RUMELI (from Rum-eli, the land of Rum or of the
Rhomaioi)
The name of an Ottoman province consisting of
Macedonia, Thrace, Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, and Greece with the exception of its coastline and islands.The first governor (beylerbey) of Rumeli was the tutor (lala) of Murad I, Sahin-Pasa, with his seat at Philippopolis from ca.1362-65.
Between 1370 and 1865 the capital of Rumeli was moved to Sofia.
A.Kazhdan,
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (1991), vol.3, p.1818