The siege of Sofia took place in 1382 or 1385Андреев, p. 283 during the course of the

Bulgarian–Ottoman wars The Bulgarian–Ottoman wars were fought between the kingdoms remaining from the disintegrating Second Bulgarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire, in the second half of the 14th century. The wars resulted with the collapse and subordination of t ...

. Unable to defend his country from the Ottomans, in 1373 the Bulgarian emperor

Ivan Shishman Ivan Shishman ( bg, Иван Шишман) ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria in Tarnovo from 1371 to 3 June 1395. The authority of Ivan Shishman was limited to the central parts of the Bulgarian Empire. In the wake of the death of Ivan Alexa ...

agreed to become an Ottoman vassal and to marry his sister

Kera Tamara Tamara Hejtan ( bg, Кера Тамара; circa 1340 - died after 1378) was a Bulgarian princess, the daughter of the Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Alexander and his second wife Sarah-Theodora. Life Kera Tamara was a sister of Ivan Shishman and Ivan ...

to their sultan

Murad I Murad I ( ota, مراد اول; tr, I. Murad, Murad-ı Hüdavendigâr (nicknamed ''Hüdavendigâr'', from fa, خداوندگار, translit=Khodāvandgār, lit=the devotee of God – meaning "sovereign" in this context); 29 June 1326 – 15 Jun ...

, while the Ottomans were to return some conquered fortresses. Despite the peace, in the beginning of the 1380s the Ottomans resumed their campaigns and besieged the important city of

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

which controlled major communication routes to Serbia and Macedonia. There are little records about the siege. After the futile attempts to storm the city, the Ottoman commander Lala Shahin Pasha considered to abandon the siege. However, a Bulgarian renegate managed to lure the city governor

ban Ban, or BAN, may refer to: Law * Ban (law), a decree that prohibits something, sometimes a form of censorship, being denied from entering or using the place/item ** Imperial ban (''Reichsacht''), a form of outlawry in the medieval Holy Roman ...

Yanuka Ban Yanuka ( Bulgarian: Бан Янука), defender of Sofia from Ottoman Turks in the late 14th century was the manager/deputy of the Tsar Ivan Shishman in Sredets : ''Sredets is also a medieval name of Sofia. For the district in Sofia, see Sr ...

out of the fortress to hunt and the Turks captured him. Leaderless, the Bulgarians surrendered. The city walls were destroyed and an Ottoman garrison was installed. With the way to the north-west cleared, the Ottomans pressed further and captured

Pirot Pirot ( sr-cyr, Пирот) is a city and the administrative center of the Pirot District in southeastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the urban area of the city has a population of 38,785, while the population of the city administrative are ...

and

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, whi ...

in 1386, thus wedging between Bulgaria and Serbia.

Citations

Sources

* Sieges involving the Second Bulgarian Empire Sieges involving the Ottoman Empire 1385 in Europe Conflicts in 1385 14th century in Bulgaria History of Sofia 1385 in the Ottoman Empire Bulgarian–Ottoman wars Events in Sofia {{Siege-stub