TRENDEAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Revolt · 1885
The Treaty of Berlin (1878) had created Eastern Rumelia, made up of the sanjaks of Plovdiv, Sliven, Stara Zagora, Pazardzhik, Burgas and Haskovo, as an autonomous province under the Ottomans. In 1885 an uprising at Plovdiv put the Bulgarians in control of the province, and the Principality of Bulgaria annexed Eastern Rumelia. Bulgaria thus became a state of 96,000 km².
| Date | 1885 |
|---|---|
| Location | Province of Eastern Rumelia (Plovdiv) |
| Result | The Principality of Bulgaria annexed the autonomous Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia |
| Belligerents | Ottoman Empire (Abdülhamid II) | Bulgarians of Eastern Rumelia Principality of Bulgaria |
|---|
Took place during the reign of Abdulhamid II (1876–1909). Abdulhamid II
Open the reign of Abdulhamid II on the mapBy the atlas's calculation the Ottoman lands covered about 3,004,000 km² in 1885; at the start of Abdulhamid II's reign they measured 4,123,000 km², at its end 2,996,000 km².
During Abdulhamid II (1876–1909) the atlas records 0 regions gained and 19 regions lost.
Regions lost: Wallachia (1877), Moldavia (1877), Morava Serbia (Niš–Kruševac) (1877), Smederevo–Šumadija (1877), Belgrade–Šabac (1877), Northern Dobruja (Constanța–Tulcea) (1877), Kars–Ardahan–Artvin (1877), Montenegro (1878), and 11 more.
His thirty-three-year reign saw both the greatest territorial loss and the most intensive investment in schools, railways and the telegraph. Proclaiming and then suspending the constitution, rule through a centralised intelligence network and the cost of the 1877–78 war make him the most controversial sultan in Ottoman history.
Areas are land area computed from the atlas's region data; see Method and sources.
Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, “Bulgaristan” (Turkish); text written for the atlas.