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Haskovo in the XIV century

           

 

 And again the path made so that the region of Haskovo is one of the Bulgarian suburbs in the south of the mountain, which first experienced the horror from the invasion of the Ottomans in the 30-40-ies of the XIV century. With the conquest of Adrianopole (1369) and especially after the battle in Chernomen (1371) the Ottomans fortified their positions in northern and eastern Thrace. This was the end of the brilliant flourishing of material and spiritual values created by the Second Bulgarian State. For the Bulgarian population from the region of Haskovo there came difficult times. In an effort to preserve the ethnic spirit and goodwill, there started to appear more frequently raids of haidouk companies, legends were born about rebels such as Angel chieftain, King chieftain, Captain Petko chieftain and others. They protected the name and the honor of the population. With its location and natural resources Medieval Haskovo suits the conquerors. A large part of them settled here permanently. Haskovo region and its surrounding areas were included administratively in the Chirmenskiya Sandzak. The Bulgarian medieval village began to expand north of the area Yamacha, descends gradually in the plain and takes places over the years on both sides of the river Haskovo, near to the present urban neighborhoods around the garden and much later built churches “St. Virgin Mary” and “St. St. Archangels Michael and Gabriel”. Another part, with the Muslim population locates itself around the today’s city center, where is the first built in the Balkans (1395) Whiting mosque. Ottoman conquerors declared the medieval village of Marsa “Has”, from where was gradually formed the name of the city, which it bears up to this day. The “Has” are large feudal domains, under the control of the Ottoman Sultans. According to some information, Haskovo in 1526 is the fourth of seven “Has” towns of Chirmenskiya Sandzak, considering its yield. In almost every official Turkish documents it is recorded as the area (district) Uzundzhe Keui Abad. Here the name of the village Uzundjovo is used to determine the geographical location of Haskovo and to be distinguished from self-titled Keui town in Eastern Thrace. Gradually, the city’s population flowed from the surrounding villages and the Rhodope Mountains and formed the new Bulgarian neighborhoods. Along with the growing number of agricultural crops are developed craftsmanship. There is a need of urban bazaar. In 1513 in Haskovo, the market is fully shaped and is included in the imperial law. According to the documents for the collection of the market fee “Batch”, it is clear that the market in the city at the end of XVI century is so developed, that the “batch” collected by him for a year, is a major feather in the various incomes, gained by the ruler Hassan. In the following centuries Haskovo wholesale market grows and becomes a stimulating factor for the development of the market in the village of Uzundzhovo, which later became one of the largest fairs in the Empire Having occurred during the XVIII century, it was destiny for the development of the city until the Liberation. The fair had great significance not only for the prosperity of Haskovo, and hence the economic lives of Bulgarian lands, but also for the final integration of Turkey into the European system and world trade. Uzundjovo village, located close to the city, right on the road between East and West, with a road station, was set up as a center for trade. The French scientist Dr. Ami Bue gives the most detailed description of the fair in 1841: "Uzundjovo is a small neighborhood of 2000 people, which is located on equal distance from the Danube, the Aegean and the Black Sea. It is a gathering place for all areas of the empire. Its streets are teeming with numerous wooden barracks. Theaters in the open, magicians, teeth-takers, and managers occupy part of the same locations and perform exercises such as ours. However, the fair in many respects differs from the fairs in European countries. No social force, no police are visible in this large crowd of 50 thousand people, everything is under control. Greeks and Bulgarians, Moldavians and Vlachs, Turks and Persians, Russians and Austrians, Jews and Christians are gathered here and live in complete agreement, only inspired by the desire to make better deals and earn money ... The most important part of the countries in the fair are Austria, Britain, France and Russia. There have active representation, of course, of Haskovo merchants. Only in 1860 there were 48 people. Among them stand out Dobri Genev, Hristodul Shishmanov Valtchev, head of the Bulgarian church and community in the city, Haji Ivancho Minchev and others. Due to the needs of the fair, commodity production of the Haskovo craftsmen increased. It comes out of the circle of the inner - city exchange to the markets of the Empire and beyond.