Siege of Sofia

Siege of Sofia
	Part of the Bulgarian–Ottoman wars
Date	1380–1382
Location	Sofia, Bulgaria
Result	• Bulgarian victory – 1st siege; • Ottoman victory – 2nd siege;
Belligerents
Bulgarian Empire	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Yanuka †	Shahin Pasha ; Ballaban Bey
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

42°42′N 23°20′E / 42.700°N 23.333°E / 42.700; 23.333

The Siege of Sofia refers to the two sieges of the city that took place in between 1380–1382^[1]^[2] during the course of the Bulgarian–Ottoman wars.The Bulgarian defenders,led by Yanuka,repulsed the Ottomans–led by Lala Shahin Pasha– in the first siege.However,the Ottomans would besiege the city again with Ballaban Bey leading them with Lala Shahin Pasha.The Ottomans killed Yanuka and forced the Bulgarians to surrender,thus winning control of the city

In 1373 the Bulgarian emperor Ivan Shishman agreed to become an Ottoman vassal and to marry his sister Kera Tamara to their sultan Murad I, while the Ottomans were to return some conquered fortresses.^[1]

First siege

Despite the peace, in the beginning of the 1380s the Ottomans resumed their campaigns and besieged the important city of Sofia which controlled major communication routes to Serbia and Macedonia. There are little records about the siege. After the futile attempts to storm the city, the Ottoman commander Lala Shahin Pasha considered to abandon the siege.^[1] All attacks led by the Ottomans were repelled by Yanuka.^[3]

Second siege

In 1382 a Bulgarian renegade called Usunca Syondök managed to lure the city governor ban Yanuka out of the fortress to hunt and the Turks, led by Ince Balaban bey, captured him. Leaderless, the Bulgarians surrendered.^[2] The city walls were destroyed and an Ottoman garrison was installed. With the way to the north-west cleared, the Ottomans pressed further and captured Pirot and Niš in 1386, thus wedging between Bulgaria and Serbia.^[2]

After the capture of the city, Sofia became a sanjak. Ince Balaban who has also been referred to as 'the conqueror of Sofia',^[4] became its first sanjakbey.

Citations

1 2 3 Андреев, p. 283
1 2 3 "20. The Decline of the Second Bulgarian Empire" (in Bulgarian). Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
↑ История на българите (in Bulgarian). TRUD Publishers. 2009. p. 182. ISBN 978-954-528-752-7.
↑ Gradeva, Rosit︠s︡a (2004). Rumeli under the Ottomans, 15th-18th centuries: institutions and communities. Isis Press. p. 34.

Sources

Андреев (Andreev), Йордан (Jordan); Милчо Лалков (Milcho Lalkov) (1996). Българските ханове и царе (The Bulgarian Khans and Tsars) (in Bulgarian). Велико Търново (Veliko Tarnovo): Абагар (Abagar). ISBN 954-427-216-X.

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[a283-1] 1 2 3 Андреев, p. 283

[prosveta-2] 1 2 3 "20. The Decline of the Second Bulgarian Empire" (in Bulgarian). Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2011.

[3] История на българите (in Bulgarian). TRUD Publishers. 2009. p. 182. ISBN 978-954-528-752-7.

[Gradeva,_Rosit︠s︡a_2004_34-4] Gradeva, Rosit︠s︡a (2004). Rumeli under the Ottomans, 15th-18th centuries: institutions and communities. Isis Press. p. 34.

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[4]

v t e Major sieges involving the Ottoman Empire by century
13th-14th	1285 Kulaca Hisar 1288 Karacahisar 1326 Bursa 1328–1331 Nicaea 1333–1337 Nicomedia 1360s Adrianople 1385 Sofia 1393 Tarnovo 1394–1402 Constantinople
15th	1411 Constantinople 1422 Constantinople 1422–1430 Thessalonica 1428 Golubac 1440 Belgrade 1440–41 Novo Brdo 1448 Svetigrad 1450 Krujë 1453 Constantinople 1455 Berat 1456 Belgrade 1461 Trebizond 1462 Mytilene 1463 Jajce 1464 Jajce 1466–67 Krujë 1467 Krujë 1470 Negroponte 1474 Scutari 1477–78 Krujë 1478–79 Scutari 1480 Rhodes 1481 Otranto 1484 Chilia
16th	1500 Cephalonia 1517 Cairo 1521 Belgrade 1522 Knin 1522 Rhodes 1529 Peñón of Algiers 1529 Vienna 1531 Diu 1532 Güns (Kőszeg) 1532 Maribor 1533–34 Coron 1534 Tunis 1534 Baghdad 1537 Klis 1537 Corfu 1538 Diu 1539 Castelnuovo 1541 Buda 1543 Nice 1543 Esztergom 1548 Aden 1548 Van 1551 Tripoli 1552 Muscat 1552 Hormuz 1552 Temesvár 1552 Eger 1556 Oran 1559 Bahrain 1563 Oran 1565 Malta 1566 Szigetvar 1570–71 Famagusta 1574 Tunis 1578 Gvozdansko 1592 Bihać 1593 Sisak 1596 Eger
17th	1601 Nagykanizsa 1621 Khotyn 1603 Tabriz 1606 Ganja 1607 Shamakhi 1624 Baghdad 1625–1626 Baghdad 1630 Baghdad 1635 Erivan 1636 Erivan 1638 Baghdad 1663 Uyvar 1664 Novi Zrin 1648–1669 Candia 1672 Kamenets 1683 Vienna 1684 Buda 1684 Santa Maura 1685 Érsekújvár 1686 Buda 1686 Pécs 1688 Negroponte 1688 Belgrade 1690 Belgrade 1695 Azov 1696 Azov
18th	1708 Oran 1711 Brăila 1715 Nauplia 1716 Corfu 1716 Temeşvar 1717 Belgrade 1732 Oran 1733 Baghdad 1734–35 Ganja 1737 Ochakov 1739 Belgrade 1788 Ochakov 1788 Khotin 1789 Belgrade 1789–90 Izmail 1792 Oran 1799 El Arish 1799 Jaffa 1799 Acre
19th	1801 Cairo 1806 Belgrade 1821 Patras 1821–22 Acropolis 1821 Tripolitsa 1822 Missolonghi 1823 Missolonghi 1825–26 Missolonghi 1826–27 Acropolis 1828 Kars 1828 Varna 1854 Calafat 1854 Silistra 1854–55 Sevastopol 1855 Kars 1877 Plevna
20th	1912–13 Scutari 1912–13 Adrianople 1915 Van 1915–16 Kut 1916–1919 Medina
Ottoman defeats shown in italics.