The Terror (Karlovo massacre)

[1][2] The name refers both to the massacre of 288 Bulgarian civilians by regular Ottoman army and Circassian paramilitaries (bashi-bazouk) on 30 July–3 August [O.S.

18–22 July] 1877 and to the capture and imprisonment of more than 500 town notables in the subsequent months, many of whom were hanged or exiled to Asia Minor.

18 July] 1877, regular Ottoman army soldiers entered the town and started plundering the Bulgarian districts of it, but, seeing that there were no Russian forces, they eventually pulled out.

22 July] 1877, their place was taken by Circassian bashi-bazouk, which in addition to looting and plundering, also massacred a number of civilians.

However, a number of other sources talk about "the 864 widows of Karlovo", among other things, in connection with their letter of protest to the Eastern Rumelia Organic Statute Preparation Committee, where they argue against the deployment of Ottoman garrisons across the autonomous Bulgarian Province of Eastern Rumelia.