Eastern Rumelia (; ; ) was an autonomous province (oblast in Bulgarian, vilayet in Turkish) of the Ottoman Empire with a total area of , which was created in 1878 by virtue of the Treaty of Berlin and de facto ceased to exist in 1885, when it was united with the Principality of Bulgaria, also under nominal Ottoman suzerainty. It continued to be an Ottoman province de jure until 1908, when Bulgaria declared independence. Ethnic Bulgarians formed a majority of the population in Eastern Rumelia, but there were significant Turkish and Greek minorities. Its capital was Plovdiv (Ottoman Filibe, Greek Philippoupoli). The official languages of Eastern Rumelia were Bulgarian, Greek and Ottoman Turkish.
History Eastern Rumelia was created as an autonomous province within the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. The region roughly corresponded to today's southern Bulgaria, which was also the name the Russians proposed for it; this proposal was rejected by the British.Luigi Albertini (1952), The Origins of the War of 1914, volume I (Oxford University Press), 20. It encompassed the territory between the Balkan Mountains, the Rhodope Mountains and Strandzha, a region known to all its inhabitantsBulgarians, Ottoman Turks, Greeks, Roma, Armenians and Jewsas Northern Thrace. The artificialBalkan studies: biannual publication of the Institute for Balkan Studies, Volume 19, 1978, p.235 name, Eastern Rumelia, was given to the province on the insistence of the British delegates to the Congress of Berlin: the Ottoman notion of Rumelia refers to all European regions of the empire, i.e. those that were in Antiquity under the Roman Empire. Some twenty Pomak (Bulgarian Muslim) villages in the Rhodope Mountains refused to recognize Eastern Rumelian authority and formed the so-called Republic of Tamrash.
The province is remembered today by philatelists for having issued postage stamps from 1880 on. See the main article, Postage stamps and postal history of Eastern Rumelia.
Unification with Bulgaria After a bloodless revolution on 6 September 1885, the province was annexed by the Principality of Bulgaria, which was de jure an Ottoman tributary state but de facto functioned as independent. After the Bulgarian victory in the subsequent Serbo-Bulgarian War, the status quo was recognized by the Porte with the Tophane Agreement on 24 March 1886. With the Tophane Act, Sultan Abdul Hamid II appointed the Prince of Bulgaria (without mentioning the name of the incumbent prince Alexander of Bulgaria) as Governor-General of Eastern Rumelia, thus retaining the formal distinction between the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern RumeliaEmerson M. S. Niou, Peter C. Ordeshook, Gregory F. Rose. The balance of power: stability in international systems, 1989, p. 279. and preserving the letter of the Berlin Treaty.Stanley Leathes, G. W. (George Walter) Prothero, Sir Adolphus William Ward. The Cambridge Modern History, Volume 2, 1908, p. 408. However, it was clear to the Great Powers that the union between the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia was permanent, and not to be dissolved.Charles Jelavich, Barbara Jelavich. The establishment of the Balkan national states, 1804–1920, 2000, p. 167. The Republic of Tamrash and the region of Kardzhali were reincorporated in the Ottoman Empire. The province was nominally under Ottoman suzerainty until Bulgaria became de jure independent in 1908. 6 September, Unification Day, is a national holiday in Bulgaria.
Government 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 law frame of Eastern Rumelia was defined with the Organic Statute which was adopted on 14 April 1879 and was in force until the Unification with Bulgaria in 1885.See According to the Organic Statute the head of the province was a Christian Governor-General appointed by the Sublime Porte with the approval of the Great Powers. The legislative organ was the Provincial Counsel which consisted of 56 persons, of which 10 were appointed by the governor-general, 10 were permanent and 36 were directly elected by the people.
Arkady Stolypin was the Russian civil administrator from 9 October 1878 to 18 May 1879. The first governor-general was Prince Alexander Bogoridi (1879–1884), a Bulgarian aristocrat, who was acceptable to both Bulgarians and Greeks in the province. The second governor-general was Gavril Krastevich (1884–1885), a Bulgarian historian.
During the period of Bulgarian annexation Georgi Stranski was appointed as a commissioner for South Bulgaria (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 in the Tophane Agreement of 1886.
Governors-general No. Portrait Name Term of office Took office Left office Duration 1 Knyaz Aleksandar Bogoridi 18 May 1879 26 April 1884 2 Gavril Krastevich 26 April 1884 18 September 1885 3 Knyaz Aleksandar I of Bulgaria 17 April 1886 7 September 1886 4 Knyaz Ferdinand I of Bulgaria 7 July 1887 5 October 1908
Timeline
Administrative divisions
Eastern Rumelia consisted of the departments (called in Bulgarian окръзи okrazi, in Ottoman terminology sanjaks) of Plovdiv (Пловдив, Filibe), Tatarpazardzhik (Татарпазарджик, Tatarpazarcığı), Haskovo (Хасково, Hasköy), Stara Zagora (Стара Загора, Eski Zağra), Sliven (Сливен, İslimye) and Burgas (Бургас, Burgaz), in turn divided into 28 cantons (equivalent to Bulgarian околии okolii, Ottoman kazas).
The cantons were: Department of Plovdiv: Plovdiv, Konush (the canton seat was in Stanimaka), Ovchi Halm (seat in Golyamo Konare), Stryama (seat in Karlovo), Sarnena Gora (seat in Brezovo) and Rupchos (seat in Chepelare) Department of Pazardzhik: Pazardzhik, Peshtera, Panagyurishte and Ihtiman Department of Haskovo: Haskovo, Hadzhi Eles, Harmanli and Kardzhali Department of Stara Zagora: Stara Zagora, Kazanlak, Chirpan, Nova Zagora and Tarnovo Seymen Department of Sliven: Sliven, Yambol, Kazalagach, Kavakli and Kotel Department of Burgas: Burgas, Anhialo, Karnobat and Aytos
Population and ethnic demographics Pre 1878 The following is a district-by-district population extract from the 1876 Ottoman salname for the Vilayet of Adrianople, which is in turn based on the vilayet-wide census of 1875. As is common for Ottoman statistics, figures refer to males only, including Ottoman soldiers stationed in the region (figures at the bottom are male-female aggregated estimates): +Ethnoconfessional Groups per Kaza in the Future Eastern Rumelia in 1876 Based on the 1875 Adrianople Vilayet CensusKaza (District)Islam millet %Bulgar & Rum millet %Ermeni millet%Roman Catholic%Yahudi millet%Muslim Roma%Non-Muslim Roma%Total% Filibe/Plovdiv 35,40028.1 80,16563.6 3800.3 3,4622.7 6910.5 5,1744.1 4950.4 125,767100.00 Pazarcık/Pazardzhik 10,80522.8 33,39570.5 940.2 -0.0 3440.7 2,1204.5 5791.2 47,337100.00 Hasköy/Haskovo 33,32355.0 25,50342.1 30.0 -0.0 650.1 1,548 2.6 1450.2 60,587100.00 Zağra-i Atik/Stara Zagora 6,67720.024,85774.5 -0.0 -0.0 7402.2 9893.0 900.3 33,353100.00 Kızanlık/Kazanlak 14,36546.5 14,90648.2 -0.0 -0.0 2190.7 1,3844.5 240.0 30,898100.00 Çırpan/Chirpan 5,15823.915,95973.8 -0.0 -0.0 -0.0 4201.9 880.4 21,625100.00 Ahi Çelebi/Smolyan1 8,197 57.8 5,346 37.7 268 1.9 - 0.0 - 0.0 377 2.7 - 0.0 14,188100.00 Sultanyeri/Momchilgrad1 13,33696.9 2621.9 -0.0 -0.0 -0.0 1591.2 - 0.0 13,757100.00 Filibe sanjak subtotal 105,728 33.07 194,785 60.92 477 0.15 3,6421.14 2,0590.64 11,6353.64 1,4210.44 319,747100.00 İslimye/Sliven 8,39229.8 17,97563.8 1430.5 -0.0 1580.6 5962.1 9143.2 28,178100.00 Yanbolu/Yambol 4,08430.4 8,10760.4 -0.0 -0.0 3963.0 4593.4 3773.2 13,423100.00 Misivri/Nesebar 2,18240.0 3,11851.6 -0.0 -0.0 -0.0 1532.8 -0.0 5,453100.00 Karinâbâd/Karnobat 7,65660.5 3,93831.1 -0.0 -0.0 2502.0 6845.4 1251.0 12,653100.00 Aydos/Aytos 10,85876.0 2,73519.2 190.1 -0.0 360.2 5844.1 460.3 14,278100.00 Zağra-i Cedid/Nova Zagora 5,31029.4 11,77765.2 -0.0 -0.0 -0.0 8804.9 1030.6 18,070100.00 Ahyolu/Pomorie 1,77233.7 3,11359.2 -0.0 -0.0 -0.0 3787.2 20.0 5,265100.00 Burgas 4,26222.1 14,17973.6 460.2 -0.0 40.0 4482.3 3201.6 19,259100.00 Islimiye sanjak subtotal 44,51638.2 64,94255.7 2080.2 -0.0 8440.6 4,1823.6 1,8871.6 116,579100.00 Male Population Islimiye & Filibe sanjak150,24434.43 259,72759.53 6850.16 3,6420.83 2,9030.67 15,8173.63 3,3080.76 436,362100.00 Total Population3 Islimiye & Filibe sanjak300,48834.43 519,45459.53 1,3700.16 7,2840.83 5,8060.67 31,6343.63 6,6160.76 872,652100.00 Kızılağaç/Elhovo2 1,4259.611,48989.0 N/AN/A N/AN/A N/AN/A N/AN/A N/AN/A 12,914100.00 Manastir/Topolovgrad2 4091.5 26,13998.5 N/AN/A N/AN/A N/AN/A N/AN/A N/AN/A 26,548100.00 Eastern Rumelia GRAND TOTAL3302,32233.15557,08261.08 1,3700.157,2840.795,8060.6431,6343.476,6160.72912,114100.00
Post 1878
According to a British report before the 1877–1878 war, the non-Muslim population (consisting mostly of Bulgarians) of Eastern Rumelia was about 60%, a proportion that grew due to the flight and emigration of Muslims during and after the war.Studies on Ottoman social and political history: selected articles and essay, Kemal H. Karpat, p.370 The 1878 census show a population of 815,946 people- 573,231 Bulgarians (70.29%), 174,759 Muslims (21.43%), 42,516 Greeks (5.21%), 19,524 Roma, 4,177 Jews, and 1,306 Armenians.Bŭlgarii︠a︡ 1300-institut︠s︡ii i dŭrzhavna tradit︠s︡ii︠a︡: dokladi na tretii︠a︡ Kongres na Bŭlgarskoto istorichesko druzhestvo, 3–5 oktomvri 1981, p. 326
The results of the first Regional Assembly elections of 17 October 1879 show a predominantly Bulgarian character: Of the 36 elected deputies, 31 were Bulgarians (86.1%), 3 were Greeks (8.3%) and two were Turks (5.6%).Делев, "Княжество България и Източна Румелия", История и цивилизация за 11. клас. The ethnic statistics from the censuses of 1880 and 1884 show a Bulgarian majority in the province. In the discredited census of 1880, out of total population of 815,951 people some 590,000 (72.3%) self-identified as Bulgarians, 158,000 (19.4%) as Turks, 19,500 (2.4%) as Roma, and 48,000 (5.9%) belonged to other ethnicities, notably Greeks, Armenians and Jews. The repetition of the census in 1884 returned similar data: 70.0% Bulgarians, 20.6% Turks, 2.8% Roma and 6.7% others.
The Greek inhabitants of Eastern Rumelia were concentrated on the coast, where they were strong in numbers,A Short History of Russia and the Balkan States, Donald Mackenzie Wallace, 1914, p.102 and certain cities in the interior such as Plovdiv (known in Greek as Philippopolis), where they formed a substantial minority. Most of the Greek population of the region was exchanged with Bulgarians from the Greek provinces of Macedonia and Thrace in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars and World War I.
Eastern Rumelia was also inhabited by foreign nationals, most notably Austrians, Czechs, Hungarians, French people and Italians.
The ethnic composition of the population of Eastern Rumelia, according to the provincial census taken in 1884, was the following: Ethnicity (1884 census) Population Percentage Bulgarians 681,734 70.0% Turks 200,489 20.6% Greeks 53,028 5.4% Roma (Gypsies) 27,190 2.8% Jews 6,982 0.7% Armenians 1,865 0.2%Total 975,030 100%
The population's ethnic composition in the Bulgarian provinces of Pazardzhik, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Haskovo, Sliven, Yambol and Burgas, which have approximately the same territory as Eastern Rumelia according to the 2001 census is the following: Ethnicity (2001 census) Population Percentage Bulgarians 2,068,787 83.7% Turks 208,530 8.4% Roma (Gypsies) 154,004 6.2% Armenians 5,080 0.2% Russians 4,840 0.2% Greeks 1,398 0.1% Jews 251 Others 8,293 0.3% Unspecified 21,540 0.9%Total 2,472,723 100%
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