Wallachia and Moldavia In the two Danubian Principalities, where Muslims could not purchase property, and Muslim Nogais from the Bujak who were captured in skirmishes counted as slaves (alongside all Roma), Ottoman influence led to a few conversions in the ranks of hospodars: Princes Radu cel Frumos (1462-1475) and Mihnea Turcitul (1577-1591) of Wallachia, and Prince Ilie II Rare_ (1546-1551) of Moldavia. Khotyn, once part of Moldavia, was the birthplace of Alemdar Mustafa Pasha, who was the Ottoman Grand Vizier until 1808. Two more Grand Viziers between 1821 and 1828 came from Bender (a once Moldavian city), as Benderli Pashas.
The pattern of a scarce or seasonal presence of Muslims (Turkish traders, small communities of Muslim Roma)[3] in the two countries can be traced back to the Capitulations (Ottoman Turkish: ahdnâme) agreed in the Middle Ages between the two states and the Ottoman Empire.1 The documents themselves have not been preserved, but their provisions toward Muslim-Christian relations have been assessed by taking in view later policies - Muslim Ottomans could not purchase property on the Principalities' territory, nor could they marry Christians or build mosques.[4] This indicates that the Principalities were regarded by the Ottomans as belonging to the Dâr al ahd' ("Home of Peace"); the Ottoman Empire could not maintain troops or garrisons or build military facilities,[5] although this provision appears to have been discarded during later Phanariote rules and the frequent Russo-Turkish Wars.[6]
Muslims were awarded legal status after 1878, and in 1923 a monument in the shape of a small mosque was built in Bucharest's Carol Park, as sign of reconciliation after World War I.
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