I will conduct research at the Basbakanlik Archives in Istanbul and the Bulgarian National Library in Sofia, gathering documentary evidence about the reforms implemented by an Ottoman statesman, Midhat Pasa, during his governorship of the province of the Danube between 1864 and 1868. The province encompassed today's northern Bulgaria and was created in 1864 as a proving ground and showcase of Ottoman Tanzimat reforms. During his tenure in the provincial capital of Ruscuk, Midhat initiated a sweeping modernization program, which touched directly and forcefully the lives of the region's inhabitants. I will examine the social effects of these reforms and their relation to the formation of a Bulgarian national identity.