Karposh's Rebellion

Karposh’s rebellion or Karposh’s uprising was a Christian anti-Ottoman uprising in the Central Balkans that took place in October 1689. Karposh, the rebellion leader, was born in Ottoman Macedonia, probably in the village of Vojnica in today's Čaška Municipality, under the name Peter. At a very young age he escaped to Wallachia where he worked as a miner but moved later to the Rhodope Mountains, where he settled in the town of Dospat in Ottoman Bulgaria. He became a notorious hajduk. After the army of the Holy Roman Empire advanced into the Ottoman Balkans, Karposh moved to the area of Znepole, on today's the Bulgarian–Serbian border, and began to organise anti-Ottoman resistance detachments here.

In 1683, the Holy League of Austria, Poland, Venice, and (later) Russia was formed to oppose the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire suffered defeat at the Battle of Vienna in 1683 and was forced to withdraw rapidly from Central Europe. The defeat and the chaotic situation within the Ottoman Empire created widespread social disruption in the Central Balkans, particularly in the regions of Skopje and Niš, where Karposh's rebellion originated. On 25 October 1689, the Austrian branch of the Holy League, led by General Piccolomini, reached the Plain of Skopje and were met with rejoicing by the inhabitants of the villages there. The same day, Piccolomini began a withdrawal of his forces, and on October 26, set fire to the city. Skopje burned for two whole days, through the 26th and 27 October. Most of the city of Skopje was destroyed in the fire. Some accounts of these events state that Piccolomini razed Skopje due to an inability of his forces to occupy and govern a city so far from his headquarters, while other accounts state that it was perpetrated to prevent the spread of infectious disease.

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