In 1371 two feudal lords in Macedonia organised a campaign against the Turks. Serbian brothers Vukashin and Uglesha, respectively the king of Prilep and the despot of Ser, gathered a numerous Christian army aiming to stop the Muslim invaders. Uglesha, whose lands bordered Ottoman territory to the east, realized the threat and unsuccessfully appealed to Serbian and Bulgarian states for help. Ruling over mixed Serbian-Greek-Bulgarian population, the two brothers set off to the east with 20 to 70,000 strong ethnically diverse army. Considerably less numerous troops led by Lala Şahin Pasha attacked the united Balkan forces at night on 26 September as the latter camped by the village of Chernomen in the lower Maritsa valley. The entire army was pushed back and Vukashin and Uglesha perished along with much of their forces.