Karposh's rebellion

Karposh - the nickname probably derives from the Bulgarian or Macedonian word карпа (karpa, meaning "crag" or "rock")[2] - the leader of the rebellion, was born in the Sanjak of Üsküp in the then Rumelia Eyalet[3][4][5][6] of the Ottoman Empire, probably in the village of Vojnik (near Kumanovo, present-day North Macedonia), and named Petar (Macedonian: Петар, Bulgarian: Петър, lit. 'Peter').

Later, Karposh moved to the Rhodope Mountains, where he settled in the Dospat valley (near today's Greek-Bulgarian border), becoming a notorious hajduk.

After the army of the Holy Roman Empire advanced into the Ottoman Balkans, Karposh moved to the area of Znepole (near Tran, on today's Serbo-Bulgarian border), and began to organise anti-Ottoman resistance-detachments there.

The defeat and the chaotic situation within the Ottoman Empire created widespread social disruption in the Central Balkans, particularly in the regions of Üsküp (Skopje) and Niş (Niš), where Karposh's rebellion originated.

[10] On 25 October 1689, the Austrian branch of the Holy League, led by General Piccolomini, reached the Plain of Üsküp and were met with rejoicing by the inhabitants of the villages there.

According to the Turkish historian Silahdar Findikli Mehmed Aga, its leader Karposh was initially a voivoda or haiduk in the vicinity of Dospat, in present-day Bulgaria.

In the summer of 1689 hoping for help from the Austrian troops, haiduks, and voynuks led by Strahil vojvoda, rose in arms in the area of Northern Thrace between Filibe (Plovdiv) and Pazarcık (Pazardzhik),[12] the Turks named him chief of Christian Auxiliary forces in the area between Sofya (Sofia), Köprülü (Veles), Doyran (Dojran), Köstendil (Kjustendil) and Nevrokop to resist against Strahil's rebels.

According to contemporary Ottoman chronicles and local legends, Karposh was known as the "King of Kumanovo", a title conferred upon him by Emperor Leopold I who sent him a beautiful busby as a gift and a sign of recognition.