Macedonia during the turkish rule

MACEDONIA DURING THE TURKISH RULE

(end of the 14th - beginning of the 20th century)

It was a long period of five hundred years (1395 - 1912) when Macedonia within her historic and ethnic borders shared the destiny of the powerful Ottoman Empire, as one of the central Balkan regions. After the defeat by the allies at the river Maritsa (1371), where the Macedonian feudals Volkashin and Uglesha took part, the Turks penetrated in the territory of Macedonia and conquered it by the year of 1395.The successor of Volkashin, Prince Marko (1371 - 1395) and the Deyanovi brothers became vassals. Prince Marko protected the population from the Turkish violence and was praised as a great hero in the folk songs.

The Turkish state in Macedonia imposed completely its military, political, administrative and tax system and started the Islamization of the Macedonian Christian population. This process was evident during the 16th and the 17th century especially in Western and Eastern Macedonia. Nevertheless, the Macedonian Islamized population (Macedonians Moslems nowadays) preserved the Macedonian native language.

During the Turkish period the Ohrid Archbishopric preserved the independence and turned into the main supporter of the Macedonian originality. Ohrid archbishops tried to start a liberation movement for Macedonia and other Balkan states from the Turkish yoke with assistance of the Western forces and Russia. The Macedonian inferior clergy was the protector of the cultural traditions, nourishing the vernacular and supporting the national feeling.

During the period from the 15th to 18th century the Ottoman Empire suffered military defeats; as a result of that it inforced the economy exploitation upon the Macedonian population. The timar-spahi system began to decay being replaced by a tchifflick one.

The enforced lawlessness and anarchy of the rebelled feudals, the high taxes and the corruptive local administration creating dissatisfaction and revolt among the Macedonian population manifested into a different form of resistance: haiduk life, rebellions and uprisings. The well known were the Prilep-Mariovo rebellion (1564/65), and the Karposh uprising (1689/90) which was put down with bloodshed by the Turkish authority.

After the repeal of the Ohrid Archbishopric autocephality and its subordination under the jurisdiction of the Constantinople Patriarchite (1767), the social circumstances aggravated in Macedonia. The feudal mutual struggles provoked migration of the Macedonian peasants into towns. At the beginning of the 19th century the handicrafts, the trading and the Macedonian middle class became developed. Except Salonica and Bitola (the main administrative and economic centres) the towns of Seres, Castoria, Prilep, Skopje, Veles etc. became developed at the same time. The population made mutual contacts during the usual fairs, breaking up the existing autarchy.

The conditions for both - the extensive integration of the Macedonian population and the development of the Macedonian national conscience were created. Despite the five century long Turkish rule, the Macedonian people preserved and nourished the national identity, vernacular language, the Orthodox religion, folklore, tradition and culture. The second half of the 19th century was characterized by the national struggle for liberation and foundation of the Macedonian state.

A fragment of the defter of register of the Kjustendil sanjak from 1570 concerning the revenues data and the market tax of the Doljan fair - Petrich District, which was one of the greatest fairs in Macedonia

A fragment of the first and the last qadis’ sijil of the Bitola vilayet out of the rich collection of the court verdicts that continuously originated from the period between 1607 - 1912 (The Archives of Macedonia - Skopje). The sijils are sources for studying the political, economic and social history, and the history of the religion and culture in Macedonia during the period of the Ottoman rule.

A rosette - a carving made by the members of the famous Ohrid Carving School (The Museum of Ohrid)

"A True Event" - a painting by G. Zografski for the plunder and the atrocities committed upon the Macedonian population in the village of Papradishte - Debar District (1884)

An ethnical map of the Balkan Peninsula in the 16th century representing the actual state of Macedonia in which the preponderance of the Macedonian Christian population is evident and is denoted in blue

Panorama of the city of Bitola (Monastir) from the 19th century

Panorama of the city of Ohrid from the 19th century

Panorama of the city of Veles from the 19th century

The carving of the iconostasis of the monastery "St. Jovan Bigorski" - Debar District, a masterpiece of the brothers Filipovski and Frchkovski

The cathedral church "St. Sofia" in Ohrid - the Ohrid Archbishopric See

The accounting book - a diary from 1862, belonging to the well-known merchant family Mashovi from Veles

The act of the establishment of the first commercial agency of the USA in Macedonia, in Salonica 1832, which had turned into a consulate in 1869 and developed economic and political activity

The charter sent by the vali of Rumelia to the qadi (a Moslem judge) of Bitola (Monastir) about the result of the defters’ survey; it is concluded that the authorities are corrupted and the property of the poor is plundered by imposition of taxes by the local authorities fulfilling only their personal interest (November 20, 1818)

The charter sent by the vali of Rumelia to the ayans of Djuma-Pazari, Lerin (Florina), Charshanba and the commandant of the army of Bitola (Monastir) ordering them to fight against the rebels of Njegush - Southern Macedonia and to crush the rebellion (April 21, 1822)

The charter, sent by the vali of Rumelia to the authorities of Bitola, informing that the city of Bitola (Monastir) becomes a military and administrative centre of the Rumelia vilayet which, apart from Macedonia, includes a large part of the Balkans(April 14, 1820)

The Daut Pasha Turkish Bath in Skopje - one of the most representative monuments of the Islamic culture in Macedonia (The Art Gallery in Skopje nowadays)

The decree with which Karposh and his adherents are granted amnesty by the Turkish authorities, and Karposh is appointed head of the martolosbashis of 11 kazas (districts) in North-Eastern Macedonia (September 26 - October 15, 1689)

The economic map of Macedonia, created by F. Bianconi (Paris 1885), where Macedonia is presented within its ethnic and geographical boundaries, including all cities and villages with their population figures

The firman sent by the Sultan Mahmud II to the vali (governor) of Rumelia, the qadis and the naibs of the kazas in which the imperial chiftliks were located, for the unlawful imposition of taxes upon the Macedonian population - forced to run away and leave the chiftliks desolated (August 20, 1825)

The firman sent the qadi of the Reka kaza ordering the authorities not to avert the bells tolling, which is an old Macedonian custom inviting people to perform Christian religious rituals (May, 1838)

The firman sent to the residence of the qadi in Debar forbidding the military officials to spend the nights in the konaks of the Metropolitan’s residence in the village of Trebishte. The local authorities were not allowed to take any part into the repair of the churches in the Debar Metropolitan diocese (May 1838)

The general coat of arms of Macedonia in the Heraldry compiled by Korenich - Neorich, (1595)

The gramota (a letter of application) from the Sardokin District (Monastery of Rila), with which the archmandrite Stephen and the monastery brethren asked the Russian emperor Michael III Romanov for financial contribution for restoration of the monastery ruins, clerical books, inventory etc.(December, 1627)

The historical map of the administrative and territorial division of Macedonia during the Ottoman rule, 15th - 17th century (The Institute of National History - Skopje)

The inscription on the mosque in the village of Pepelishte glorifying the erector, the feudal lord Suleyman, also known as Kantur-bey, notorious for the terrorization of the Macedonian population in Tikvesh District (1801/2)

The letter of protection sent by the Austrian emperor Leopold I of Habsburg recognizing and taking under his protection the Macedonian people and Macedonia(Vienna, April 26, 1690)

The letter written by the Ohrid archbishop Gavril to the archduke Ferdinand of Habsburg asking for financial contribution for the Ohrid Archbishopric and a recommendation to visit the Pope Sixtes V in order to organize an alliance for liberation of the Christians (October 8, 1587) The seal of the Ohrid Archbishopric from the 16th century

The order with which the martolosbashi Mehmed from Znepole is appointed commander of the chase that should have caught or killed Karposh - the leader of the rebellion in North - Eastern Macedonia (October 6-15, 1689)

The plan of the Sultan Murat Mosque in Skopje from the 15th century

The project of the Ohrid archbishop Atanasie from 1615 to organize a rebellion for liberation of the Macedonian people and the other Christian population on the Balkans from the Turkish yoke asking for help from the West-European countries

The pulpit of the cathedral church "St. Sofia" in Ohrid

The Regulations Book of the Tannery Guild from Ohrid (1657)

The sijil of the Bitola’s qadi, according to which Mara, from the village of Paralovo converted into Islam faith; later she gave it up and converted into Christian faith again, for what she was imprisoned; she was forced by the court to convert into Islam faith once again under the name of Kjamila (September 18, 1817)

The statistical data on the commercial relations between France and Turkey in Macedonia - a chart concerning the import and export of goods during the period between 1821 - 1845

The Stone Bridge in Skopje with the tree on which Karposh was tortured and hanged

The tabular survey on the number of the Moslemized families in Macedonia from 1569 and statistical data on the accomplished Islamization in Macedonia from 1477

The transcriptive book of Michael Danabash, a merchant from Bitola, for the correspondence with the grand trading centres in Europe during the period between 1875 - 1905

The vacoufnama of Isa-bey of Skopje with which he bequeaths his estate to his successors for the vacouf maintenance, August 1469 (The Archives of Macedonia - Skopje)

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