The Muslim Roma Mustafa Shibiloglu,[1] shortened form: Shibil, (Turkish: Mustafa Şibil/Şibiloğlu), Mustafa son of Shibil was born in Ottoman Bulgaria in the village Gradets in a Turkish Roma Drandari Musician Family.[2] Mustafa Shibil was in love with Radka, a Bulgarian woman.[3]
During the Crimean War (1853-1856), with the help of the Kirdzhalis (of which he was a member}, he opposed Ottoman sovereignty and robbed the Orthodox Christian Bulgarian population. He gained local power in the Balkan Mountains around Sliven.
Mustafa Shibil was killed in 1856.[4]
Several Turkish Roma families in Bulgaria and those who emigrated to Turkey claim to be descendants of Mustafa Shibil, especially the musician Roma groups in Bulgaria.
The titular character of ShibilbyYordan Yovkov is a fictionalized version of Mustafa Shibil. This story was adapted into a film twice.[5]
Panayot Hitov described him as well built, tall, fair-skinned and broad-shouldered. Mustafa Shibil's other wife was Jenda, also a Bulgarian woman. Mustafa Shibil held the title of Agha and lived like a Sultan in Sliven, with many homes and a big herd of goats. The people around him feared him.[6]
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