Macedonia History Karpoš Uprising, 1689

Karposh's rebellion or Karposh's uprising (Macedonian: Карпошово востание, Karpošovo vostanie; Bulgarian: Карпошово въстание, Karposhovo vastanie) was a Christian anti-Ottoman uprising in the Central Balkans that took place in October 1689 during the Great Turkish War of 1683–1699. The nickname Karposh probably derives from the Paleo-Balkan term karpa 'tuff (rock), limestone'. The leader of the rebellion, was born in the Sanjak of Üsküp in the then Rumelia Eyalet 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'). At a very young age, he escaped to Wallachia (present-day Romania), where he worked as a miner. 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.