Vardun
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Vardun ( bg, Вардун) is a village in
Targovishte Municipality Targovishte Municipality ( bg, Община Търговище) is a municipality ('' obshtina'') in Targovishte Province, Northeastern Bulgaria, located in the transition between the Danubian Plain and the area of the so-called Fore-Balkan. It ...
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Targovishte Province Targovishte Province ( bg, Област Търговище, transliterated ''Oblast Tǎrgovište'', former name Targovishte okrug) is a province in northeastern Bulgaria, named after its main city - Targovishte. As of December 2009, it has a po ...
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Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
.


History

Until the 1980s, Vardun had over 300 Bulgarian dwellings and several gypsies dwellings. It was separated from the village of Cherkovna. Later on urbanization processes incited movements toward the chief Bulgarian towns. Gradually, gypsies began to settle in Vardun. Nowadays, they form the majority of the population. Vardun survived as a Bulgarian settlement (without other nationalities) during the several waves of prosecutions against Bulgarians. After the disastrous Tarnovo rebellions (1593 and 1680), Turks converted many villages in the region to
Mohammedan ''Mohammedan'' (also spelled ''Muhammadan'', ''Mahommedan'', ''Mahomedan'' or ''Mahometan'') is a term for a follower of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. It is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muham ...
ism. Many people from Vardun were killed or banished. Despite all these, Vardun survived. The Turkish Empire moved Muslim nomadic tribes from Asia to this region and tried to change its Bulgarian race. Thanks to their statute of ''"Voynugans"'' (also known as Войнуци), Vardunians had a privilege and advantage – they could possess land. During the Turk yoke, the land belonging to Vardunians was more than the land of all its neighbour Muslim villages. Muslims there were working as farm-hands on the Varduns' land. In his ''History of Gabrovo as a settlement with a special martial statute, 12th to 19th centuries''
Boris Stanimirov Boris may refer to: People * Boris (given name), a male given name *:''See'': List of people with given name Boris * Boris (surname) * Boris I of Bulgaria (died 907), the first Christian ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, canonized after his ...
pointed out how freedom-loving and confident Vardun Bulgarians were. Having such virtues, they managed to put fear on
Deliorman The Ludogorie ( bg, Лудогорие, usually used with a definite article, Лудогорието, ''Ludogorieto'') or Deliorman (''Делиорман'', tr, Deli Orman, lit=mad forest and Bulgarian: lud - "mad", "crazy" and gora - "forest"), ...
and
Gerlovo Gerlovo or Gerilovo ( bg, Герлово or Герилово), is a small geographic and ethnographic region in Northern Bulgaria, a hilly fertile valley in the northeastern Balkan Mountains, south of the Ludogorie region. It lies between the Li ...
Turks, demonstrating superiority to them. In an Ottoman tax register from the 16th century, some men from Vardun were recorded with their titles. One of them was ''logotur'' (''logotet'') Bahno. With regard to this is the interpretation of Stefan Chureshki in his publication "The list of Bulgarian princes", where he talks about a
tzar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
’s inscription from 1281 found near Vardun. Two '' bolyars'' were mentioned there – Pagan (or Gagan after another reading) and Hinto - according to their rule over "the mountain" (it is supposed to be the near Preslavska mountain).


Geography

Vardun is in the north part of
Gerlovo Gerlovo or Gerilovo ( bg, Герлово or Герилово), is a small geographic and ethnographic region in Northern Bulgaria, a hilly fertile valley in the northeastern Balkan Mountains, south of the Ludogorie region. It lies between the Li ...
area, a valley enclosed by the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
from the south, and by the Preslavska mountain from the northeast. Westward is the hilly Tozluk area and the Lisa mountain. Gerlovo was one of the most guarded regions in the medieval Bulgaria. In the Preslavska mountain alone (about 20 km distance), there had been remains of more than 10 strongholds. Right next to Vardun, there were two strongholds: "Kaleto"Bulgarian Castles
/ref> (1,5 km from Vardun) and "Erpeka" (about 2,5 km from Vardun) – this was built on an upland and had at least two fortified belts. Between both strongholds is situated a place named Holuma which was settled and part of Vardun before the Turkish invasion. There were several other strongholds near Vardun: the big stronghold "Gradishteto". It is within 5 km from Vardun before Prolaz. "Hisarlaka" was another stronghold near Paidushko village (within 7 km from Vardun). "Krumovo kale" stronghold (or "Misionis" as it is claimed after some recent investigations) – this is the only excavated stronghold in the region because it is within 8 km from the chief town of Targovishte (as far as it is from Vardun). These three strongholds were keeping guard over the Boaza passage. Eastwards there were: the big stronghold "Tepeto" (within 4 km from Vardun) near Cherkovna, "Chanakkale" stronghold (within 9 km from Vardun) near Tarnovca and "Kaleto" stronghold (within 6 km from Vardun) near Koprec. Other strongholds (poorly examined as well) in the Preslavska mountain were "Beloto gradishte" in the Dervishki passage, the strongholds near villages Ovcharovo, Dolna Kabda and others inside the mountain. In Gerlov was so called Tsika (or Chika) (Τζίκας). A modern interpretation (based on unknown premises) claims that Tsika was the capital of the tribe of Severs. The chronicle of Theophanes Confessor from 9th century says that Tsika was the capital (if a settlement is meant) or the inner (metropolitan) region of the Bulgarian state where the palaces (αυλὴν) were.


Honours

Vardun Point Vardun Point ( bg, нос Вардун, ‘Nos Vardun’ \'nos var-'dun\) is the point projecting 1 km into the head of Barilari Bay on Graham Coast in Graham Land, Antarctica, formed by an offshoot of Mitino Buttress. The point is named after the ...
on
Graham Land Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee and ...
,
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
is named after the village.


References

{{Authority control Villages in Targovishte Province