Voivode Dimitar Kalachliyata

Dimitar Kalachliyata, also known as Dimitar Stoyanov Kotev, was a Bulgarian voivode and hajduk born in Torlak Mahle (present-day Zagortsi) in the Nova Zagora region. He was active as a hajduk during the 1840s and 1850s. His detachment operated for more than 12 years in various regions of Bulgaria, with its principal bases in the Sliven and Kotel Balkan Mountains and the Bakadzhitsi Hills. The Turks offered a special reward for his head.

Initially a member of Boycho Voivode’s detachment, he later became voivode of his own group, which was joined by other well-known hajduks, including Peyo Buyukliyata, Zhelyu Chernev and Georgi Trankin. Kalachliyata often visited his friend and associate Peyo Buyukliyata at the hajduk hideout near Batovo Kuyudzhuk (present-day Debrene in the Dobrich region), where they jointly attacked Turkish caravans travelling towards Constantinople.

During the Crimean War (1853–1856), he assisted Russian troops in north-eastern Bulgaria. After the war, Zeynil Pasha was appointed district governor of Sliven and sent 500 regular soldiers to arrest him. Kalachliyata sent him a message urging the soldiers to rebel because their pay was insufficient for the work they did.

The local population submitted a complaint against the brigands to the sultan in Constantinople. This brought a senior Turkish official to the region, who successfully dealt with the problem. Kalachliyata was captured and hanged in Ruse in early 1861.

Kalachliyata had two daughters, one of whom was named Maria Stoyanova Kalachlieva. She died in Kermen in 1939. He raised his nephew, Mincho Stoyanov Parushev (Kovachev). He had three grandchildren: Velka, Maria and Stoyan. Velka died before marrying, while Maria and Stoyan had Kiril, Mincho and Dimitar respectively—the great-great-grandchildren of Dimitar Kalachliyata.