Vasil Levski, the Committees and the Trial in Sofia in the Light of an Unknown Report of March 1873 of the Special Judicial Commission

Abstract

The article deals with a hitherto unknown report of the Special Judicial Commission, which in late 1872 and early 1873 conducted the trial in Sofia against Vasil Levski and his companions. The paper is preserved in the Ottoman Archives in Istanbul. The author analyses its contents with reference to three topics: 1) the creation of a revolutionary network in the Bulgarian lands and the activities of Vasil Levski, Dimitar Obshti and Angel Kanchev; 2) the organisation of the Arabakonak robbery, the search for its perpetrators, the disclosure of the revolutionary activists and the conduct of the trial; 3) an analysis of the situation in the Bulgarian lands and the internal and external political reasons that led to the creation of such a revolutionary structure. The report is a valuable document, revealing the view of the Ottoman authorities not only on the trial, but also on the social, political and structural reasons that led to the emergence and activity of a revolutionary organization aiming to achieve autonomy or complete independence for the Bulgarian people.