Basti Osman was correct in his assessment relevant to the Bulgars.  The change of attitude in the community gradually became distinct. Both the urban and the rural population were looking for a change, a phenomena which was manifested by their action. 

            Osman’s estimates were based on on his own deductions as a layman.  The actual developments taking place in closed quarters and at distant places were beyond his reach.  He was concerned about the future of his own people. 

            The Bulgar revolutionaries had gone underground in the aftermath of the 1867 rebellion.  They used the Church as their front organization in propagating the idea that the Bulgarian demand for independence was legitimate as those of the Serb, Greeks and Romans had been. 

            Russia was the principal supporter of the Bulgarian revolutionaries. The vanguard  revolutionaries were trained in Odessa and in the border towns of Romania.  The Russian Consulates in Bulgaria functioned as the nerve center of  the Bulgarian secessionist movement.  The ostensible diplomats in the  Russian Consulates in Filibe and Ruscuk had prepared an action plan aimed at creating an atmosphere conducive to a general uprising.  They had been instrumental in the organization of local revolutionary committees in various counties. 

            The primary target of the brain center of the movement in the Snack of Filibe was to block the south to north communication line, thereby detaching a significant part of the empire. 

            The choice of  Filibe, located relatively closer to Istanbul, the seat of the Ottoman Empire, as the center of the projected rebellion, though a daring attempt, was practical one. 

            The Ottoman intelligence organization had timely detected the conspiracy in and around Filibe, and apprehended the revolutionaries based in Eski Zağra, Çarpan and Hacıköy. 

            Not a single one of the captured revolutionaries confessed his guilt; and all of them claimed having been arrested on framed up charges. 

            Through the representation of Ignatief, the Russian Ambassador in Istanbul, Prime Minister Mahmut Nedim Paşa ordered the release of the revolutionaries.  Hurşit Paşa, the Governor of Edirne, and the County Officers of Filibe, Zağra and Kızanlık, who had ordered the government action, were removed from their respective posts. 

            The Russians and Bulgarian revolutionaries had been greatly encouraged by the démarche of the Ottoman Central Government. 

            St. Petersburg appointed Naydankerof, a Bulgar by extraction and formerly a Russian intelligence operative during the Crimean War, as the Russian Consul in Filibe.  Istanbul granted acceptance for his appointment, notwithstanding his non-Russian background. 

            Naydankerof was a topnotch revolutionary.  He was well informed on the geography and social fabric of  Bulgaria.  Availing himself of diplomatic immunity he enjoyed as a  Russian Consul, engaged in conspiracy to carve out a Bulgarian State out of the Ottoman Empire, bordering with Istanbul.  His brother, a medical student on Vienna, was to help him as his closest lieutenant.  An all out rebellion was to be launched when the situation was ripe. 

            The village of Otlu and the Avratalan forests on the skirts of the Greater Balkan Mountain Ranges were elected as the insurgency strongholds.  The area, from where the insurgency was to be directed, was to be fortified. 

            The plan of the Russian Consul of Bulgar extraction was based on terrorizing the masses.  The initial targets were the Filibe and Pazarcık counties.  Subsequently the villages inhabited Turks and Muslims were planned to be attacked and destroyed and the population were to be massacred to create maximum terror among the people, and to provoke intervention by European powers and Russia.  The Bulgarians were to play the innocent and victimized side. 

            Naydankerof had planned to start the rebellion in May 1876.  The Bulgarian peasants, the target of instigation,   however,  acted late in April, by attacking their own  Turkish and Circassian neighbors. 

            Aziz Paşa, the Mutasarrif of Filibe,  having detected suspicious activities, had requested reinforcement from Istanbul.  Prime Minister Muhmut Nedim Paşa was still under the sedative influence of  the Russian Ambassador.  He advised that there was no need to be needlessly fearful.  He did not concede to the request for reinforcement. 

            In the absence of a serious counter action on the part of the Government forces, the Bulgarian insurgents were emboldened.  They cut the telegraph lines,  disrupted communication between the villages and the county center,  captured the stragetic mountain passes on the Greater Balkan Mountains, and established a strong defense line, severing the north from the south. 

            It was at this juncture when the Circassian irregulars, the “Başıbozuk” according to the Ottoman official jargon, arrived to the scene. 

           There were a significant number of Circassian villages in the neighborhood of Filibe and Pazarcık.  The inhabitants of those villages organized mobile cavalry groups, and offered strong resistance to the Bulgars, began raiding the Bulgar villages in retaliation.  They destroyed Bulgar villages in the neighborhood. 

            There were powerful government garrisons in Şumnu and Ruscuk in the north.  Hence the insurgency was less active in those areas. 

            Meanwhile Anton, the notorious leader of Kilise, in the upstream Yantra basin, however,  was not idle. He commanded raids against Akıncılar and other villages in neighborhood populated by the Turks.  Finally Anton attacked the Circassian villages on the left side of the Yantra. 

            Osman did not have a precise knowledge of the extent of the rebellion.  Osman was shocked when word came about the attack on Akıncılar.  He was shattered to see the results of his peace efforts evaporating.   He told Yeftale Hamz “Do what you may deem necessary!” 

            The three Circassian villages in the upstream Yantra basin  joined hands, as they had done during the Bulgar rebellion of 1867.  Havuduko Bislan, Sinan Naur and Yeftale Hamız resumed the command of the joint strike force. 

            The three leaders, assuming that the village of Kilise was responsible for the unrest in the area, and that  Anton, and the priest Pavel were the gang leaders; conjectured that the fire should  be put out  first where it had started. 

            Havuduko Bislan had made up his mind to effectively strike at the Kilise.  He made plans accordingly. 

            According to the plan Sinan Naur was to strike the village from the north, advancing in an elliptic formation.  Having caused a serious alarm in the village, was to exercise a fake retreat, and was to come back with full force, when the Bulgars came out to chase them. 

            The plan was fully carried out starting at night. 

            Anton and his men had been uneasy due to their own misdeeds.  They had been expecting a reprisal any time.  They had posted sentries around the village. As the small strike force engaged with the the sentries, the main Bulgar band counter attacked. 

            The sky was clear.  Somewhere near the horizon there loomed the half-moon.  The buildings of the village were hazily visible. 

            The cavalrymen of Havuduko Bislan and Yeftale Hamız attacked on time.  Most of the men had been in the village more than once.  They were familiar with the trails and the streets.  They entered the village in two columns, mercilessly crushed any resistance, and surrounded Anton and his men from the rear. 

            Havuduko, while passing near the Church in the middle of the village, noticed the priest in his dark robe, and dropped him dead with a signle bullet.

            Anton was confused when he found himself and his men surrounded on all sides.  He choose to run away rather than fighting.  But that too they could not manage.  They were either shot or sworded to death. 

            By sunrise there was not a single man in the village or in the vicinity offering resistance.  Women and children, terrified, had clustered inside their houses.  Havuduko, with difficulty, was able to dissuade the youth, who were going to set the village on fire.  He did not let the women and the aged be harmed.  He said, 

            -  I wouldn’t wish all this happen.  This village has been helpful to us in the past, when we were in need as refugees.  Spare the women and children at least.  This much of punishment should be enough. 

            The experience of the inhabitants of Kilise proved helpful to restraint the Bulgars in the villages in the north.  As a result; there was no incidence of insurgency in the Yantra Basin. 

            Istanbul was perturbed over disruption of the telegraphic communication with Bulgaria.  When the government realized that scope of the upheaval, troop deployment to the area was effected, though belated. 

            The insurgency had spread as far as Sofia, hundreds of Turkish villages were destroyed, thousands of persons were killed.  The Muslim villages were surrendered to the mercy of the fanatic Bulgarian insurgents.  The Turkish and Circassian militia joined forces  together to fight the Bulgar rebels.  The unrest was yet to further escalate. 

            With the arrival of the armed forces the rebellion was suppressed. With the help of the militia forces the mountain passes were cleared of the insurgents.  Leaders of the insurrection were apprehended, prosecuted and executed by hanging. 

                                                             O0O 

            Earlier an insurrection had  occurred in Bosnia-Herzegovina.   It was also suppressed concurrently with the Bulgarian insurgency.  Both the incidents had rendered the population of European Turkey, particularly of Istanbul, highly sensitive.  The atrocities committed by the insurgents against the Muslims had over taxed the patience of the masses. 

            The popular tension escalated by time; and culminated in a riot in Selanik¹ . 

            It so happened that a certain Bulgar girl of Avrathisar had intended to convert to Islam. Threatened by her own community, she took shelter in the premises of the County Office. 

            The County Officer was as much worried as the girl had been.  Afraid of an undesirable incident, he sent the girl to the Office of the Mufti of Selanik, escorted by Gendarmes. 

            The Christian population of the Balkans, the subjects of a Muslim State, had been very well organized.  The leading clergymen of Avrathisar having  made an issue of the incident, stirred the inhabitants of the area. 

              The American Consul of the time of the time in Selanik, was Perikli Lazar, a Russian by origin.  Accompanied with about one hundred persons, he received the Bulgar girl at the railway station; and forcibly was took away the girl from the Gendarme. 

            The incident of kidnap of the Bulgar girl by the American Consul occurred in day light before the eyes of the people.  It stirred a great sensation.  Hundreds of protesters gathered at the city square  condemned the incident, and demanded the Governor to free the girl. 

            In the absence of a tangible response to their demand, the people gathered at the Selim Paşa Mosque  on the following day.  The congregation unanimously decided to free the girl at any cost. 

            At a moment when the crowd was highly excited, the French and German Consuls on a horse driven carriage drove in to the middle of the crowd;  ostensibly to appease the excited crowd.  Disregarding the warning of the authorities, they had jumped into an initiative of dubious consequence. 

            The excited crowd turned to the diplomats.  They demanded that the girl be immediately surrendered. 

            The two diplomats told the crowd that the girl was at the residence of the American Consul, who was out of  town at that moment.  The crowd did not believe them.  The furious crowd accused the diplomats of double-crossing, and lynched them. 

            The incident caused a great uproar in Europe.  France and Germany tendered strong protest notes to the Ottoman Government, and sent in their battle ships to  the Port of Selanik.  The governments of Italy, Austria and Russia aslo took similar measures. 

            In the face of the pressures brought to bear upon by the European states, the Ottoman Government to a series of actions.  The Governor of Selanik was replaced, the persons held responsible for the lynching of the diplomats were prosecuted and were condemned to death. 

            Sultan Abdulaziz and Prime Minister Mahmut Nedin had been in accord with respect to the conduct of the foreign policy.  The  intended not to strain relations with Russian.  The developments, however,  overshadowed the mutual accord between the monarch and his chief minister. 

            Mahmut Nedim was deposed as the Prime Minister.  Not long before, Sultan Abdulaziz was forced to abdicate. 

                                                              O0O 

            Havuduko Bislan, Sinan Naur and Yeftale Hamız did not sit idle after having destroyed the males of the Kilise village.  Disregarding Basti Osman’s insistence to the contrary, that to stop further bloodshed, they assailed the Bulgar habitations in the central Yantra Basin.  About ten Bulgar villages were hit and pillaged. 

            They considered their action as legitimate.  For the Bulgars had attacked the Turkish and Circassian villages and had caused damage in terms life and property.   To retaliate was their indisputable right.  They turned down Osman’s objection with the same argument each time. 

            The so-called leaders, unlike Osman, were least concerned with the future.  They did whatever the circumstances of the day warranted.  “Whereas the Bulgars have killed our people, let us kill them too.  Let those who have damaged our property suffer more than we did!” they argued. 

            Osman had extensively toured northern Bulgaria.  He had been in major population centers there, including Tırnova.  He had made acquaintance with hundreds.  Though through hear-say, he had earned some idea about the developments in Europe. 

            With the sponsorship of Russia there had emerged the principalities of Romania and Serbia.  Currently Secession of Bulgaria from the Ottman Empire was on the agenda.  The underlying reason to all the incidents of unrest in Bulgaria boiled down to the same issue. 

            What would happen to the Turks and the Circassian in case the Bulgars forced the Ottoman Government to concede their claim for independence?  Escalation of the incidents to blood feud would not only render the day to day life difficult, but also adversely influence the future. 

            Osman was concerned over the current developments as much as with their future ramifications.  At times he suffered from insomnia due to the attending anxiety.  He used to have nightmare. 

            Osman could not stand the easiness of his brother-in-law.  In depressive mood he would walk out of the district, and call on Hahurat Ketiğej or Nahu Netaf. 

            Hahurat Ketiğej was a calm and quiet person.  He constantly presented a cheerful countenance.  He spoke in a   low tone. His tender manners lent peace to Osman’s disturbed mind. 

            Hun Şeril had grown too old.  His son Gazi had replaced him as the prayer leader, the Imam. 

            The mosque was the place where he could calm his troubled self.   He would be present at the mosque earlier than the prayer time, and would listen to Hun Gazi reciting Holy Qur’an. 

            Hun Gazi’s son had kidnapped his daughter.  Since that incident he had not visited their house; not because he had any grudge against them, but because the tradition warranted so.  He did exchange greeting with the members of the Hun family whenever he met them in the streets or at mosque, though.  He was not interested to carry his relations any further. 

            The spring season went by amidst such unhappy developments.  They could hardly cultivate the corn.  The sheep and cattle could not be attended properly.  Thanks to Bjafe Musa’s efforts that the youth were set to work; otherwise a lot of seasonal jobs on the field would not have been finished in time. 

            Yeftale Hamız was happy with his lot.  His barn was full of the domestic animals he had herded away from the Bulgar villages pillaged.  He considered those animals as legitimately gained the hard way. 

            Osman tolerated the situation for quite a good time, in the hope that Yeftale would come to his sense.  Nothing happened.  Finally he exploded.  He expressed his indignation one day shouting at him: “Keep your illegitimately acquired animals away from ours!” 

            Hamız was not the type to tolerate such a harsh outburst.  But this time, however, he behaved in manner that it maddened Osman.  He just ignored Osman’s remark.  He simply smirked. 

            A couple of days later Yeftale Hamız requisitioned all the boys available in the district to help him herding the animals to the Bazaar of Tırnova, where he sold the animals entirely. 

            It fetched him a handsome amount of money.  He bought garments for the boys.He purchased  latest brand weapons for all of them.  And finally he spent the remaining cash on presents of all sorts, including textile, foot-wear and jewelry, for the women and girls in the district. 

            The district turned to a festival place when Hamız and boys returned home.  The females, particularly the young girls were overjoyed.  No one of them was in a state  to ponder where from or how these things had happened to come. For they had lived through highly unstable living conditions throughout their life that they had not developed a reasonable sense of differentiating the wrong and the right. 

            It was just before sunset,  Osman was sitting at the window of the guest house overlooking the courtyard.  For a while he enjoyed the sight of the jubilant youngsters in the courtyard. 

            He noticed his son Idris and his daughter Surer in the group.  Idris had grown up to a tall young man. 

            Osman turned his eyes to further away.  The terrain to the south-east graded up to form a forest hillock.  Vaguely in trance, Osman murmured by himself: 

            -  O Almighty God! What further calamities we have got to suffer? We exist in a world where it is hard to discern what is legitimate from what is illegitimate; what is  right from what is  wrong.  They overlap, and mostly blended together, readily to be confused.  It seems we are caught up in a flood, in a deluge; and  are being wept away to the unknown.  Forgive our sins. Protects us from accidents and disasters, which we are blind to foresee!