Keeping the bonds: the Ottomans and Muslim education in autonomous Bulgaria, 1878-1908

Abstract

The article examines the development of Muslim education in autonomous Bulgaria in the period 1878-1908. It argues that for various reasons the Bulgarians, contrary to their desire, did not succeed in establishing tight control over Muslim schools and the Ottomans emerged as the main agent that influenced their development. As a result, throughout the period under discussion Muslim education managed to retain its Ottoman and Muslim outlook and content. The authors discuss in detail the initiatives of Ottoman support and suggest that they should be interpreted in the context of the major political and ideological tendencies in the Empire at that time