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| Bulgarian-Ottoman Wars | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Bulgarian Empire |
 Ottoman Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Michail Asen † | Lala Shahin Pasha | ||||||
| Bulgarian–Ottoman conflicts | |
|---|---|
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The Battle of Ihtiman occurred in 1355 between Bulgarians and Ottomans and resulted in an decisive Bulgarian victory. The exact location is not known, but in an anonymous Bulgarian chronicle, it is mentioned that the armies of Michail Asen engaged and obliterated the invading forces before they could reach Sofia.
Origins of the Conflict
After the Ottoman Turks seized their first fortress in the Balkans in 1352, they quickly began to expand their territory in Europe. From the year 1354, their raiding parties began looting in Thrace, ravaging the regions of Plovdiv and Stara Zagora, and in the following year launched a campaign against the key city of Sofia.
The Battle
The son of the Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Alexander, Michail Asen, summoned a vast army to stop the advancing enemy. The battle was fierce, the Bulgarians suffered few casualties although their commander and heir to the throne was killed. However, the Ottoman losses were horrendously much worse than expected which forced them to be unable to continue their march towards Sofia.
Aftermath
The battle showed that the Ottoman Turks were not fully ready to challenge the Bulgarians in an open field battle. Despite the great victory, the Bulgarians had to carry on with the hard loss of their eldest and allegedly most capable son of their Emperor. Although the battle and his death were not in vain: the Ottomans were eventually able to reach Sofia 30 years later in 1382.
References
- Йордан Андреев, Милчо Лалков, Българските ханове и царе, Велико Търново, 1996.