Исторически преглед

Издание на Института за исторически изследвания при БАН

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И.Ист.И.

About the Fate of the Non-Muslim Population of the Central Danube Plain and the Pre-Balkan Region during the Long War (1593–1606)

За съдбата на немюсюлманското население от Централния дял на Дунавската равнина и Предбалкана по време на Дългата война (1593–1606)

Исторически преглед, 80 (2024) No. 3, pp. 77-116 (ISSN 0323-9748)
DOI:

Krastyo Yordanov / Кръстьо Йорданов

Institute for Historical Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Abstract: This article aims to elucidate the demographic consequences of the military campaigns led by the Wallachian voivode Mihai Viteazul south of the Danube River, as well as the possible events that took place during the First Tarnovo Uprising of 1598. The main sources used for comparison are the timar register of the Nikopol sanjak from 1579 and the two cizye registers from 1599–1602, which detail the non-Muslim taxpayers in the Nikopol and Tarnovo vilayets. The research method involves comparing data from different years across two or more registers, a preferred approach in previous ethno-demographic studies. This comparison allows for the calculation of population numbers and changes over time. The records clearly indicate significant demographic shocks in the regions of Oryahovo, Nikopol, and Pleven, with many villages and towns that flourished in 1579 becoming severely depopulated. The author attributes these changes to the devastation and population displacement caused by Mihai Viteazul’s 1598 campaign. According to the cizye register of the Tarnovo vilayet, drawn up shortly after the events of 1598, the total number of non-Muslim households in the Tarnovo region slightly increased in 1599–1600 compared to the 1579 timar register. This finding supports the notion that the First Tarnovo Uprising was not widespread and did not cause significant demographic upheavals, which would be expected in the case of a major uprising and subsequent Ottoman reprisals.

Keywords: Ottoman Empire, non-Muslims, settlements, The Long War, First Tarnovo Uprising, historical demography, demographic shocks.