“Under the Yoke”

The Archaeology of the Ottoman Period in Bulgaria

Authors

  • Andrew Petersen University of Wales Saint David

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.30624

Keywords:

Ottoman, Bulgaria, Balkans, Ottoman Architecture, Ottoman Archaeology in Europe

Abstract

The aim of this article is to draw attention to the considerable potential for investigating the Ottoman archaeology of Bulgaria and also to consider what research has already been carried out. Because the modern state gained its independence from the Ottomans this period of history is generally regarded in negative terms. The physical evidence of the Ottoman era, in particular mosques and other Muslim religious buildings, were reminders of an alien past and many of them were destroyed or allowed to fall into ruin. Increasing archaeological activity in recent years combined with a more open approach to the Ottoman past have meant that there is now considerable potential for archaeological research of the Ottoman period.

Author Biography

  • Andrew Petersen, University of Wales Saint David

    Andrew Petersen is an archaeologist specializing in the Islamic period. He has worked in and carried out research in a number of countries of the Middle East and Africa including Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Turkmenistan, the UAE, Oman, Syria, Qatar, Kenya and Tanzania. He has a particular interest in the archaeology of the Ottoman period and has published many articles as well as a number of books related to this subject.

References

Bailey, D.W.

1998. “Bulgarian archaeology. Ideology, socio-politics and the exotic” In Archaeology under Fire: Nationalism, politics and heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, edited by L. Meskell, 87–110, London: Routledge.

Baram, U. and L. Carroll.

2000. A Historical Archaeology of the Ottoman Empire; Breaking New Ground. New York: Kluwer Plenum.

Batchvarov, K. N.

2009. “The Kitten shipwreck, Archaeology and Reconstruction of a Black Sea Merchantman.”
Unpublished PhD thesis, Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University.

2014. “Clay pipes and smoking paraphernalia from the Kitten shipwreck, an early nineteenth century Black Sea Merchantman” International Journal of Historical Archaeology 18: 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-013-0244-z

Boykov, G.

2013. “Architecture as a symbol of power: some thoughts on the Ottoman Architectural Heritage of Plovdiv (Filibe).” In Power and Influence in South-Eastern Europe 16th–19th century edited by
M. Baramova, P. Mitev, I. Parvev and V. Racheva, 67–85. Berlin: LIT Verlag.

Bold, J.

2008. “The Built Heritage of the Balkans: a rehabilitation project.” Transactions of the Ancient Monument Society 52: 49–64.

Çam, N.

1993. Erzurum Tabyalar?. Ankara: Kültur ve Turizm Bakanl??i Yay?nlar?.

?ur?i?, S and E. Hadjitryphonos eds.

1997. Secular Medieval Architecture in the Balkans, 1300–1500 and its preservation. Thessaloniki : AIMOS.

Dikov, I.

2015. “Bulgarian Archaeologists Unearth Turkish Cemetery in 15th Century Ottoman Mosque in Karlovo.” Archaeology in Bulgaria http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2015/06/15/bulgarian-archaeologists-unearth-turkish-cemetery-in-15th-century-ottoman-mosque-in-karlovo/

2015. “Bulgarian archaeologists discover Thracian shrine from Odrysian Kingdom underneath ‘Lead Mosque’ in Karlovo.” Archaeology in Bulgaria http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2015/07/03/bulgarian-archaeologists-discover-thracian-shrine-from-odrysian-kingdom-underneath-lead-mosque-in-karlovo/

2016. “Massive Ottoman era buildings discovered underneath ‘Baron Hirsch’s 140-year-old railroad in Bulgaria’s Simeonovgrad.” Archaeology in Bulgaria http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2016/02/19/massive-ottoman-era-buildings-discovered-underneath-baron-hirschs-140-year-old-railroad-in-bulgarias-simeonovgrad/

Eyice, S.

1975. “‘Sofya Yakinda Ihtiman’da Gaazî Mihalo?lu Mahmud Bey Imâret-Camii.” In Kubbealti Akdemi Mecmûas?, y?l 4 Nisan 1975, Say? 2: 49–61.

1996. “Gazi Mihalo?lu Mahmud Bey Camii.” Türkiye Diyanet Vakfi ?slâm Ansiklopedisi 13: 462–463.

Faroqhi, S.

1982. “Camels, wagons and the Ottoman state in the sixteenth and seventeenth century” International Journal of Middle East Studies 14: 523–539. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020743800052193

Furkov, Y.

1997. “Pirkova Kula.” In Secular Medieval Architecture in the Balkans, 1300–1500 and its preservation, edited by S. ?ur?i? and E. Hadjitryphonos, 232–233. Thessaloniki: AIMOS.

Gradeva, R.

1994. “Ottoman policy towards Christian Church buildings.” Etudes balkaniques 30(4): 14–36.

2009. “Ottoman Vidin, fifteenth to eighteenth centuries.” In The Frontiers of the Ottoman World edited by A. Peacock, 331–351. Proceedings of the British Academy 156. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

2016. “Late Antique church buildings in Ottoman Sofia, fifteenth to beginning of nineteenth centuries.” In Christian Art under Muslim Rule Proceedings of a Workshop Held in Istanbul on May 11/12, 2012 edited by M. Hartmuth, 167–193. Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten.

Gruber, S. D.

2010. “Selected Muslim Historic Monuments and Sites in Bulgaria.” Paper 98 from School of Architecture, Syracuse University. http://surface.syr.edu/arc/98

Gusar, K.

2008. “Archaeological finds of clay tobacco pipes from the Collection of the Zadar National Museum.” Prilozi insitituta za arheologiju 25: 135–154.

Hasluck, F. W.

1929. Christianity and Islam under the Sultans, 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Karadimitrova, K.

2016. “The Museum Building.” National Institute of Archaeology with Museum website http://naim.bg/en/content/category/300/54/ (accessed 20.03.16)

Kay, A.

2015. Bulgaria: The Bradt Travel Guide. Second Edition. Chalfont St.Peter: Bradt Travel Guides.


Kiel, M.

1971 [1990] “A monument of Early Ottoman Architecture in Bulgaria: the Bekta?i Tekke of K?demli Baba Sultan at Kalugerovo- Nova Zagora.” Belleten, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 25: 53–60. Republished as Chapter II in M. Kiel, 1990, Studies on the Ottoman Architecture of the Balkans: A legacy in Stone. Aldershot: Variorum

1974 [1990] “ Some early Ottoman monuments in Bulgarian Thrace: Stara Zagora (Eski Za?ara), Yambol and Nova Zagora (Za?ara Yenicesi).” Belleten, Türk Tarih Kurumu 38: 635–634. Republished as Chapter VII in M. Kiel, 1990, Studies on the Ottoman Architecture of the Balkans: A legacy in Stone. Aldershot: Variorum.

1991. [2013] “Hr?zgrad-Heza?rgrad-Razgrad, The vicissitudes of a Turkish town in Bulgaria (historical, demographical, economic and art historical notes).” In Turco-Bulgarica: Studies on the History, Settlement and Historical Demography of Ottoman Bulgaria, by M. Kiel, 87–145. Istanbul: ISIS Press.

1992 [2013] “The Dobrudja, a bridge and meeting point between the Balkans, Anatolia and the Ukraine.” In Turco-Bulgarica: Studies on the History, Settlement and Historical Demography of Ottoman Bulgaria, edited by M. Kiel, 146–166. Istanbul: ISIS Press.

1993 [2013] “Ottoman Kyustendil in the 15th and 16th centuries.” In Turco-Bulgarica: Studies on the History, Settlement and Historical Demography of Ottoman Bulgaria, edited by M. Kiel, 177–205. Istanbul: ISIS Press.

2007. “Four Provincial Imarets in the Balkans and the Sources about them.” In Feeding people, feeding Power Imarets in the Ottoman Empire, edited by N. Ergin, C. K. Neumann and A. Singer, 97–120. Istanbul: ErenYayincilik.

2013. Turco-Bulgarica: Studies on the History, Settlement and Historical Demography of Ottoman Bulgaria. Istanbul, ISIS Press.

Kiprovska, M.

2015. “Shaping the Ottoman Borderland: architectural patronage of the frontier lords from the Mihalo?lu family.” In Bordering Early Modern Europe, edited by in M. Baramova, G. Boykov and
I. Parvev, 185–220. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.

Popkonstantinov, K. and R. Kostovo.

2010. “Architecture of conversion: Provincial monasteries in 9th–10th. Bulgaria.” In Arhitektura Vizantii I Drevney Rusi. Trudy Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha, LIIII: 118–132.

Koyuncu, A.

2010. “Sofya’daki Sofu Mehmed Pa?a Camisi (Kara Cami)’nin Kiliseye Dönü?türülmesi.” In Uluslrarasi Balkanlarda Türk Varl??? Sempozyumu, Vol. 2, edited by Ü. ?enel, 129–146. Manisa: Manisa Üniversitesi.

Krstic, T.

2013. “The ambiguous politics of ‘Ambiguous sanctuaries’: F. Hasluck and historiography on syncretism and conversion to Islam in 15th and 16th century Ottoman Rumeli.” In Archaeology, Anthropology and Heritage in the Balkans and Anatolia: The life and Times of F.W. Hasluk, 1878–1920, edited by D. Shamkland, Vol. III, 247–262. Itsanbul: Isis Press.

Lewis, S.

2001. “The Ottoman architectural patrimony of Bulgaria.” In Proceedings of the 11th International Congress of Turkish Art, Utrecht- The Nederlands, August 23rd–28th, 1999, edited by M. Kiel, N. Landman and H. Theunissen, 30: 1–25, Utrecht, EIOS.

Lowry, H. W.

2008. The Shaping of the Ottoman Balkans 1350–1550 conquest settlement and infrastructural development of northern Greece. Istanbul: Bahçe?ihir University Press.

Mazower, M.

2000. The Balkans from the end of Byzantium to the Present Day. London: Phoenix Press.

Mihailov, St., and M. Sestrimka.

1981. The Old School in Kyustendil: Materials and Archaeological Finds. Sofia: National Institute of Archaeology.


Minetti, H.

1923. Osmanische Provinciale Baukunst auf Dem Balkan. Hanover: Orient-Buchhandlung Heinz Lafaire.

Murdzhev, P.

2011. “The Rise of Towns in The Byzantine and Bulgarian Lands, Thirteenth to Fourteenth Century.” Historia Urbana 19: 55–83.

Partov, D. and D. Dinev.

2014. “Bulgaria.” In International Handbook of Bridge Engineering, edited by W. F.Chen and L. Duan, 247–295. London: Taylor and Francis, New York.

Robarts, A.

2009. “Crimean War.” In Encyclopaedia of the Ottoman Empire, edited by G. Ágoston and B. Masters, 161–163. New York: Facts on File Infobase.

Sophoulis, P.

2012. Byzantium and Bulgaria, 775–831. Leiden: Brill.

Stanoeva, E.

2013. “Interpretations of the Ottoman urban legacy in the national capital building of Sofia (1878–1940).” In Ottoman Legacies in the Balkans and the Middle East, edited by E. Ginio and K. Kaser, 209–230. Jerusalem: The European Forum at the Hebrew University.

Stoyanova, R., O.Vitov and I. Marinova.

2008. “Study of the composition of a stone tobacco pipe from the archaeological reserve ‘Pautalia-Velbudzhd-Kyusstendil’, Bulgaria.” In Geoarchaeology and Archaeomineralogy; Proceedings of the International Conference, 29–30 October 2008, edited by R. I. Kostov, B. Gaydarska and M. Gurova, 141–146. Sofia: St.Ivan Rilski.

Stan?eva, M.

1972. “Tobacco pipes collection in Varna Museum.” Bulletin du Musee Varna 8: 81–99.

Stan?eva, M., and S. Medarova.

1968. “Production of clay pipes in Bulgaria.” Muzei I Pametnitzi na Kulturata 3: 4–13.

Stan?eva, M.

1976. “O proizvodnji kerami?kih lula u Bugarskoj” Zbornik Muzeja primenjene umetnosti 19–20, Beograd, 129–138.

Todorov, B.

2010. “The value of empire: Tenth-century Bulgaria between Magyars, Pechenegs and Byzantium.” Journal of Medieval History 36: 312–316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmedhist.2010.09.004

Todorov, V.

2010. “Specifics of the collection of clay tobacco-pies from Silistra.” In Studia Archaeologica Universitatis Serdicenis Essays in Honour of Stephcae Angelova. Supplementum, edited by V K. Rabadjiev, 813–826. Sofia: St Kliment Ochridski University Press.

Trankova, D., M. Raycheva and A. Georgieff.

2016. A Guide to Roman Bulgaria. Sofia: Vagabond Publishing.

Vasari, I.

2005. Cumans and Tartars: Oriental Military in the pre-Ottoman Balkans. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511496622

Wittek, P.

1952. “Yazijio?lu Ali on the Christian Turks of Dobrudja.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 14: 639–688. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X00088595

Yilmaz, F.

2000. “The life of Köprülüzade Fazil Mustafa Pasha and his reforms (1637–1691).” The Journal of Ottoman Studies 20: 165–221.

Published

2017-07-17

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Petersen, A. (2017). “Under the Yoke”: The Archaeology of the Ottoman Period in Bulgaria. Journal of Islamic Archaeology, 4(1), 23-48. https://doi.org/10.1558/jia.30624