Voivode Yanko Pasha

Anastas Yankov Dinkov, known as the Macedonian Garibaldi and Yanko Pasha, was a Bulgarian volunteer, officer and revolutionary, a prominent voivode of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee. He was born in the large, culturally active Bulgarian village of Zagorichani in the Kostur district, now Vasiliada, Greece, and was the brother of the Bulgarian public figure Yakov Yankov and of Natanail Yankov. He studied in his native village and later at a Bulgarian school in Constantinople, graduating with distinction in 1875.

He volunteered for the Serbian army during the Serbo-Turkish War in 1876 and received a Serbian decoration after the Battle of Gredetin. During the Russo-Turkish War (1877 – 1878), he enlisted as a volunteer in the 5th Battalion of the Bulgarian Volunteer Corps, where he displayed bravery and received the Cross of Saint George. After the war he served in the Principality of Bulgaria, graduated from the Military School and held various military ranks, including lieutenant colonel and major.

In 1899 he commanded the Shooting Society in Varna, providing military training to its members. In 1901 he was promoted to colonel and left military service, joining the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee. His journey through Macedonia in 1902 drew enormous crowds of Bulgarian supporters.

In 1902, before the Gorna Dzhumaya Uprising, Yankov took regular leave and applied to transfer to the reserve. He participated in the uprising and led a force across the border towards the Lerin and Kostur districts. He caused problems for the revolutionary organisation IMARO, contributing to the success of the Gorna Dzhumaya Uprising. During the Ilinden Uprising he led a detachment of 400 men in the Pirin Mountains and participated in the attack on Belitsa.