Revolutionary Ivan Naumov-Alyabaka

Ivan Naumov, known by the nicknames Orovchanov and Alyabaka, was a Bulgarian revolutionary and voivode of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organisation who fought for the freedom of the Bulgarians in Macedonia and Thrace.

Born into a poor Bulgarian family in the village of Oraovets in the Veles district, Ivan Naumov, called Orovchanov, had a younger brother, Pavel Naumov, who was also an IMARO activist. Lacking the means for an education, he went to seek work in Thessaloniki, where he encountered IMARO's ideas and joined the organisation around 1900, recruited by Mihail Apostolov, called Popeto. He worked as a grocer in Drama and Kavala.

Known for his tall stature, broad shoulders and strong physique, Ivan Naumov, or Alyabaka, acquired his nickname because of his Moor-like appearance. He was characterised by an eagle-like gaze, a warrior spirit, courage and faith in the cause, which elevated him in the eyes of comrades and opponents alike. In battles against both the Turks and the Serbian propaganda movement, he displayed extraordinary courage, leading his fighters forward.

In 1902 he killed a Turk and fled to Sofia, then returned as a detachment fighter in the Adrianople and Pashmakli regions. From early 1903 he was an organisational voivode in the Krushevo district. During the Ilinden Uprising he led one of the units that helped set fire to the gendarmerie barracks in Krushevo.

After the uprising he withdrew to Bulgaria but entered Macedonia again with a detachment, where he encountered disagreements within IMARO. During various battles and conflicts against Turkish and Serbian troops, he led his detachments in different regions of Macedonia.

In 1907 Alyabaka was military leader of one of the organisation's largest detachments, consisting of sixty men, most of them Bulgarian soldiers. He participated in the battles of Nozhot and the Popadiya Hills alongside other detachments from Bulgaria.

Despite his exploits, in August 1907 Alyabaka was killed during a clash with Turkish troops while returning from IMARO's Bitola Revolutionary District congress in the Prostranska Mountains. Villagers buried him in the local church in the village of Belitsa.