The Pomaks are a people of uncertain origin presently living in the Rhodope Mountains in Thrace in southern Bulgaria, northeastern Greece, and northwestern Turkey. The name Pomak is applied to them generally; in Bulgaria they are called Bulgarian Muslims or Bulgarian Muhammadans. They have the status of a religious Muslim minority in Bulgaria and Greece. one Pomak native name is Achrjani.
ORIGINS
The origins of the Pomaks are the subject of dispute based on nationalistic views. A number of different peoples have probably intermingled with the Pomaks over the centuries, and Slavs, Greeks, and Turkics are probably all among their ancestors, as well as other groups, such as the Thracians, from ancient times. Modern Bulgarians consider them slavic in origin. A theory put forth by modern Greeks is that at least some among them are descendants of Thracians, in particular a tribe known as Agrianes (or Agrianoi) of the Rhodopes, who were over the centuries Hellenized, Latinized, slavized, Christianized, and islamized. some modern Turks have hypothesized that the Pomaks are descendants of Turkic-speaking peoples, such as
Cumans, Pechenegs, or Avars (the Avars being Turkic or Mongolic), who took refuge in the mountains from the Ottoman Turks.
The various theories relating to the etymology of the name Pomarks attest to the broader dispute over origins. According to the Greek, Pomak is derived from pomax, for “drinker,” used to described the Thracian tradition of drinking. According to the Bulgarians it is from either the Turkish term pomagach for “helper,” reflecting the social position of Pomaks in the Ottoman period or an alleged Pomak collaboration with the Ottoman government in order to maintain land rights; from the Bulgarian Pomocha-medanci for “islamized”; or from the phrase po mdka, meaning “by pain of death,” in reference to the forced conversion from Christianity to Islam of the Pomaks under the threat of death by Ottoman Turks. The alternate name Achrjani may be from the Old Bulgarian Aagarjani, meaning “infidels,” or from the name of the ancient Thracian tribe the Agrianes.
LANGUAGE
The Pomak language, known as Pomakika (or Pomakci), is a variant of Bulgarian, a Southern slavic tongue related to Macedonian, with many Greek and Turkic borrowings. Because Pomak does not have a standard written form, various alphabets have been used to record it, including Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek, and Latin. Pomak religious services are held in Arabic. Many modern Pomaks are multilingual, speaking some Arabic, Greek, and Turkic as well as their native tongue, which is still prevalent in mountain villages but in decline among young people.
HISTORY
Part of the Ottoman Empire
Because the origins of the Pomaks are uncertain, it is not known when they settled in the Rhodope Mountains. As a result known Pomak history is tied in with histories of the nations where they live and the shifting boundaries of their homeland. In 1876 there occurred an uprising against Ottoman Turkish rule by the Bulgarians. some Pomaks aided in the suppression by the Turks, perhaps participating in a massacre of Bulgarians in the mountain village of Batak (leading to the theory that their name means infidels and helpers).
The Pomaks were forced to honor international agreements and boundaries created after the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the First Balkan War of 1912-13 and the Second Balkan War of 1913. In 1913 after the retreat of Ottoman and Bulgarian troops the Pomaks again attempted to create an autonomous region, the Republic of Gumuldjina (Komo-tini), in Thrace. During this period some Pomaks who had been forcibly Christianized by Bulgarians resumed the practice of their Muslim religion. After World War I (1914-18) Pomaks in Bulgaria continued to seek autonomy and freedom of religion.
By the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 western Thrace was incorporated into Greece (now part of the administrative region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace), and eastern Thrace became part of Turkey. The treaty called for an exchange of population between Greece and Turkey, with Muslims of Greece to resettle in Turkey, and Christians of Turkey to resettle in Greece. There were two exceptions, however: Muslims could stay in Thrace, and Greeks in Istanbul and on certain Aegean islands. At that time Pomaks and other Muslims of Thrace were granted official minority status, with the right to education in their own language and to religious freedom. The departments of Evros, Rhodope, and Xanthi in western Thrace have the greatest number of Greek Pomaks. Yet after the treaty other Pomaks living in parts of Greece other than Thrace resettled in Turkey
During World War II (1939-45) and after Bulgaria had become part of the Communist bloc in 1946 Bulgarian officials attempted a new round of Bulgarization among Bulgarian Pomaks. Bulgaria also instituted the izselvane (resettlement) program, relocating Pomaks from southern border regions. As a result small pockets of Pomak populations can be found today in the Balkan Mountains and other regions. During the Communist era in Bulgaria the Pomaks were not allowed to travel freely across international borders. In Bulgaria Pomaks lived in a military “restricted zone,” requiring special permission for access. Campaigns to force the changing of Muslim names to Slavic names were carried out. Those who refused risked death or imprisonment.
Some Bulgarian Pomaks were sympathetic to the Communist cause, which led to distrust in Bulgaria of its own Pomak population as Communist. During the cold war Greek officials also blocked border crossings. They also implemented a policy to encourage Pomak ties to Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally, as opposed to Bulgaria, leading to a Turkish national identity among the Greek Pomaks.
Greek and Turkish Issues Over the years, however, with growing tensions between Greece and Turkey over border issues, discrimination against the perceived Turkish Pomaks arose among the Greek population. In 1951 Greek Pomaks were granted the right to attend either Greek-language or Turkish-language schools (because Pomak is a language without an established written form, there are no Pomak-language schools). Rroma attend some of the same schools as Pomaks.
Since 1995 border crossings between Bulgaria and Greece have been allowed and the restricted zone has been abolished. Turkey, which experienced a mass immigration of Pomaks and other Muslims on opening its borders in 1989, closed them again because of difficulties in supporting the great influx of people. Even in Turkey although they are Islamic, as are the majority of the population, the Pomaks sometimes face discrimination as outsiders. (5ee Bulgarians: nationality; Greeks: nationality; Turks: nationality.)
The Pomaks live in small villages typically as seminomadic farmers—potatoes and tobacco are the main crops—and shepherds. Many women still wear multicolored garments. Much of the social life revolves around the mosque. As in earlier times Pomaks cross borders to visit family members and to graze animals. Some traditional festivals are held.
In 2000 some 287,000 Pomaks lived in Bulgaria, and about 39,000 in Greece. The number in Turkey is more difficult to determine; it is estimated that as many as a million Bulgarian Muslims now live in Turkey, a great number of them Pomaks. Living in three different countries and having undergone attempts at forced assimilation, as well as ongoing attempts at Christianizing by evangelical missionaries, and with young people less likely to use the native tongue, the Pomaks risk losing their political and cultural identity
Further Reading
Paulos Chidiroglou. The Greek Pomaks and Their Relation with Turkey (Athens: Proskinio Editions, 1991).
Robert D. Kaplan. Balkan Ghosts: A Journey through History (New York: Random House, 1994).
World History
