The inability of the Sublime Porte, the…

The inability of the Sublime Porte, the government of the Ottoman Empire, to maintain order or to carry through its program of reform known as Tanzimat (Turkish: “Reorganization”; 1839–76), combined with the examples of Greek and Serbian independence, engender an explicitly revolutionary movement among the Bulgarians.

Inspired by the haiduk, or outlaw, tradition, Georgi Rakovski forms a Bulgarian legion on Serbian territory in 1862 to send armed bands to harass the Turks in Bulgaria, the first armed group of Bulgarians having the avowed goal of achieving independence from the Ottoman Empire.