BULGARIA, a province of European Turkey, extending from the mouth of the Danube, along that river till it meets the Timok above Widdin, on the borders of Servia. The Danube forms the whole of its northern, and the parallel chain of the Balkan its southern boundary. It is about three hundred and fifty miles long, extending from the Black Sea to Servia, by fi , om forty to fifty broad.

This province was the Moesia Inferior of the Romans, and derives its present name from the Bulgarii or Bulgares, one of the northern hordes who abandoned their dreary plains to seek a more propitious climate in the south. They left the Wolga in the sixth century, and crossing the Danube near its mouth, established themselves in the inviting country which lies between that river and the mountains, extending westward from the shore of the Euxine. Here they defied all the efforts of the Greeks of the lower empire to dispossess them; and their various and sanguinary conflicts form a considerable portion of the history of that period. They carried on many contests with the emperors of the East; but in the eleventh century they were at length confined within certain limits, and the country was reduced to the state of a province. On the decline of the Greek empire, however, it was finally brought [7:5:701] under the Turkish yoke by Bajazet, when the Turks had established themselves in the neighbouring province of Rumelia, the ancient Thrace.

The country, except in the neighbourhood of the Danube and the Euxine, is mountainous; but the sides of the smaller hills afford excellent pasture, and the soil is exceedingly rich and fertile. It is irrigated by a number of rivers and streams, the tributaries of the Danube. The climate is mild, and the productions accordingly are various and abundant. There is a profusion of grain, cattle, wine, wood, iron, &c.; and the province is looked upon by the Turks as the granary of Constantinople. The people have entirely laid aside the warlike character which distinguished their ancestors. The avocations of the greater number of them are pastoral, and their character corresponds with that which is always identified with this mode of life. Mr Walsh, the most recent traveller who has visited the province, gives the following graphic and interesting description of the appearance and character of the people. “Of all the peasantry I have ever met with,” says he, “the Bulgarians seem the most simple, kind, and affectionate; forming a striking contrast with the rude and brutal Turks, who are mixed among them, but distinguished by the strongest traits of character. On the road we frequently met groups of both, always separate, but employed in the same avocations; the Turks were known by turbans, sashes, pistols, andyatigans; but still more by a ferocity of aspect, a rude assumption of demeanour, and a careless kind of contempt, that at once repulsed and disgusted us. They never turned their buffaloes or arubas out of the way to let us pass, or showed the smallest wish to be civil or obliging: on the contrary, they were pleased if they pushed us into a bog in the narrow road, or entangled us among trees or bushes. Any accommodation in houses was out of the question; if we approached one for a drink of milk or water, we ran the hazard of being stabbed or shot. The Bulgarians were distinguished by caps of brown sheepskin; jackets of cloth, made of the wool undyed of dark brown sheep, which their wives spin and weave; white doth trousers, and sandals of raw leather, drawn under the sole, and laced with thongs over the instep; and they carried neither pistol or yatigan, nor any other weapon of offence; but they were still more distinguished by their countenance and demeanour The first is open, artless, and benevolent; and the second is so kind and cordial, that every one we met seemed to welcome us as friends. Whenever their buffaloes or arubas stopped up the way, they were prompt to turn them aside; and whenever they saw us embarrassed, or obliged to get out of the road, they were eager to show us it was not their fault. Their houses were always open to us, and our presence was a kind of jubilee to the family; the compensation we gave scarcely deserved the name, and, I am disposed to think, if not offered, would not have been asked for. Turkish women we never saw; the Bulgarian women mixed freely with us in the domestic way, and treated us with the unsuspecting cordiality they would show to brothers. Their dress was neat, clean, and comfortable; it generally consisted of a jacket and petticot of dark blue cloth, with a bright border of list round the edges or down the seams; and a shift of hemp and cotton, very large, hanging far below the petticot, and gathered in full folds round the neck and arms, and worked or wove with lace-like borders. Married women wear handkerchiefs on their heads, with a long lap-pel hanging on the back behind; girls have their heads uncovered, with their hair braided and ornamented with different coins. All wear ear-rings, bracelets, and rings on their fingers, even girls of three and four years old, and all go barefooted. They are exceedingly industrious, and are never for a moment without their spindle and distaff; they frequently asked for needles, and I greatly regretted I had not brought a few scissors and other female implements, which would have been highly acceptable to them. Their villages generally consist of forty or fifty houses, scattered without order or regularity. Their houses are built of wicker-work plastered, and are clean and comfortable on the inside.”

The Bulgarians fabricate to a great extent several articles which are famous in Turkey; one is a coarse woollen cloth, and another rifle gun-barrels. But that which is most congenial to their rural habits is the preparation of the otto or attar of roses, a great part of which comes to England. Rose trees are very plentiful, and gardens are laid out for the purpose of cultivating them. The language of the people is a dialect of the Sclavonian, and bears a resemblance to the Russian. Only a few elementary books have been printed in this language, and it has never been reduced to grammatical rules. The books introduced are in Greek, but that language has made .no progress amongst the people, and the consequence is that they are entirely illiterate. Their religion is Christianity, which they embraced on their arrival in the district. They belong to the Greek church, subject to the Greek patriarch of Constantinople, who appoints their bishops. There is generally attached to every two or three villages a priest, who performs the duties of his vocation in each occasionally; but, unless in a very few places, they are destitute of churches, schools, and books. The principal towns, such as Sophia, Shumla, Ternevo, &c., will be described as they occur alphabetically.

The Bulgarians have extended themselves beyond the limits defined at the commencement. They have crossed the chain of mountains, and now occupy almost exclusively a considerable portion of Rumelia. They are gradually advancing, and in course of time, if their barbarous neighbours allow them to proceed, they are likely to cultivate the almost solitary desert which lies between the Balkan and the sea. The population of Bulgaria is estimated at about 1,800,000.