cruel forms of oppression was the requisitioning of young
boys between the ages of ten and twelve, who were sent to Constantinople as
recruits for the corps of janissaries. Notwithstanding the horrors which
attended the Ottoman conquest, the condition of the peasantry during the
first three centuries of Turkish government was scarcely worse than it had
been under the tyrannical rule of the boyars. The contemptuous indifference
with which the Turks regarded the Christian _rayas_ was not altogether to
the disadvantage of the subject race. Military service was not exacted from
the Christians, no systematic effort was made to extinguish either their
religion or their language, and within certain limits they were allowed to
retain their ancient local administration and the jurisdiction of their
clergy in regard to inheritances and family affairs. At the time of the
conquest certain towns and villages, known as the _voinitchki sela_,
obtained important privileges which were not infringed till the 18th
century; on condition of [v.04 p.0781] furnishing contingents to the
Turkish army or grooms for the sultan's horses they obtained exemption from
most of the taxes and complete self-government under their _voivodi_ or
chiefs. Some of them, such as Koprivshtitza in the Sredna Gora, attained
great prosperity, which has somewhat declined since the establishment of
the principality. While the Ottoman power was at its height the lot of the
subject-races was far less intolerable than during the period of decadence,
which began with the unsuccessful siege of Vienna in 1683. Their rights and
privileges were respected, the law was enforced, commerce prospered, good
roads were constructed, and the great caravans of the Ragusan merchants
traversed the country. Down to the end of the 18th century there appears to
have been only one serious attempt at revolt--that occasioned by the
advance of Prince Sigismund Bathory into Walachia in 1595. A kind of
guerilla warfare was, however, maintained in the mountains by the
_kaiduti_, or outlaws, whose exploits, like those of the Greek _klepkts_,
have been highly idealized in the popular folk-lore. As the power of the
sultans declined anarchy spread through the Peninsula. In the earlier
decades of the 18th century the Bulgarians suffered terribly from the
ravages of the Turkish armies passing through the land during the wars with
Austria. Towards its close their condition became even worse owing to the
h