Muslims in Rural and Municipal Councils in Bulgaria at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Century (original) (raw)
K. Popek, Muslims in Rural and Municipal Councils in Bulgaria at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Century, „Slavonic Review” (Prague) 2023, no. 1, pp. 13–27. | The modern Bulgarian state, created in 1878, was not ethnically and religiously homogeneous. In 1881, 26 % of the country’s population were Muslims (527,000) and in 1910 they comprised 14 % (602,000). Despite that, Muslims did not hold any posts in Bulgaria’s central administration, nor did they generally occupy them at the level of districts (okrag) and counties (okoliya). However, the situation was different in commune (obshtina) governments. Muslims were formally represented in the councils of cities and villages in the northeastern parts of the country and the Rhodope Mountains (the areas where they were concentrated) and had the opportunity to play an important role in making decisions on key issues related to local finance, infrastructure and education together with Bulgarians. In some cases, they managed to efficiently participate in the functioning of local governments, while in others they played only a symbolic role. The case of Muslim rural and municipal councilors at the turn of the 19th and 20th century can be analyzed as an interesting example of the durability of the centuries-old tradition of komshuluk. The paper is based on the original studies of the materials found in the State Archive in Varna, as well as on the press from this period.
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