Page:EB1911 - Volume 17.djvu/233

Rh religion, and Greek alone was taught in the schools. The supremacy of the patriarchate was consummated by the suppression of the autocephalous Slavonic churches of Ipek in 1766 and Ochrida in 1767. In the latter half of the 18th century Greek ascendancy in Macedonia was at its zenith; its decline began with the War of Independence, the establishment of the Hellenic kingdom, and the extinction of the Phanariot power in Constantinople. The patriarchate, nevertheless, maintained its exclusive jurisdiction over all the Orthodox population till 1870, when the Bulgarian exarchate was established, and the Greek clergy continued to labour with undiminished zeal for the spread of Hellenism. Notwithstanding their venality and intolerance, their merits as the only diffusers of culture and enlightenment in the past should not be overlooked. The process of hellenization made greater progress in the towns than in the rural districts of the interior, where the non-Hellenic populations preserved their languages, which alone saved the several nationalities from extinction. The typical Greek, with his superior education, his love of politics and commerce, and his distaste for laborious occupations, has always been a dweller in cities. In Salonica, Serres, Kavala, Castoria, and other towns in southern Macedonia the Hellenic element is strong; in the northern towns it is insignificant, except at Melnik, which is almost exclusively Greek. The Greek rural population extends from the Thessalian frontier to Castoria and Verria (Beroea); it occupies the whole Chalcidian peninsula and both banks of the lower Strymon from Serres to the sea, and from Nigrita on the west to Pravishta on the east; there are also numerous Greek villages in the Kavala district. The Mahommedan Greeks, known as Valachides, occupy a considerable tract in the upper Bistritza valley near Grevena and Liapsista. The purely Greek population of Macedonia may possibly be estimated at a quarter of a million. The Vlachs, or Rumans, who call themselves Aromuni or Aromâni (i.e. Romans), are also known as Kutzovlachs and Tzintzars: the last two appellations are, in fact, nicknames, “Kutzovlach” meaning “lame Vlach,” while “Tzintzar” denotes their inability to pronounce the Rumanian cincĭ (five). The Vlachs are styled by some writers “Macedo-Rumans,” in contradistinction to the “Daco-Rumans,” who inhabit the country north of the Danube. They are, in all probability, the descendants of the Thracian branch of the aboriginal Thraco-Illyrian population of the Balkan Peninsula, the Illyrians being represented by the Albanians. This early native population, which was apparently hellenized to some extent under the Macedonian empire, seems to have been latinized in the period succeeding the Roman conquest, and probably received a considerable infusion of Italian blood. The Vlachs are for the most part either highland shepherds or wandering owners of horses and mules. Their settlements are scattered all over the mountains of Macedonia: some of these consist of permanent dwellings, others of huts occupied only in the summer. The compactest groups are found in the Pindus and Agrapha mountains (extending into Albania and Thessaly), in the neighbourhood of Monastir, Grevena and Castoria, and in the district of Meglen. The Vlachs who settle in the lowland districts are excellent husbandmen. The urban population is considerable; the Vlachs of Salonica, Monastir, Serres and other large towns are, for the most part, descended from refugees from Moschopolis, once the principal centre of Macedonian commerce. The towns of Metzovo, on the confines of Albania, and Klisura, in the Bistritza valley, are almost exclusively Vlach. The urban and most of the rural Vlachs are bilingual, speaking Greek as well as Rumanian; a great number of the former have been completely hellenized, partly in consequence of mixed marriages, and many of the wealthiest commercial families of Vlach origin are now devoted to the Greek cause. The Vlachs of Macedonia possibly number 90,000, of whom only some 3000 are Mahommedans. The Macedonian dialect of the Rumanian language differs mainly from that spoken north of the Danube in its vocabulary and certain phonetic peculiarities; it contains a number of Greek words which are often replaced in the northern speech by Slavonic or Latin synonyms.

The Albanians, called by the Turks and Slavs Arnauts, by the Greeks, and by themselves Shkyipetar, have always been the scourge of western Macedonia. After the first Turkish invasion of Albania many of the chiefs or beys adopted Mahommedanism, but the conversion

of the great bulk of the people took place in the 16th and 17th centuries. Professing the creed of the dominant power and entitled to bear arms, the Albanians were enabled to push forward their limits at the expense of the defenceless population around them, and their encroachments have continued to the present day. They have not only advanced themselves, but have driven to the eastward numbers of their Christian compatriots and a great portion of the once-prosperous Vlach population of Albania. Albanian revolts and disturbances have been frequent along the western confines of Macedonia, especially in the neighbourhood of Dibra: the Slavonic peasants have been the principal sufferers from these troubles, while the Porte, in pursuance of the “Islamic policy” adopted by the sultan Abdul Hamid II., dealt tenderly with the recalcitrant believers. In southern Macedonia the Albanians of the Tosk race extend over the upper Bistritza valley as far west as Castoria, and reach the southern and western shores of Lakes Prespa and Ochrida: they are also numerous in the neighbourhood of Monastir. In northern Macedonia the Albanians are of the Gheg stock: they have advanced in large numbers over the districts of Dibra, Kalkandelen and Usküb, driving the Slavonic population before them. The total number of Albanians in Macedonia may be estimated at about 120,000, of whom some 10,000 are Christians (chiefly orthodox Tosks). The Circassians, who occupy some villages in the neighbourhood of Serres, now scarcely number 3000: their predatory instincts may be compared with those of the Albanians. The Jews had colonies in Macedonia in the time of St Paul, but no trace remains of these early settlements. The Jews now found in the country descend from refugees who fled from Spain during the persecutions at the end of the 15th century: they speak a dialect of Spanish, which they write with Hebrew characters. They form a flourishing community at Salonica, which numbers more than half the population: their colonies at Monastir, Serres and other towns are poor. A small proportion of the Jews, known as Deunmé by the Turks, have embraced Mahommedanism.

With the exception of the southern and western districts already specified, the principal towns, and certain isolated tracts, the whole of Macedonia is inhabited by a race or races speaking a Slavonic dialect. If language is adopted as a test, the great bulk of the rural population

must be described as Slavonic. The Slavs first crossed the Danube at the beginning of the 3rd century, but their great immigration took place in the 6th and 7th centuries. They overran the entire peninsula, driving the Greeks to the shores of the Aegean, the Albanians into the Mirdite country, and the latinized population of Macedonia into the highland districts, such as Pindus, Agrapha and Olympus. The Slavs, a primitive agricultural and pastoral people, were often unsuccessful in their attacks on the fortified towns, which remained centres of Hellenism. In the outlying parts of the peninsula they were absorbed, or eventually driven back, by the original populations, but in the central region they probably assimilated a considerable proportion of the latinized races. The western portions of the peninsula were occupied by Serb and Slovene tribes: the Slavs of the eastern and central portions were conquered at the end of the 7th century by the Bulgarians, a Ugro-Finnish horde, who established a despotic political organization, but being less numerous than the subjected race were eventually absorbed by it. The Mongolian physical type, which prevails in the districts between the Balkans and the Danube, is also found in central Macedonia, and may be recognized as far west as Ochrida and Dibra. In general, however, the Macedonian Slavs differ somewhat both in appearance and character from their neighbours beyond the Bulgarian and Servian frontiers: the peculiar type which they present is probably due to a considerable admixture of Vlach, Hellenic, Albanian and Turkish blood, and to the influence of the surrounding races. Almost all independent authorities,