(Ottoman Turkish orthography, ), the modem city of Pleven in northern Bulgaria. It is situated at an altitude of 105 m/336 ft in a depression of the Pleven plateau which is formed by the small river Tučenica, a tributary of the river Vit, which passes the city 6 km/3½ miles to its west. The important road and railway from Sofia to Bucarest and the Black Sea port of Varna passes through this town. In Ottoman times (1393-1878) it was a centre of Islamic life, with many mosques and some important medreses , and was the centre of a ḳaḍāʾ containing 46 villages. Throughout most of the Ottoman per…