The interior of the region fell to the Ottoman Turks shortly after 1369 and the coastal towns were conquered in 1453. Under Ottoman rule, many villages provided auxiliaries to the Ottoman army or had to protect the mountain passes and therefore enjoyed a more favourable status — they paid no taxes and the men had the right to bear arms. There were 17 privileged villages in the territory of the modern park where Muslims were not allowed to settle. During the time of internal disorder in the Ottoman Empire in 1785-1810, brigand bands wreaked havoc in Strandzha resulting in the migration of thousands of people. Another massive migration wave followed the Russo-Turkish War (1828-29) and many Bulgarians settled in the southern areas of the Russian Empire. After the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, Strandzha remained outside the borders of the reborn state. In July 1903 in the historic area Petrova Niva the delegates of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO) discussed the outbreak of an anti-Ottoman rebellion. The Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising broke out in Strandzha and Macedonia in August 1903 and lasted for about twenty days before being suppressed by the Turks who committed great atrocities to the local population. Over 60 villages were burned down and thousands were massacred. Strandzha was liberated during the First Balkan War (1912-1913) and formally joined Bulgaria after the Second Balkan War in 1913.