Eastern Rumelia or Eastern Roumelia (; Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Turkish language

Ottoman Turkish is the variety of the Turkish language that was used as the administrative and literary language of the Ottoman Empire. It contains extensive borrowings from Arabic language and Persian language languages and was written in a variant of the Arabic script....
: Rumeli-i Sarkî; Modern Turkish
Turkish language

Turkish is a language spoken by over 63 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Cyprus, with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and other parts of Eastern Europe....
: Dogu Rumeli, , Anatoliki Romylia) was an autonomous province (vilayet
Wilayah

A wilayah or vil?yet is an administrative division, usually translated as "province" or "governorate". The word comes from Arabic w-l-y 'to govern': a wali 'governor' governs a wilayah 'that which is governed'....
) in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
 from 1878 to 1908, however it was under Bulgarian control from 1885, when it unified with
Bulgarian unification

The Unification of Bulgaria was the act of unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and the then-Ottoman Empire province of Eastern Rumelia in the autumn of 1885....
 the Principality of Bulgaria
Principality of Bulgaria

The Principality of Bulgaria was a state created as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Berlin, 1878 in 1878. The Treaty of San Stefano, between Russian Empire and the Porte on March 3, had originally proposed a much larger Bulgarian state comprising all ethnic Bulgarians in the Balkans....
. The capital was Plovdiv
Plovdiv

Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, with a population of 379,119. It is the administrative centre of Plovdiv Province in southern Bulgaria and three municipalities , as well as the largest and most important city in Northern Thrace and the wider international historical region of Thrace....
 (Filibe). Today, Bulgaria's share of Rumelia, i.e. Southern Bulgaria
Southern Bulgaria

Southern Bulgaria is the southern half of the territory of Bulgaria, located to the south of the main ridge of the Balkan Mountains which conventionally separates the country into a northern and a southern part....
 bar the southwestern regions. has a population of more than 2.5 million.

ern Rumelia was created as an autonomous province within the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Berlin
Treaty of Berlin, 1878

The Treaty of Berlin was the final act of the Congress of Berlin , by which the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Austria-Hungary, French Third Republic, German Empire, Kingdom of Italy , Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire under Abdul Hamid II revised the Treaty of San Stefano signed on March 3 of the same year....
 in 1878.






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Eastern Rumelia or Eastern Roumelia (; Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Turkish language

Ottoman Turkish is the variety of the Turkish language that was used as the administrative and literary language of the Ottoman Empire. It contains extensive borrowings from Arabic language and Persian language languages and was written in a variant of the Arabic script....
: Rumeli-i Sarkî; Modern Turkish
Turkish language

Turkish is a language spoken by over 63 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Cyprus, with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and other parts of Eastern Europe....
: Dogu Rumeli, , Anatoliki Romylia) was an autonomous province (vilayet
Wilayah

A wilayah or vil?yet is an administrative division, usually translated as "province" or "governorate". The word comes from Arabic w-l-y 'to govern': a wali 'governor' governs a wilayah 'that which is governed'....
) in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
 from 1878 to 1908, however it was under Bulgarian control from 1885, when it unified with
Bulgarian unification

The Unification of Bulgaria was the act of unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and the then-Ottoman Empire province of Eastern Rumelia in the autumn of 1885....
 the Principality of Bulgaria
Principality of Bulgaria

The Principality of Bulgaria was a state created as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Berlin, 1878 in 1878. The Treaty of San Stefano, between Russian Empire and the Porte on March 3, had originally proposed a much larger Bulgarian state comprising all ethnic Bulgarians in the Balkans....
. The capital was Plovdiv
Plovdiv

Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, with a population of 379,119. It is the administrative centre of Plovdiv Province in southern Bulgaria and three municipalities , as well as the largest and most important city in Northern Thrace and the wider international historical region of Thrace....
 (Filibe). Today, Bulgaria's share of Rumelia, i.e. Southern Bulgaria
Southern Bulgaria

Southern Bulgaria is the southern half of the territory of Bulgaria, located to the south of the main ridge of the Balkan Mountains which conventionally separates the country into a northern and a southern part....
 bar the southwestern regions. has a population of more than 2.5 million.

History

Eastern Rumelia was created as an autonomous province within the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Berlin
Treaty of Berlin, 1878

The Treaty of Berlin was the final act of the Congress of Berlin , by which the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Austria-Hungary, French Third Republic, German Empire, Kingdom of Italy , Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire under Abdul Hamid II revised the Treaty of San Stefano signed on March 3 of the same year....
 in 1878. It encompassed the territory between the Balkan Mountains
Balkan Mountains

The Balkan mountain range is a mountain in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan range runs 560 km from the Vrashka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and eastern Serbia eastward through central Bulgaria to Cape Emine on the Black Sea....
, the Rhodope Mountains
Rhodope Mountains

The Rhodopes are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, with over 83% of its area in southern Bulgaria and the remainder in Greece. Its highest peak, Golyam Perelik , is the seventh highest Bulgarian mountain....
 and Strandzha
Strandzha

Strandzha is a mountain massif in southeastern Bulgaria and the European part of Turkey, in the southeastern part of the Balkans between the plains of Thrace to the west, the lowlands near Burgas to the north and the Black Sea to the east....
, a region known to all its inhabitantsBulgarians
Bulgarians

The Bulgarians are a South Slavs people generally associated with the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian language. Emigration has resulted in Bulgarian minorities or immigrant communities in a number of other countries....
, Greeks
Greeks

The Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in Greek diaspora communities around the world....
 and Ottoman Turks
Ottoman Turks

The Ottoman Turks were the subdivision of the Ottoman Muslim Millet that dominated the ruling class of the Ottoman Empire. Reliable information about the early history of the Ottomans is scarce....
as Northern Thrace. The artificial name, Eastern Rumelia, was given to the province on the insistence of the British
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name and the state form of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927....
 delegates to the Congress of Berlin
Congress of Berlin

The Congress of Berlin was a meeting of the European Great Powers' and the Ottoman Empire's leading statesmen in Berlin in 1878. In the wake of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877?78, the meeting's aim was to reorganize the countries of the Balkans....
: the Ottoman notion of Rumelia
Rumelia

Rumelia or Rumeli is a Turkish name, used from the 15th century onwards, for the southern Balkan regions of the Ottoman Empire. "Rumeli" literally translates as "land of the Romans", in reference to the Byzantine Empire, the former dominant power in the area....
 refers to all European regions of the empire, i.e. those that were in Antiquity under the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Some twenty Pomak
Pomaks

Pomaks are a Bulgarian language-speaking Muslim population group native to some parts of Bulgaria, specifically southern Bulgaria, and the adjacent parts of Greece and Turkey....
 (Bulgarian Muslim
Bulgarian Muslims

The Bulgarian Muslims are Bulgarians of the Islamic faith. They are generally thought to be the decedents of Slavs who converted to Islam during Ottoman empire rule....
) villages in the Rhodope Mountains refused to recognize Eastern Rumelian authority and formed the so-called Republic of Tamrash
Republic of Tamrash

The Republic of Tamrash was a short-lived state of the Pomaks, living in the Tamrash region of the Rhodope Mountains. It existed from 1878 to 1886....
.

According to the Treaty of Berlin, Eastern Rumelia was to remain under the political and military jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire with significant administrative autonomy (Article 13). The head of the province was a Christian Governor-General
Governor-General

The term governor general or governor-general refers to a Viceroy representative of a Monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription....
 appointed by the Sublime Porte with the approval of the Great Powers.

The predominantly Bulgarian character of Eastern Rumelia is well evidenced by the outcome of the first Regional Assembly elections of 17 October 1879. Of the 36 elected deputies, 31 were Bulgarians (86.1%), 3 were Greeks (8.3%) and 2 were Turks (5.6%).

The province is remembered today by philatelists
Philately

Philately is the study of revenue stamp and postage stamp stamps. This includes the design, production and uses of stamps after they are authorized for issue, usually by government officials such as Postal Authorities....
 for having issued postage stamp
Postage stamp

A postage stamp is adhesive paper evidence of a fee paid for Mail services. Usually a small rectangle attached to an envelope, the stamp signifies the person sending it has fully or partly paid for delivery....
s from 1880 on. See the main article, Postage stamps and postal history of Eastern Rumelia
Postage stamps and postal history of Eastern Rumelia

Eastern Rumelia or Eastern Roumelia was an autonomous province in the Ottoman Empire from 1878 to 1908; however it was under Bulgaria control from 1885 ....
.

Governors-General

The first Governor-General was the Bulgarian prince Alexander Bogoridi
Alexander Bogoridi

Prince Alexander Stefanov Bogoridi was an Ottoman Empire statesman of Bulgarians origin.Born in Istanbul, Alexander Bogoridi was the youngest son of one of the most influential persons in the Ottoman Empire - Stefan Bogoridi - and brother of Nicolae Vogoride, who became a prominent Moldavian politician....
 (1879–1884) who was acceptable to both Bulgarians and Greeks in the province. The second Governor-General was Gavril Krastevich
Gavril Krastevich

Gavril Krastevich was a Bulgarians politician. He was born in Kotel in 1813. He was a general governor of Eastern Rumelia between 1884 and 1885. Krastevich died in Istanbul on 16 November 1898....
 (1884–1885), a famous Bulgarian historian. Before the first Governor-General, Arkady Stolypin was the Russian Civil Administrator from 9 October 1878 to 18 May 1879.

During the period of Bulgarian annexation Georgi Stranski was appointed as a Commissioner for South Bugaria (9 September 1885 - 5 April 1886), and when the province was restored to nominal Ottoman sovereignty, but still under Bulgarian control, the Prince of Bulgaria was recognized by the Sublime Porte as the Governor-General.

  • Alexander Bogoridi
    Alexander Bogoridi

    Prince Alexander Stefanov Bogoridi was an Ottoman Empire statesman of Bulgarians origin.Born in Istanbul, Alexander Bogoridi was the youngest son of one of the most influential persons in the Ottoman Empire - Stefan Bogoridi - and brother of Nicolae Vogoride, who became a prominent Moldavian politician....
     "Aleko Pasha" (18 May 1879 - 26 April 1884)
  • Gavril Krastevich
    Gavril Krastevich

    Gavril Krastevich was a Bulgarians politician. He was born in Kotel in 1813. He was a general governor of Eastern Rumelia between 1884 and 1885. Krastevich died in Istanbul on 16 November 1898....
     "Gavril Pasha" (26 April 1884 - 18 September 1885)
  • The Prince of Bulgaria (17 April 1886 - 5 October 1908)
    • Alexander of Bulgaria
      Alexander, Prince of Bulgaria

      Alexander Joseph of Battenberg , the first prince of modern Bulgaria, reigning from April 29, 1879 to September 7, 1886....
       (17 April 1886 - 7 September 1886)
    • Ferdinand I of Bulgaria
      Ferdinand I of Bulgaria

      Ferdinand, Tsar of Bulgaria , born Prince Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was the Knjaz and later Monarch of Bulgaria as well as an author, botanist, entomologist and philatelist....
       (7 July 1886 - 5 October 1908)


Unification with Bulgaria

After a bloodless revolution on 6 September 1885, the province was annexed by the tributary Principality of Bulgaria
Principality of Bulgaria

The Principality of Bulgaria was a state created as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Berlin, 1878 in 1878. The Treaty of San Stefano, between Russian Empire and the Porte on March 3, had originally proposed a much larger Bulgarian state comprising all ethnic Bulgarians in the Balkans....
. After the Bulgarian victory in the subsequent Serbo-Bulgarian War
Serbo-Bulgarian War

The Serbo-Bulgarian War was a war between Serbia and Bulgaria that erupted on November 14, 1885 and lasted until November 28 the same year. Final peace was signed on February 19, 1886 in Bucharest....
, the status quo was recognized by the Porte with the Tophane Act of 24 March 1886. With the Tophane Act, Sultan
Sultan

Sultan is an Islamic honorifics, with several historical meanings. Originally it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", or "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ???? sulah, meaning "authority" or "power"....
 Abdülhamid II appointed the Prince of Bulgaria (without mentioning the name of the incumbent prince Alexander of Bulgaria) as Governor-General of Eastern Rumelia. The Pomak Republic was reincorporated in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
. The province was nominally under Ottoman suzerainty until Bulgaria became de jure independent in 1908. 6 September, Unification Day
Unification Day (Bulgaria)

Unification Day on 6 September is a Public holiday of Bulgaria. It commemorates the unification of Bulgaria of Eastern Rumelia and Bulgaria in 1885....
, is a national holiday in Bulgaria.

The Greek population of the region was largely exchanged in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars

The Balkan Wars were two wars in South-eastern Europe in 1912?1913 in the course of which the Balkan League first conquered Ottoman Empire-held Macedonia , Albania and most of Thrace and then fell out over the division of the spoils....
 and World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
. Several thousand Bulgarians of Greek descent still inhabit the region, as do the Sarakatsani
Sarakatsani

The Sarakatsani are a group of Greeks Transhumance shepherds in Greece. Historically centered around the Pindus mountains, they have been currently urbanised to a significant degree....
 transhumant shepherds.

External links

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