Hadzhi Dimitar
Encyclopedia
Liberation of Bulgaria
In Bulgarian historiography, the term Liberation of Bulgaria is used to denote the events of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 that led to the re-establishment of Bulgarian state with the Treaty of San Stefano of March 3, 1878, after the complete conquest of the Second Bulgarian Empire, which...
from Ottoman rule.
Early life
Dimitar was born in SlivenSliven
Sliven is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality. It is a relatively large town with 89,848 inhabitants, as of February 2011....
to the family of the merchant Nikola Asenov and his wife Marinka Asenova. When he was two years old, his family went on a pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
to Jerusalem, from which point onward, Dimitar was considered to be a hajji
Hajji
Hajji or El-Hajj, is an honorific title given to a Muslim person who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca, and is often used to refer to an elder, since it can take time to accumulate the wealth to fund the travel. The title is placed before a person's name...
(хаджия). During Hadzhi Stavri's Uprising of 1862 Hadzhi Dimitar wandered through the Balkan Mountains
Balkan Mountains
The Balkan mountain range is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan range runs 560 km from the Vrashka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and eastern Serbia eastward through central Bulgaria to Cape Emine on the Black Sea...
with a band of revolutionaries for the whole summer.
Early revolutionary work
He joined the band of Stoyan Voyvoda in 1864 as a standard bearer. The band consisted of twelve people and was formed after the murder of the GreekGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
bishop of Veliko Tarnovo
Veliko Tarnovo
Veliko Tarnovo is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred to as the "City of the Tsars", Veliko Tarnovo is located on the Yantra River and is famous as the historical capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, attracting many tourists...
. However, it disbanded before entering the city and its members separated from their leader. Hadzhi Dimitar assumed command and led the band into the Balkan Mountains
Balkan Mountains
The Balkan mountain range is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan range runs 560 km from the Vrashka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and eastern Serbia eastward through central Bulgaria to Cape Emine on the Black Sea...
near Sliven
Sliven
Sliven is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality. It is a relatively large town with 89,848 inhabitants, as of February 2011....
and then to Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
in August.
Another band was formed in the home of Georgi Sava Rakovski
Georgi Sava Rakovski
Georgi Stoykov Rakovski , known also Georgi Sava Rakovski , born Sabi Stoykov Popovich , was a 19th-century Bulgarian revolutionary and writer and an important figure of the Bulgarian National Revival and resistance against Ottoman rule.- Early life:Born in Kotel to a wealthy and patriotic...
on 21 May 1865. Among its members were Hadzhi Dimitar, Stefan Karadzha
Stefan Karadzha
Stefan Karadzha , was a Bulgarian national hero, a revolutionary from the national liberation movement and a prominent leader of rebellion against the Ottoman Empire....
, Yurdan Yurdanov, Petar Shivarov and Todor Shivarov. The band crossed the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
near Silistra
Silistra
Silistra is a port city of northeastern Bulgaria, lying on the southern bank of the lower Danube at the country's border with Romania. Silistra is the administrative centre of Silistra Province and one of the important cities of the historical region of Southern Dobrudzha...
on 13 June and headed for the mountains near Kotel
Kotel, Bulgaria
Kotel is a town in central Bulgaria, part of Sliven Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Kotel Municipality. As of december 2009, the town has a population of 6,232 inhabitants....
through the Ludogorie
Ludogorie
The Ludogorie or Deliorman is a region in northeastern Bulgaria stretching over the plateau of the same name. Major cities in the region are Razgrad, Novi Pazar, Pliska and Isperih...
. It was active in the region of the Tundzha
Tundzha
The Tundzha is a river in Bulgaria and Turkey and the most significant tributary of the Maritsa, emptying into it on Turkish territory near Edirne....
, Tvarditsa
Tvarditsa
Tvarditsa is a town in Sliven Province, Southeastern Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Tvarditsa Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 5,669 inhabitants....
, Karlovo
Karlovo
Karlovo is a picturesque and a historically important town in central Bulgaria located in a fertile valley along the river Stryama at the southern foot of the Balkan Mountains...
, Gabrovo
Gabrovo
Gabrovo is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Gabrovo Province. It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international capital of humour and satire , as well as noted for its Bulgarian National...
and the well-known hajduk
Hajduk
Hajduk is a term most commonly referring to outlaws, highwaymen or freedom fighters in the Balkans, Central- and Eastern Europe....
gathering place Aglikina Polyana. This band returned to Romania in August 1865.
A 20-member band crossed the Danube from Romania in the summer of 1866. It was led by Dyado Zhelyo, Hadzhi Dimitar and Stefan Karadzha. It split into three after reaching the mountains and was active until the autumn, when it regrouped to return to Romania.
Hadzhi Dimitar and Stefan Karadzha's band
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
-based Second Bulgarian Legion. Dimitar's band crossed the Danube at Vardim
Vardim
Vardim is a village in Svishtov Municipality, Veliko Tarnovo Province, north central Bulgaria, located on the right bank of the Danube river. The village of Vardim is located in the central part of the Danubian plain about 10 km east of Svishtov towards Ruse...
in a sailing boat on 5 July and engaged in a battle with a Ottoman pursuing party of a thousand men in the vineyards of Karaisen near Pavlikeni
Pavlikeni
Pavlikeni is a town in Veliko Tarnovo Province, Northern Bulgaria, about 41 kilometers away from the city of Veliko Tarnovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Pavlikeni Municipality...
. The band managed to give the enemy the slip and reached the territory of Gorna Lipitsa. A second battle followed there on 7 July, in which the band caused considerable damage to the Ottomans while only losing one member and getting two others wounded. The band proceeded to Vishovgrad, where it also fought on 8 July. On the next day, not far south-southeast, there followed a bloody fight in which Karadzha was wounded and captured and the band was defeated. The remaining 58 members proceeded to the Balkan Mountains under the leadership of Hadzhi Dimitar only to be crushed at Buzludzha Peak on 18 July. After being defeated in this last battle,heavily wounded leader Hadzhi Dimitar was carried on a stretcher by his survived comrades away from Ottoman army, on Mount Kadrafill,3 km from village of Svezhen.There he and his fellows were supported by the local people with water,food and herbs,till his death somewhere around the middle of August 1868,when he was buried beneath the same mount.On 6.November 1880,the bones were reburied in the yard of"St.Peter and St.Paul"Church in the village of Svezhen.The funeral service was conducted by the Bishop of Plovdiv
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
† Gervassius of Levkia,who made Hadzhi Dimitar a martyr.After nearly two months,the bones of the hero were required and given to his mother,who brought them to his birthplace in Sliven
Sliven
Sliven is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality. It is a relatively large town with 89,848 inhabitants, as of February 2011....
town. His death inspired Hristo Botev's
Hristo Botev
Hristo Botev , born Hristo Botyov Petkov , was a Bulgarian poet and national revolutionary. Botev is widely considered by Bulgarians to be a symbolic historical figure and national hero.-Early years:...
poem "Hadzhi Dimitar" in 1873.
- "He,who falls while fighting to be free can never die: for him the sky and earth, the trees and beasts shall keen, to him the minstrel's song shall rise..."