Eastern Rumelia or Eastern Roumelia was an autonomous province (vilayet) in the Ottoman Empire from 1878 to 1908; however, it was under Bulgarian control beginning in 1885 (see Bulgarian unification). The province is remembered today by philatelists for having issued postage stamps from 1881 on, although a postcard was issued locally for internal use in 1880. * Stamp overprinted with the image of the Bulgarian lion * Stamp overprinted with the image of the Bulgarian lion