Slavery in Bulgaria

Slavery in Bulgaria refer to the history of slavery in the area that was later to form the nation of Bulgaria.

In Ancient Bulgaria, the institution of slavery in the area was a part of the history of slavery in the Roman Empire. During the early middle ages, Bulgaria was subjected to the laws of the Byzantine Empire. During the later part of the middle ages, Bulgaria was independent and regulated slavery by its own laws.

During the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans, Bulgaria became a religious and political border zone between Christian Europe and the Islamic Ottoman Empire, and as a consequence the Bulgarians was termed as infidels kafir of Dar al-Harb and vulnerable to Ottoman slave raids and slave trading. During the Ottoman era, slavery was legal in accordance to Islamic law. As a non-Muslim province, Bulgaria was also subjected to the blood tax of tributary slaves to the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman era in Bulgaria ended in 1878, after which Ottoman law was no longer applicable.