Bulgarians Used to Take Commanders', Grand Vizirs' and Other Senior Positions in Ottoman Empire, Study Shows Islamized Bulgarians used to be grand vizirs, military commanders and other dignitaries in the Ottoman empire, says Dimiter Shishmanov in his study, "The Extraordinary Story of Bulgarians in Asia Minor". Shishmanov cites examples like grand vizir Hafiz Ahmed pasha (the first half of the 17th c), who is described in Ottoman documents as "a pomak, born in Plovdiv". Before becoming a grand vizir he used to command the sultan's fleet. Dimiter Shishmanov quotes Ottoman and Turkish historians as saying in the biography of another grand vizir, Calafat Mehmed pasha (the second half of the 18th c), that he is Bulgarian by origin, born in a village near Sofia and taken as janissary. Shishmanov has found documentary evidence about the Bulgarian origin of another grand vizir of the 19th c., Ahmed Vefik pasha, known also as Bulgarzade, which translated as 'son of a Bulgarian'. According to Shishmanov's study, one of the most prominent architects and construction designers of the Ottoman empire, Kodja Sinan, was also of Bulgarian origin. Kodja Sinan (Mimar sinan pasha) (1490-1588) was chief architect in the empire under five sultans. He built over 400 mosques, including the mosques recognized as masterpieces Sultan Selim in Edirne and Syuleimanie in Constantinople, as well as aqueducts, palaces and caravanserai. The researcher has found documents proving also the Bulgarian origin of one of the prominent Ottoman intellectuals, historian Ahmed Djevdet pasha (19th c.), who wrote a history of the Ottoman empire in 12 volumes, known under his name, "Djevdet pasha tarihi". Ahmed Djevdet pasha, an islamized Bulgarian from Lovech, was many times minister of education and of justice. Dimiter Shishmanov tells briefly the story of the Bulgarians in Asia Minor, who in the 16th, 17th and 18th c. fled their birthplaces in the Bulgarian lands in northwestern Anatolia because of religious persecution and violence. The author pays special attention to the work of Konstantin Fotinov, who in 1828 found a private school in Izmir and in 1844 started issuing the first Bulgarian magazine, "Lyuboslovie". In his study, Dimiter Shishmanov, who is a descendant of Bulgarians of Asia Minor, gives prominence to the fact that those men of the Bulgarians in Asia Minor who were fit to carry weapons were mobilized in the Turkish army during the Balkan war in 1912-1913, but many of them defected to Bulgaria while others refused to shoot against the Bulgarian troops. "The Bulgarian soldiers positioned at Chataldja in the Balkan war of 1912-1913 were surprised to see soldiers, wearing Turkish uniforms, running towards them and crying out, 'Do not shoot, we are Bulgarians'," the author writes. In conclusion the researcher dwells on the still unresolved problem of the estates of the Bulgarians forcefully extradited in 1914, for which, as he says, Turkey still refuses to admit that it owes them compensation. In addition to the present study, Dimiter Shishmanov, who was for nine years a BTA correspondent in Istanbul and Ankara and 11 years a correspondent in Paris, has collected songs, recollections, fairy tales and customs of Bulgarians in Minor Asia, whose settlements he has personally visited. bta
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