During Ottoman rule, part of the land that forms Trastikovo was owned by a Sultana, the wife of a Circassian

Circassian

A mainly Sunni Muslim person of the north-western Caucasus.

leader. The land consisting of 32,000 dunam

Dunam

Dunam is a measure of land area used in parts of the former Turkish empire, including Israel (where it is equal to about 900 square metres).

(3200 hectares) was inherited by their son and Riza Bey.

The land was later sold to a Circassian

Circassian

A mainly Sunni Muslim person of the north-western Caucasus.

from Karnobat known as Ismail Bey whom at some point decided to sell the land on. He sold half of the land to the Circassians

Circassians

A group of mainly Sunni Muslim peoples of the north-western Caucasus.

from Sazlaköy which was located in the Yurutluka area, around 1km away and already had around 100 houses. Later the other 1600 hectares of the land would be the very beginning of Trastikovo.

Bulgarian Todor Penchev, a native coming from a village named Kulchular, suspected of being a revolutionary in the Stara Zagora region, attempting to evade Turkish authorities moved to the village Topuzlare, current day Zornitsa, however he was discovered and fled. Todor Penchev begun seeking help from the French consul in Burgas to flee the country, where he met Ismail Bey, who offered to sell him his remaining 1600 hectares of land near the village Sazlaköy (present day Trastikovo), he refused and with the help of the consul, he fled to Russia.

Soon after, Penchev became homesick and disappointed so returned back to Bulgaria. Within the limits of the Turkish empire, he was captured under the suspicion of being a dangerous Moscovite

Moscovite

Muscovite (person from Moscow; used of both genders)

During transportation to Constantinople, fortunately on the road, he was met with Ismail Bey, Bey recognised Penchev and advocated for his release, guaranteeing him. After being released, Bey offered again to sell his land to Penchev, this time he committed to the purchase of the land.

Now begun Penchev's quest to build a settlement, he travelled by horse and toured many villages through Haskovo, Star Zagora and Elhovsko, he managed in the beginning to convince 35 families to re-locate to his settlement. They sold their modest properties and followed Todor Penchev. The families Demirev, Mihov, Angelov, Dachev, Banev, Kumanov, Gochev, Kostov, Statev, Kaluchev, Prodanov, Penchev were among some of those that followed Todor.

In 1868, they settled on the land he had earlier purchased near the Circassian

Circassian

A mainly Sunni Muslim person of the north-western Caucasus.

village and adopted its name Sazlaköy to prevent a ban by the Turkish authorities. Later, more families, such as the relatives of relocated families joined them. The first school was opened in 1874, housed in a small cottage.

From April to May 1876, the Bulgarian rebels whom had been planning an uprising since November 1875 rose up and rebelled against the Ottoman empire to fight for their country and freedom. The Ottoman army brutally suppressed the rebels during which time US journalist Januarius MacGahan, working for the British press made known to the world the atrocities that were committed to the Bulgarian people. Later this led to Russia declaring war on the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

On the 24th of April 1877 the Eastern Orthodox coalition led by the Russian Empire invaded Bulgaria to fight the Turkish empire, this came to be known as Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, known in Bulgaria as the Liberation War. During the war, the Circassians

Circassians

A group of mainly Sunni Muslim peoples of the north-western Caucasus.

from Sazlaköy fled to Asia Minor.

After the liberation of Bulgaria, Sazlaköy became part of the Rusokastro municipality.

In 1882, the Circassians

Circassians

A group of mainly Sunni Muslim peoples of the north-western Caucasus.

sent Hack Bey, a proxy back to Bulgaria to sell their properties and so the 1600 hectares became 3200. In the same year using their own funds and manual labour, they built a new building having 4 rooms for the school. The building later served as a town hall and community centre. On November 8th a small church named "St. Dimitar" finished construction near the town hall and it was decided the date would be known as a village holiday, which became tradition.

Sazlaköy became an independent municipality in 1910, and during The First Balkan War from October 1912 to May 1913, many refugees came from Lozengrad (current day Kırklareli) to reside in Sazlaköy, significantly expanding the village.

Local teachers, Hristo Todorov (son of Todor Penchev)

Surname

During this period, Bulgarians did not adopt the surname of their father, but instead, the surname becomes "of" the first name of their father. This could be simplified as so: Hristo of Todor = Hristo Todorov.

and Stefan Grumov made great contributions to the education of the villagers.

The Council of Ministers in 1932 came to a decision that all villages with a Turkish name should be renamed, and by the same year a translation of Sazlaköy was made, and so they adopted the name Trastikovo.