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13 II POPULATION STRUCTURE Bulgaria’s first census was held in 1880. The results, which were for the autonomous Principality of Bulgaria only (today’s Northern Bulgaria), were published in 1881. The semi-autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia (today’s Southern Bulgaria) held a census in 1884. In the interval between the unification of Bulgaria in 1885 and the First World War, general censuses of the population were held in 1887, 1892, 1900, 1905 and 1910. The latter three censuses were the first to be carried out after the so called “General Population and Housing Census Law” was passed in 1897. In terms of program, organization and methodology, they beganatraditionofBulgariancensusesequalinqualitytothoseofotherEuropean states (Sto godini 1984; Naoumov, Stefanov and Sougarev 1974, 5–6). As for the censuses from the last decades of the nineteenth century, the practice of the demographic statistics was still imperfect and inexact. Moreover, the preliminary questionnaires, on which the censuses were based, have not been preserved.1 For the period before 1878, with Bulgaria still part of the Ottoman Empire, one has to rely on the data from the Ottoman census system. The Ottomans introduced a reasonably efficient system of counting their population which was both a part and a result of their modernizing efforts of the nineteenth century. The first census was initiated by Sultan Mahmud II in 1829, three years after the destruction of the Janissaries, and was intended to assist in the creation of a new army and bureaucracy. Although the status of the 1831 census as the first nineteenth century census after a hiatus of almost two centuries has been questioned (Karpat 1985, 19), it is obviously that it is the first known census, and certainly the first from the reform period immediately preceding the Tanzimat. Given the difficult conditions under which it was carried out, one can characterize its results as only approximate (Karpat 1985, 18–23; Shaw 1978, 325–327; Karal 1943). In the Ottoman empire only Muslims were subjected to conscription, with the exception of certain large cities, such as Istanbul, whose citizens were exempt from military service. The Christians and the Jews, on the other hand, were counted for the purpose of collecting the poll-tax (or head-tax) known as cizye. Thus the 1831 census, undertaken for strictly military and fiscal purposes, included information only on the Muslim male population. Balkan Family Structure Until the Crimean War (1853–1856), several censuses were undertaken with the purpose of extending and updating the 1831 census, but they have not yet been uncovered (Shaw 1978, 327; Karpat 1985, 23–24). Only the census of 1844 has been used, and that only in part, by A.Ubicini (1853–1854). After the Crimean War, with the renewed effort of the second generation of Tanzimat leaders to reform the empire’s finances, a new department of cadastres (Tahrir-i Emlâk Nezareti) was established. It had the specific purpose of registering property for tax purposes. At the same time, it was supposed to count and provide all male subjects, both Muslim and non-Muslim, with population tax certificates (vergi nüfus tezkeresi) (Shaw 1978, 327). Starting in 1847, the Ottoman government published official yearbooks (salname ) (Karpat 1985, 7–13). Among the data contained in the salname, the authorities also listed statistical information on the population. These were summary figures, comprising only the male inhabitants. After 1866 provincial yearbooks began to be published, too, the first one being a salname on Bosnia. Separate data on Bulgaria were included for the first time in the 1868 yearbook of the Tuna vilâyeti or Danube province, which comprised seven sancaks (administrative units), five of which form today’s Northern Bulgaria (Ruse, Varna, Vidin, Sofia, and Tîrnovo). One is in modern Serbia (Nish), and one (Tulcha) is part of Romania. These materials have already been evaluated as sources for the historical demography of the Ottoman Empire (Karpat 1985, 6–11; Karpat 1983, 207–218; Todorova and Todorov 1987). The results of these censuses, when and if published, appeared in their final, generalized form. The preliminary detailed schedules, on the basis of which the general tables were compiled, have not been published and have not entered into scientific circulation. Besides their incompleteness, another characteristic feature of the Ottoman censuses should be emphasized here. They were never undertaken as censuses of the population per se, but for some other purpose, either fiscal or military; hence the specific type of the census...

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