Özet:

The Eastern Rumelia was created as an autonomous province on the borders of the sanjaks of Filibe (Philippopolis/Plovdiv) and Islimye (Sliven) by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. Prior to the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877-1878, this region was a small part of Ottoman universe where elements from various religious, sectarian and ethnic origins such as the Turks, Bulgarians, Greeks, Pomaks, Armenians, Jews, Gypsies, Tatars and Circassian immigrants etc. lived together. Muslim population formed the majority in the districts of Hasköy (Haskovo), Kızanlık (Kazanlık), Sultanyeri (Momchilgrad), Ahi Çelebi (Smolyan), Karinâbad (Karnobat) and Aydos (Aytos). The Turkish and the other Muslim population were more settled in the lowlands except in some districts and sub-districts on the Rhodopes and Sredna Gora. The ratio of the Bulgarian population was gradually increasing westwards from Hasköy and Burgaz (Burgas). There were Greeks in Filibe and Istanimaka (Stanimaka/Asenovgrad) as well as in the towns of Ahyolu (Anhialo), Misivri (Nesebar), Süzepol (Sozopol) and Burgaz etc. Besides, Jewish and Armenian populations existed in many districts. There were also a small number of Catholic Bulgarians in Filibe. The majority of Gypsies in the region were Muslims. According to the Yearbook of the Province of Adrianople (H.1293) and the last population census made in the Adrianople Province prior to the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877-1878, together with the female population, the total number of Muslim population in the sanjaks of Filibe and Islimye was 376.260 (40,52%) while the non-Muslim population was 552.282 (59,48%). The RussoOttoman War of 1877-1878 changed substantially the demographic structure of both the Danubean Province and of the districts of Filibe and Islimye. Most of the Turkish and the other Muslim population in the region were expelled from their places to establish a Bulgarian state. Plunders, attacks and massacres made during the war by Russian troops, Cossacks and Bulgarians caused the Turks and other Muslims to migrate in masses. In addition, tens of thousands of people lost their lives due to cold, hunger and epidemics. Thus, almost half of the Turkish and Muslim population of the Province of the Danube and the districts of Filibe and Islimye was exterminated

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