Hajduk Petko Radev

Petko Radev Radulov, called Little Petko, was a Bulgarian hajduk and revolutionary known as a brother-in-arms of Captain Petko Voivode.

He was born around 1842 in Kaledzhidere village in the Gyumyurdzhina region. His father was Radyu and his mother Kera. He was the eldest of eleven children. From an early age, he suffered persecution and harassment by the authorities, prompting him to join the revolutionary movement.

In 1862, after the notable Hadzhi Shenko stole a mule, Petko Radev met Big Petko, who invited him to become a hajduk. They formed a detachment and carried out many successful attacks, becoming legendary in the region.

In January 1863, following one of their attacks, the detachment was ambushed and Petko Radev was wounded and captured with other hajduks. They were transferred to the Kamlakule prison in Thessaloniki, where they organised a successful escape. Subsequently, Radev was imprisoned in Cyprus for fifteen years before being released after Bulgaria's Liberation.

After his release, Little Petko returned to the Aegean region and hired himself out as leader of groups pursuing bandits. After several years in his native region, he moved to Plovdiv, where Stambolov's police sought him as a 'bandit'. His final years and place of death remain unknown.

According to the Rhodope researcher Stoyu Shishkov, Radev was a patriot and benefactor of the poor, possessing fighting qualities similar to Big Petko's.