Re: Из Български дневник на Иречек / Политика, Свят / Македония

Важни извадки:
From the late VIII century, the town was incorporated into the First Bulgarian Empire. Unfortunately, there are not enough files on the early Middle Age, so the ordinary town’s life remains a mystery.

И голямата томахавка:It should be noted that term "Bulgarians" was in the past used as a designation for all Slavs, [8] hence a record that somebody was "Bulgarian" was simply a description of his Slavic origin, not of his Bulgarian origin in modern sense.

Пълният текст:

In times when the Slavs and Avars were invading the Balkans, the settling was named Quimedava, and was situated on the southern slope of the Sarlah Hill. Corresponding to the archaeological investigations, the town back then, surrounded by forts and fortified walls, also included an early Christian basilica, termas (public bathrooms), a necropolis (graveyard), and other facilities. Beside the military fortress, a civil settlement existed on the site called Majilka. Although Byzantium successfully defended itself from the barbaric tribes’ raids, the Balkans were teeming with the Slavs in the second half of the VI century and at the beginning of the VII century. The Slavs soon became a crucial ethnical element on the peninsula.

In the Middle Ages, Pirot was respectively under Byzantine, Bulgarian and Serbian administration. From the late VIII century, the town was incorporated into the First Bulgarian Empire. Unfortunately, there are not enough files on the early Middle Age, so the ordinary town’s life remains a mystery. Consequently, the significance of the towns vanished and the roads were not being used as much. A well-organized country was replaced with the weakly connected tribal communities of the Slavs and the natives, who were pushed back into the woodlands. It remained under Bulgarian rule almost to the very end of the First Empire at the beginning of the XI century, when it again came under Byzantine rule. In 1182-1183, the joint Serb-Hungarian army took control of Pirot area, and it was first time that Pirot was included into Serbian state. Serbian ruler, Stefan Nemanja, together with Fridrih Barbarosa passed through Pirot and was enthusiastically welcomed by its citizens. [1]

The town once again came under Bulgarian rule after the successful uprisal of Asen and Peter in the end of 12 century. It was under Bulgarian rule in parts of 13th and 14th century. Some historians state that in 1214-1216 Serbian ruler Stefan ІІ Nemanjić took possession of the region of Pirot. [2] During the rule of Ivan Asen ІІ (1218-1241) the regions in the west and northwest were under Bulgarian rule. Pirot again belonged to the Serbian state during the rule of king Milutin of Serbia (1282-1321). [3]

There is disagreement between Serbian and Bulgarian sources whether area belonged to Serbian or Bulgarian states in the 14th century period. According to Serbian sources, [4] in the 14th and 15th century, Pirot belonged to the several Serbian states - the Serbian Empire of Stefan Dušan, Moravian Serbia of Lazar Hrebeljanović, and Serbian Despotate of Stefan Lazarević, while according to Bulgarian historian Koledarov, the town was under Bulgarian rule in the 13th and 14th century and belonged to the Bulgarian state almost to the end of Second Bulgarian Empire. [5] The town was later conquered by the Ottoman Empire. It was conquered by the Ottoman army the first time in 1386, [6] but later the possesion of this region was changed several times between Serbian and Ottoman rullers. It was finally conquered by Ottomans in the 15th century and remained under Ottoman rule until the 19th century (december 1877).

During the Ottoman rule, the majority of native Torlakian Slavic population of Pirot did not had either Serb or Bulgarian national consciousness - in ethnic sense, they simply considered themselves inhabitants of the place where they lived with foggy idea that they are Slavs. [7] Therefore, both, Serbs and Bulgarians, considered local Slavs as part of their own people, while local population was also divided between sympathy for Serbs and sympathy for Bulgarians. Various other sources from various time periods mention Torlakian Slavs from the area under names of Serbs [1] or Bulgarians. It should be noted that term "Bulgarians" was in the past used as a designation for all Slavs, [8] hence a record that somebody was "Bulgarian" was simply a description of his Slavic origin, not of his Bulgarian origin in modern sense. Unlike the majority of local Torlakian Slavs, the small part of them adopted Serb or Bulgarian national consciousness. Some authors from the epoch, take a different view and maintain that until 1878 some inhabitants of Pirot had a Bulgarian national consciousness and had a fondness to Bulgarian national idea. [9] Also, in the XIX century Pirot was one of the centres of Bulgarian national revival. It was a seat of Bulgarian Bishop (1870-1878). In Pirot were born well-known Bulgarian literary critic and philosopher Krastio Krastev (1866-1919), the scientist Spas Vatzov (1856-1928), the painter Michael Krastev (1877-1956), etc.

The inhabitants of Pirot along with the Shopi inhabitants of present-day north-western Bulgaria, with the help from Serbia, started in 1836 unsuccessful rebellion ("Pirot rebellion") and in 1841 uprising ("anti-feudal national uprising") against Ottoman authorities. In 1878, Pirot was incorporated in Serbia, and over time, local Torlakian Slavs adopted Serb national consciousness.