According to archeologists, the area of Haskovo was originally settled about seven thousand years ago. In and around Haskovo, evidence has been preserved that confirms its long history during the
prehistoric,
Thracian,
Greek,
Roman, and
Byzantine periods. In the 9th century – during the
First Bulgarian Empire – a fortress was built in Haskovo that soon was transformed into a town. The town was located at the centre of a sizable region between the Klokotnitsa, Harmanliyska, and
Maritsa rivers.
Ottoman era The village and surrounding area became part of the
Ottoman Empire shortly after the conquest of
Edirne in 1361. During the time of
Mehmed the Conqueror, Hasköy, as it was then known, was settled by around 750 people, consisting of 150 Muslim families spread across 12 neighbourhoods: Hacı Mahmud, Îsâ Fakih, Sofular, Saraç İnebey, Saraç Musa, Hacı Kayalı, Cüllâh, Hacı İsmâil, Kadı, Debbâğlar, Hacı Bayezid and Dervişan. The village acquired a largely agricultural character during most of the Ottoman period; there was also a thriving
cottage industry and craftsmen such as saddlers, tanners, shoemakers, furriers and soapmakers, dyers, and chandlers made their home in Hasköy. In 1515 the population increased to 1400 people in 274 households, and in 1530 it was recorded that there was one
Friday mosque (
cami) as well as six smaller mosques in the village. In 1592, the Ottoman
Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha commissioned the building of two caravanserais, two baths, shops, a mosque and an almshouse at the request of the people. According to the Austrian historian and orientalist
Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, Sinan Pasha also inaugurated the nearby Uzuncaova (
Uzundzhovo) fair, which would become famous in all of Ottoman Bulgaria. The town's importance increased in the 19th century. With its markets and fairs Hasköy became a significant centre of commerce in the
Sanjak (District) of
Filibe. At the same time, an increasing number of Bulgarians and other minorities came to settle in the town. By the second half of the century the population had grown to about 6000 people, of whom 3500 were non-Muslims and only 2500 were Turks. In the 1870s Hasköy was a hotbed of revolutionary activity during the
Bulgarian National Revival and subsequent
Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, after which
de facto Ottoman control of the town came to an end.
Modern era Haskovo was part of
Eastern Rumelia from 1878–1885, and was then incorporated into the autonomous
Principality of Bulgaria, which declared full independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1908. It was renamed Haskovo after Bulgarian independence. Currently, the biggest enterprises produce food, machinery, and textiles. == Population ==