The Uprising
In October 1689, an uprising broke out in the region between Kyustendil, Pirot, and Skopje. According to the Turkish historian Silahdar Findikli Mehmed Aga, its leader Karposh initially was voivode of haiduks in the vicinity of Dospat, in present-day Bulgaria, but later the Turks named him chief of Christian auxiliary forces in the area between Sofia, Veles, Dojran, Kjustendil and Nevrokop. However, he switshed the side and attacked and captured Kriva Palanka, an Ottoman stronghold, which he made center of his resistance. After securing Kriva Palanka, the rebels built and secured a new stronghold near Kumanovo. It is unclear whether the Austrians assisted the rebels. According to contemporary Ottoman chronicles and local legends, Karposh was known as the "King of Kumanovo", a title conferred upon him by Emperor Leopold I who sent him a busby (a tall fur hat worn by hussars and guardsmen) as a gift and a sign of recognition. On April 6, 1690, Emperor Leopold I (1657-1705) issued a manifesto calling all peoples of Albania, Sebia, Moesia, Bulgaria, Illyria, Macedonia to join the Austrian forses against the Ottomans. Several days later, on April 26th, 1690, Emperor Leopold I issued a letter where he took the Macedonian people under his wing.
Read more about this topic: Karposh's Rebellion
Famous quotes containing the word uprising:
“Whoever thinks of stopping the uprising before it achieves its goals, I will give him ten bullets in the chest.”
—Yasir Arafat (b. 1929)
“Ours is the old, old story of every uprising race or class or order. The work of elevation must be wrought by ourselves or not at all.”
—Frances Power Cobbe (1822–1904)