The Kirdzhalis have been a social phenomenon in the European possessions of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

since the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Although they are often artistically depicted as brigands or ''bandits in the field'', from the literal meaning in

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

, they are well-armed and organized gangs at the disposal and submission of the local

Ottoman Ayan The Ayan (Arabic plural: ; singular: ) was the class of local notables or dynasts in the 16th to the early 19th century Ottoman Empire who held varying degrees of authority in provincial towns and districts.Agoston, Gabor. ''Encyclopedia of the Ot ...

History

The beginning of the phenomenon was in

Ottoman Albania Ottoman Albania was a period in History of Albania, Albanian history within the Ottoman Empire, from the Ottoman conquest in the late 15th century to the Albanian Declaration of Independence, Albanian declaration of Independence and official s ...

on the eve of the

Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

and during the Orlov revolt. Because robbers operated in the mountains of the Armatolis, i.e. ''daalii'' in Ottoman Turkish, they are not referred to as ''kirdzhalis''.

Moscopole Moscopole or Voskopoja (; , with several other variants; ) is a village in Korçë County in southeastern Albania. During the 18th century, it was the cultural and commercial center of the Aromanians. At its peak, in the mid 18th century, it h ...

was ruined at that time. In the 1780s, the phenomenon gained momentum and was in full swing under Sultan

Selim III Selim III (; ; was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, he was eventually deposed and imprisoned by the Janissaries, who placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV (). A group of a ...

. It was a response to the attempts to reform the empire under this sultan and at the same time a response to Nizam-I Cedid.Le temps de kirdjalis
/ref> Kirdzhalis are a phenomenon in

Rumelia Rumelia (; ; ) was a historical region in Southeastern Europe that was administered by the Ottoman Empire, roughly corresponding to the Balkans. In its wider sense, it was used to refer to all Ottoman possessions and Vassal state, vassals in E ...

and to some extent in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, peripherally affecting

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

and

Morea Morea ( or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used by the Principality of Achaea, the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the O ...

on the eve of the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

. The social phenomenon subsided with the

Ottoman coups of 1807–1808 The Ottoman palace coups of 1807–1808 refers to several coups and rebellions deposing or restoring to the throne three Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, sultans, that took place as a result of the attempted reforms of Se ...

and gradually disappeared with the attenuation of the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. The most prominent leader of the Kirdzhalis was

Osman Pazvantoglu Osman is the Persian and Turkish transliteration and derived from the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ''‘uthmān'') or an English surname. Osman or Osmans may refer to: People * Osman (name), people with the name and surname * Osman I (1 ...

. With the assassination of

Ali Pasha of Ioannina Ali Pasha (1740 – 24 January 1822), commonly known as Ali Pasha of Yanina or Ali Pasha of Tepelena, was an Albanian ruler who served as Ottoman pasha of the Pashalik of Yanina, a large part of western Rumelia. Under his rule, it acquired a ...

, the phenomenon ended. In world literature this phenomenon appeared in

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is conside ...

's novel of the same name — ''Kirdzhali''. The name of the Bulgarian town

Kardzhali Kardzhali ( , ''Kărdžali''; ), sometimes spelt Kardžali or Kurdzhali, is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, a town in the Eastern Rhodopes in Bulgaria, centre of Kardzhali Municipality and Kardzhali Province. The noted Kardzhali Reservoir is ...

, despite the similarity, has unrelated meaning (at the time of the kirdzhalis phenomenon it was just a small settlement).

References

{{reflist History of the Ottoman Empire in Europe Kirdzhalis 18th century in Bulgaria 19th century in Bulgaria

History

See also

References