The battle of Sofia valley took place in 1371 or 1372, near what is today

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, after the

battle of Maritsa The Battle of Maritsa or Battle of Chernomen (; in tr. ''Second Battle of Maritsa'') took place at the Maritsa River near the village of Chernomen (present-day Ormenio, Greece) on 26 September 1371 between Ottoman forces commanded by Lala S ...

and the fall of

Bitola Bitola (; ) 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 border crossing ...

to the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

. The result of the battle is Indecisive, however, the Bulgarians managed to repulse the Ottoman advance towards Northern Bulgaria. Soon after the battle of Maritsa, the armies of

Murad I Murad I (; ), nicknamed ''Hüdavendigâr'' (from – meaning "Head of state, sovereign" in this context; 29 June 1326 – 15 June 1389) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1362 to 1389. He was the son of Orhan Gazi and Nilüfer Hatun. Mura ...

embarked on another campaign overrunning

Northern Thrace Northern Thrace or North Thrace (, ; ; ), also called Bulgarian Thrace, constitutes the northern and largest part of the historical region of Thrace. It is located in Southern Bulgaria and includes the territory south of the Balkan Mountains and ...

and forcing the new Bulgarian tsar

Ivan Shishman Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria () ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria in Tarnovo from 1371 to 3 June 1395. The authority of Ivan Shishman was limited to the central parts of the Bulgarian Empire. In the wake of the death of Ivan Alexander of Bulgari ...

to retreat north of the

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs f ...

. After prolonged and fierce sieges many fortresses fell: the town of Diampol, managed to resist for a prolongued time against the forces led by

Timurtash Ala ud-Din Timurtash (died 1328; also Temürtaš or Timür-Tash) was a member of the Chobanids who dominated politics in the final years of the Ilkhanate. Early life He was born to Mongol emir and general Chupan as his second son . Timurtash ...

, however, the defenders of the fortress werè eventually forced to surrender because of food shortage.Seadeddin, Chronica dell' origine e progresse della casa ottomana. Vienna, 1649, p. 101 The Ottomans conquered most of the Rhodopes,

Kostenets Kostenets ( ) is a town in Sofia Province in western Bulgaria, and the administrative centre of the Kostenets Municipality (which also contains a separate Kostenets (village), village of Kostenets). The town is situated in the Kostenets–Dolna B ...

Ihtiman Ihtiman ( ) is a town in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is located in the Ihtiman Valley of the Ihtimanska Sredna Gora mountain range and lies in a valley 48 km from Sofia and 95 km from Plovdiv, close to the Trakiya moto ...

, and

Samokov Samokov ( ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town in Sofia Province in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is situated in Samokov Valley between the mountain ranges of Rila, Vitosha and Sredna Gora, 55 kilometres from the capital Sofia. Due ...

. After the conquest of

, Lala Şahin planned to seize Sofia but before he could reach the city, the Ottomans encroached with the Bulgarians on the

Sofia Valley The Sofia Valley (), or Sofia Field (), is situated in central western Bulgaria. It is the second of the succession of the eleven Sub-Balkan valleys in direction west–east and is the largest of them in area and population. It is named after th ...

. In the bloody clash both sides suffered heavy casualties, but the Ottomans were repulsed and forced to retreat. In 1373 Ivan Shishman was forced to negotiate a humiliating peace treaty: he became an Ottoman vassal strengthening the union with a marriage between Murad and Shishman's sister

Kera Tamara Kera Tamara (; - , known also as Tamara Hatun) was a Bulgarians, Bulgarian princess, the daughter of the Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria, Ivan Alexander and his second wife Sarah-Theodora, and the legal wife of the Ottoman Sultan Mura ...

. As a compensation, the Ottomans returned some of the conquered lands, including Ihtiman and Samokov.Синодник царя Борила, с. 89 Ivan shishman knight

In his popular work

Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya ''Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya'' ( Original Cyrillic: Истори́ѧ славѣноболгарскаѧ corrected from Їстори́ѧ славѣноболгарскаѧ; ) is a book by Bulgarian scholar and clergyman Saint Paisius of Hilen ...

Paisius of Hilendar Saint Paisius of Hilendar or Paìsiy Hilendàrski () (1722–1773) was a Bulgarian Orthodox clergyman and a key Bulgarian National Revival figure. He is most famous for being the author of '' Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya'' (1762), the first signi ...

gives an information about the battle: According to professor

Nikolay Ovcharov Nikolay Ovcharov ( Bulgarian: Николай Овчаров) (born 1957 in Veliko Tarnovo) is a Bulgarian archaeologist and thracologist. Nikolay Ovcharov is known for his archaeological expeditions in Perperikon, a unique ancient Thracian city ...

, that "Asen" is the own Ivan Asen V of Bulgaria.

References

{{coord missing, Bulgaria Battles involving the Second Bulgarian Empire Battles involving the Ottoman Empire 1372 in Europe Conflicts in 1385 14th century in Bulgaria History of Sofia Bulgarian–Ottoman wars Events in Sofia