Vallahades

The Vallahades or Valaades (Βαλαάδες) were a Greek-speaking, Muslim population who lived along the river Bistritsa in southwest Macedonia, in and around Anaselitsa and Grevena. They numbered about 12,000. [Haslett, 1927]

History and culture

Initially Orthodox Christian, the Vallahades converted to Islam in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Their culture, however, did not differ much from that of Christian Greeks. They were wealthy and industrious, which is why their prospective inclusion in the population exchange between Greece and Turkey was opposed by the governor of Kozani. The Vallahades spoke Greek natively and acknowledged their Christian ancestry rendering possibility for their ultimate assimilation. Nevertheless, the pressure from the local military, the press, and the incoming Greek Orthodox refugees from Anatolia left no chance for the exemption of the Vallahades (who were seen by these groups as 'Turks in soul') from the population exchange. The Vallahades themselves seemed to be willing to move to Anatolia, which took place in 1923. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=rsa9Ek7HfMEC&pg=PA199&dq=greek-speaking-muslims&lr=&sig=ACfU3U0dWAyu_bc15jb67VInpp0Sh9dZeg#PPA199,M1 Population Exchange in Greek Macedonia] by Elisabeth Kontogiorgi. Published 2006. Oxford University Press; p.199] They have continued to speak Greek, though they have taken a Turkish identity. [Andrews, 1989, p. 103; Friedman]

Even after their deportation, they continued to celebrate New Year's Day with a Vasilopita, generally considered to be a Christian custom associated with Saint Basil, but they have renamed it a cabbage/greens/leek cake and do not leave a piece for the saint. [Hasluck, 1927]

The name Vallaades comes from the Turco-Muslim expression "vallah" 'by God!'. Though some Western travellers speculated that 'Vallaades' is connected to the ethnonym 'Vlach', [Gustav Weigand, Alan Wace, and Maurice Thompson] this is improbable, as the Vlachs did not speak Greek until the 20th century, and the Vallahades are Greek-speaking with no detectable Vlach influences. [email from researcher Souli Tsetlaka to Stavros Macrakis, Jul 2, 2007]

ee also

*Greek Muslims

Notes

References

* Peter Alford Andrews, Rüdiger Benninghaus, eds. "Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey" Wiesbaden: Reichert, 1989. (cited by Friedman, not seen)
* Frederick de Jong, "The Greek Speaking Muslims of Macedonia: Reflections on Conversion and Ethnicity", pp. 141-148 "in" Hendrik Boeschoten, ed., "De Turcicis Aliisque Rebus: Commentarii Henry Hofman dedicati" Utrecht: Institut voor Oosterse Talen en Culturen, 1992. (cited by Friedman, not seen)
* Victor A. Friedman, "The Vlah Minority in Macedonia: Language, Identity, Dialectology, and Standardization", pp. 26-50 in Juhani Nuoluoto, Martii Leiwo, Jussi Halla-aho, eds., "University of Chicago Selected Papers in Slavic, Balkan, and Balkan Studies" ("Slavica Helsingiensa" 21). Helsinki: University of Helsinki. 2001. [http://www.farsarotul.org/The%20Vlah%20Minority%20in%20Macedonia.pdf full text]
* Margaret M. Hasluck, "The Basil-Cake of the Greek New Year", "Folklore" 38:2:143 (June 30, 1927) [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0015-587X%2819270630%2938%3A2%3C143%3ATBOTGN%3E2.0.CO%3B2-F JSTOR]