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This essay examines the main aspects of demographic and ethno-religious change in Ottoman Dobrudja (NE Balkans) from the Ottoman conquest in the late 14th century till the late 16th century. Paying due attention to Dobrudja's pre-Ottoman historical legacy, and utilizing an array of narrative and administrative sources, the essay discusses Dobrudja's turbulent political history during the 15th century, which led to the continuation of negative demographic trends that had developed in the pre-Ottoman centuries, such as outward migrations and demographic losses due to armed conflicts. The political stabilization of Dobrudja in the late 15th century led to a marked change in demographic trends, whereby from the late 15th and throughout the 16th century, Dobrudja became the venue of inward migrations of Turcomans from Anatolia and Thrace and of Christians from other parts of the Balkans. The demographic growth and stabilization of Dobrudja in the 16th century is the subject of the second half of the essay, based on Ottoman tax registers and the attendant law-codes. ; Rad ispituje glavne aspekte demografskih i etno-religijskih promjena u osmanskoj Dobruđi (sjevero-istočni Balkan), od osmanskih osvajanja u kasnom 14. do kraja 16. stoljeća. Imajući u vidu predosmansku povijesnu ostavštinu Dobruđe i koristeći niz narativnih i administrativnih izvora, u radu se raspravlja o njezinoj burnoj političkoj povijesti tijekom 15. stoljeća, što je dovelo do nastavka negativnih demografskih trendova nastalih u predosmanskim stoljećima, poput vanjskih migracija i demografskih gubitaka zbog oružanih sukoba. Politička stabilizacija Dobruđe u kasnom 15. stoljeću dovela je do značajne promjene u demografskim trendovima; od kraja 15. i tijekom 16. stoljeća Dobruđa je postala mjesto unutarnjih migracija Turkmena iz Anatolije i Trakije, kao i kršćana iz drugih krajeva Balkana. U drugom dijelu rada istražuju se demografski rast i stabilizacija Dobruđe u 16. stoljeću na temelju osmanskih poreznih popisa i pratećih zakonika.

The broad historical context : the rise of the Ottoman empire and the formation of Muslim communities in the Balkans as an integral part of the ottomanization of the region -- The rise of the Ottomans, ca. 1300-ca. 1550 : an overview -- The Ottoman transformation from a frontier principality to an imperial bureaucratic regime -- The formation of Muslim communities in the Ottoman Balkans in historiography and memory -- 1.3.1 Major theories of the formation and development of Muslim communities in the Ottoman Balkans -- 1.3.2 Assessment of the theories of the formation of Muslim communities in the Ottoman Balkans -- Colonization, settlement, and faith in the Balkans in the early Ottoman period (ca. 1352 to early 16th century) -- Colonization and settlement in the early Ottoman Balkans : historical and historiographic overview -- The abdals of Rum(eli) and their allies : "heterodox" Islam, Turcoman colonization, and legitimacy (late 14th-early 16th centuries) -- Conquest, colonization, and authority in the early Ottoman Balkans in the light of heterodox hagiographic works : the velayetnames of Seyyid ali Sultan (kızıl deli) and Otman baba -- 2.3.1 Kızıl deli, Rüstem gazi, and the conquest of the Balkans -- 2.3.2. Otman baba -- The northeastern Balkans from the late medieval period to the late fifteenth century : pre-Ottoman Turcoman invasions and migrations, the Ottoman conquest, and the "turbulent" fifteenth century. Deliorman and Gerlovo as a "special case" -- Introduction -- Turcoman involvement in the northeastern Balkans prior to the Ottoman conquest -- 3.2.1. Pontic Turcoman incursions into the Balkans in the pre-Ottoman period -- 3.2.2 The migration of Seljuk Turks to Dobrudja and the role of Sarı Saltık -- The northeastern Ottoman Balkans in the "turbulent" fifteenth century -- 3.3.1 The battle of Ankara and the Ottoman interregnum -- 3.3.2 The revolt of Sheykh Bedreddin -- 3.3.3 The crusade of Varna (1444) and the invasion of Vlad III Tepes south of the Danube (1461-1462) -- Patterns of demographic and socio-economic development in Deliorman and Gerlovo in the late fifteenth century. Deliorman and Gerlovo as a "special case" -- The repopulation of Deliorman and Gerlovo's countryside in the sixteenth century -- The re-population of Deliorman and Gerlovo in the sixteenth century : sürgün and göç, the role of the state and its limits -- Major aspects of rural Deliorman and Gerlovo's demographic transformation in the sixteenth century : Turcoman re-population, conversion to Islam, the rise of Derbend villages, and Christian-Muslim co-existence in the light of Ottoman tax registers -- 4.2.1 The development of the settlement network -- 4.2.2. demographic analysis by settlement size -- 4.2.3 demographic analysis by overall population size and status of taxpayers -- 4.2.4 major agents of Turcoman colonization in the countryside : yürüks and other nomadic or semi-nomadic groups, dervishes, and descendants of the prophet -- 4.2.5 Waqf (pious endowment) villages -- 4.2.6 Derbend villages -- The development of the urban network in sixteenth-century Deliorman. the emergence of Hezargrad and Eski Cuma, the transformation of Shumnu into an Islamic city, and the decline of Chernovi -- Introduction : the Islamic city, the Ottoman city, and the Ottoman Balkan city -- The emergence of Ottoman Hezargrad (mod. Razgrad) -- 5.2.1 Ancient and medieval background -- 5.2.2 The emergence of a new Ottoman town -- 5.2.3 The socio-economic development of Hezargrad -- The growth and transformation of Shumnu (Shumen) into an Ottoman town -- 5.3.1 The socio-economic development of Shumnu -- The decline of Chernovi (Cherven) -- The rise of Eski Cuma (Cuma-i atik, mod. Targovishte) -- Concluding remarks -- Religion, culture, and authority : two case studies -- Introduction -- Demir baba and the abdals of Rum of Otman baba's branch in Deliorman and Gerlovo -- 6.2.1 the abdals of Rum of Otman baba's branch from the death of Otman baba to Demir baba's emergence as "pole of poles" -- 6.2.2 The life of Demir baba as "pole" in the light of his velayetname -- 6.2.2.1 Debate and contest marvels and recognition : Demir baba's image as an axial saint and communal leader -- 6.2.2.2 Demir baba and the community : the saint as an epitome of power, justice, and generosity -- 6.2.2.3 Demir baba as a gazi -- 6.2.2.4 Demir baba and the Ottoman dynasty, state, and political order -- 6.2.2.5 Demir baba and his spiritual and sectarian rivals -- 6.2.2.6 positioning the abdals of Rum (of Otman baba's branch) in the Ottoman sectarian and socio-cultural spectrum -- The foundation of Hezargrad as an assertion of the Ottoman imperial order -- Issues in religion, culture, and authority : conversion to Islam and confessionalization -- Conversion to Islam in Deliorman and Gerlovo -- 7.1.1. conversion to Islam in the countryside : general remarks -- 7.1.2 "Colonizing heterodox dervishes" and conversion to Islam -- 7.1.3 Conversion and converts to Islam in the urban centers : the cases of Hezargrad and Shumnu -- 7.1.3.1 conversion and converts in sixteenth-century Hezargrad -- 7.1.3.2. conversion and converts in Shumnu -- Confessionalization and confession building : insights from Deliorman and Gerlovo

Journalists and policy-makers in the West have often assumed that the religious and ethno-national heterogeneity of the Balkans is the underlying reason for the numerous problems the area has faced throughout the twentieth century. The multiple and turbulent political transitions in the area, the dynamics of the interaction between Christianity and Islam, the contradictory and constantly shifting nationality policies, and the fluctuating identities of the diverse populations continue to be seen as major challenges to the stability of the region. By exploring the development of intricate religious, linguistic, and national dynamics in a variety of case studies throughout the Balkans, this volume demonstrates the existence of alternatives and challenges to nationalism in the area. The authors analyze a variety of national, non-national, and anti-national(ist) encounters in four areas—Bosnia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania—traditionally seen as "hot-beds" of nationalist agitation and tension resulting from their populations' religious or ethno-national diversity. In their entirety, the contributions in this volume chart a more complex picture of the national dynamics. The authors recognize the existence of national tensions both in historical perspective and in contemporary times, but also suggest the possibility of different paths to the nation that did not involve violence but allowed for national accommodation and reconciliation