rumelia

Rumelia

the former Ottoman possessions in the Balkans. The name means "land of the Romans"-i.e., Byzantines. The Turks first began to make conquests in the Balkans in the mid-14th century. The land was divided into fiefs of various size that were administered by cavalry officers; local notables who converted to Islam also shared in the administration. The administrative configuration of Rumelia changed frequently until 1864, when the unit of administrative division became defined as the province, or vilayet, which was in turn divided into sancak (subprovinces). The Danube vilayet was formed first, in 1864, followed by those of Janina (Ioannina) and Salonika (Thessaloniki, in Greece) in 1867. Under the Treaty of Berlin (1878), the Danube vilayet formed the independent state of Bulgaria under Ottoman suzerainty; southern Bulgaria formed the autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia with its capital at Philippopoli (Plovdiv); and western Rumelia was divided into the Edirne, Salonika, and Monastir ils (provinces). In 1885 Bulgaria annexed Eastern Rumelia, and by the Treaty of Bucharest (1913), Monastir was ceded to Serbia and Salonika to Greece; only Edirne remained under Ottoman rule

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