![Rumelia map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Rumelia_map.jpg)
Rumelia ( ota, روم ايلى, Rum İli; tr, Rumeli; el, Ρωμυλία), etymologically "Land of the
Romans", at the time meaning
Eastern Orthodox Christians and more specifically Christians from the
Byzantine rite
The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople.
Th ...
, was the name of a
historical region in
Southeastern Europe that was administered by the
Ottoman Empire, corresponding to the
Balkans. In its wider sense, it was used to refer to all Ottoman possessions and
vassals in
Europe that would later be geopolitically classified as "the Balkans". During the period of its existence, it was more often known in English as
Turkey in Europe.
Etymology
![William Faden](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/William_Faden._European_Dominions_of_the_Ottomans_or_Turkey_in_Europe._1795.jpg)
''
Rûm'' in this context means "Greek", or a Christian Greek speaker and ''ėli'' means "land" and ''Rumelia'' ( ota, روم ايلى, ''Rūm-ėli'';
Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
: ''Rumeli'') means "Land of the Romans" in
Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language used by the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extens ...
. It refers to the lands conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans, which formerly belonged to the
Byzantine Empire, known by its contemporaries as the
Roman Empire. Although the term ''Byzantine Empire'' is used by modern historians, the empire's citizens and emperors called themselves Romans, meaning Christians, more specifically Greek Christians, and embraced a Christian identity. Various languages in the Balkans have long used the descriptor "Roman" to refer to the lands of the former Byzantine Empire. Indeed, today the term survives in the region as sq, Rumelia; bs, Rumelija; bg, Румелия, ''Rumeliya''; el, Ρωμυλία, ''Romylía'', or Ρούμελη, ''Roúmeli'';
Macedonian
Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia.
Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to:
People Modern
* Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...
; and sr, Румелија, ''Rumelija''. The old Latin documents in
Genoa use the term ''Romania'', the common name for the Byzantine Empire during the
Middle Ages.
Originally, the
Seljuks used the name "Land of the
Rûm" (Romans) to define
Anatolia, which the armies of the
Seljuk Empire gradually conquered from the Byzantine Empire after the
Battle of Manzikert
The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, theme of Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and th ...
in 1071. The Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate was called the
Sultanate of Rum
fa, سلجوقیان روم ()
, status =
, government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262)
, year_start = 1077
, year_end = 1308
, p1 = By ...
by its contemporaries, meaning the "Sultanate of the Roman Empire" or "Roman Sultanate", which mostly covered central Anatolia until the
Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243. Anatolia was referred to as Land of the Christians, hence Rum. Afterwards, it was replaced by the
Anatolian beyliks
Anatolian beyliks ( tr, Anadolu beylikleri, Ottoman Turkish: ''Tavâif-i mülûk'', ''Beylik'' ) were small principalities (or petty kingdoms) in Anatolia governed by beys, the first of which were founded at the end of the 11th century. A secon ...
, among which the Ottoman Beylik rose to prominence in the 14th and 15th centuries and eventually became the
Ottoman Empire.
However, following the
expansion of the Ottoman Empire
Expansion may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''L'Expansion'', a French monthly business magazine
* ''Expansion'' (album), by American jazz pianist Dave Burrell, released in 2004
* ''Expansions'' (McCoy Tyner album), 1970
* ''Expansio ...
into
Anatolia and the
Balkans in the second half of the 14th century and after the
conquest of Constantinople (now
Istanbul) in 1453 by
Mehmed II
Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...
, the term ''Rumeli'' came to apply exclusively to the Balkan region of the Ottoman Empire. The region remained primarily populated by
Christians; though gradually, the
Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
,
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry ...
and
Pomaks, among others, converted to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
.
Many
grand viziers
Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first h ...
,
viziers,
pashas and
beylerbey
''Beylerbey'' ( ota, بكلربكی, beylerbeyi, lit=bey of beys, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords') was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks ...
is were originally from Rumelia.
Geography
![Twierdza Rumeli Istambuł RB1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Twierdza_Rumeli_Istambu%C5%82_RB1.jpg)
Rumelia included the provinces of
Thrace,
Macedonia
Macedonia most commonly refers to:
* North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia
* Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity
* Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...
and
Moesia
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...
, which are now
Bulgaria and
Turkish Thrace
East Thrace or Eastern Thrace ( tr, Doğu Trakya or simply ''Trakya''; el, Ανατολική Θράκη, ''Anatoliki Thraki''; bg, Източна Тракия, ''Iztochna Trakiya''), also known as Turkish Thrace or European Turkey, is the pa ...
, bounded to the north by the rivers
Sava and
Danube, west by the
Adriatic coast
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...
and south by the
Morea. In the beginning the main town was the city of
Plovdiv
Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...
, then
Sofia.
The name "Rumelia" was ultimately applied to a province composed of central Albania and northwestern Macedonia, with
Bitola
Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...
being the main town.
Following the
administrative reorganization made by the Ottoman government between 1870 and 1875, the name ''Rumelia'' ceased to correspond to any political division.
Eastern Rumelia was constituted as an autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire by the
Treaty of Berlin (1878),
but on September 6, 1885, after a bloodless revolution, it was
united with
Bulgaria.
The
Kosovo Vilayet was created in 1877.
In
Turkey, the word ''Trakya'' (
Thrace) has now mostly replaced ''Rumeli'' (Rumelia) to refer to the part of Turkey that is in Europe (the provinces of
Edirne,
Kırklareli,
Tekirdağ, the northern part of
Çanakkale Province and the western part of
Istanbul Province). However, "Rumelia" remains in use in historical contexts and is still used in the context of the culture of the current Turkish populations of the Balkans and the descendants of Turkish immigrants from the Balkans. The region in Turkey is also referred to as
Eastern Thrace, or Turkish Thrace. In
Greece, the term () has been used since Ottoman times to refer to
Central Greece, especially when it is juxtaposed with the
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...
or Morea. The word ''Rumeli'' is also used in some cases, mostly in Istanbul, to refer exclusively to the part of Istanbul Province that is west of the
Bosphorus
The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...
strait.
See also
*
Turks in the Balkans
The Balkan Turks or Rumelian Turks ( tr, ) are the Turkish people who have been living in the Balkans since the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman rule as well as their descendants who still live in the region today. The Turks are officially recognized as a ...
*
Sultanate of Rum
fa, سلجوقیان روم ()
, status =
, government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262)
, year_start = 1077
, year_end = 1308
, p1 = By ...
*
Millet (Ottoman Empire)
*
Rum Millet
*
Ottoman wars in Europe
A series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and various European states took place from the Late Middle Ages up through the early 20th century. The earliest conflicts began during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars, waged in Anatolia in ...
*
Ada Kaleh
*
Ottoman Greece
*
Ottoman Bulgaria
*
Ottoman Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia, the area that now makes up North Macedonia, was part of the Ottoman Empire for over five hundred years, from the mid-14th century to 1912. However, the Ottomans themselves did not keep any "Macedonia" as an administrative unit. ...
*
Ottoman Serbia
*
Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina
*
Ottoman Albania
*
Ottoman Kosovo
Kosovo was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1455 to 1912, at first as part of the eyalet of Rumelia, and from 1864 as a separate Kosovo Vilayet.
During this period several administrative districts (known as ''sanjaks'' ("banners" or districts) ...
References
Sources
*
External links
*
{{Coord, 41.0000, N, 21.3333, E, source:wikidata, display=title
15th-century establishments in the Ottoman Empire
Byzantine Empire
Divided regions
Historical regions
History of the Balkans by region
Ottoman Greece
01
Ottoman period in the history of Bulgaria
Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire
Turkish toponyms