Karamanlides
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Karamanlides Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony at Malakopi (Cappadocia, now Derinkuyu) ca. 1910
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The Karamanlides (Greek: Καραμανλήδες; Turkish: Karamanlılar), or simply Karamanlis, are a Greek Orthodox, Turkish-speaking people native to the Karaman and Cappadocia regions of Anatolia. Today, a majority of the population live within Greece, though there is a notable diaspora in Western Europe and North America.
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Etymology
Karamanlides is an umbrella term used to describe all Greek Orthodox Christians in Central Anatolia who had adopted Turkish as their primary language. It is derived from the 13th century Beylik of Karamanoğlu. They were the first Turkish kingdom to adopt Turkish as its official language and originally the term would only describe the inhabitants of the town of Karaman or from the region of Karaman. Christians who had undergone forced Turkification would often borrow local Turkish places for their last name. Since there is no significant presence of established Christians in the area, the title is now most often used as a label for the local Muslim inhabitants.
Language
Historically, the Karamanlides adopted and spoke a dialect of the Turkish language. Its vocabulary drew overwhelmingly from Turkic words with only minimal Greek loan words. The language should not be confused with Cappadocian Greek, which was spoken in the same region during the same timeframe, but is derived from the Greek language. It should be noted while their spoken language was Turkish, they employed the Greek alphabet to write it.
Origins
Academic disputes over the origins of the Karamanlides have led to the formation of two major theories. According to the first theory, Karamanlides are the direct descendants of Greek-speaking Byzantines. Despite their linguistic Turkification, they maintained their Greek Orthodox faith. This theory is the most likely as 19th century linguists were able to travel through Karamanli-speaking regions of Cappadocia and document the few remaining Greek words that mostly elderly residents could remember. Hence the process of Turkification was documented. The second theory states that the Karamanlides descended from (religiously converted) Turkish soldiers that Byzantine emperors settled in Anatolia.[1] Nonetheless, in the age of nationalism in the 19th century, most Karamanlides identified with a sense of Greekness as distinct from their fellow Turco-phone neighbours; largely resulting from their adherence to the Greek Orthodox Church.
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Many Karamanlides were forced to leave their homes during the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey. Early estimates placed the number of Orthodox Christians expelled from central and southern Anatolia at around 100,000.[2] However, the Karamanlides were numbered at around 400,000 at the time of the exchange.[3]
Culture
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The distinct culture that developed among the Karamanlides blended elements of Orthodox Christianity with an Ottoman-Turkish flavor that characterized their willingness to accept and immerse themselves in foreign customs. From the 14th to the 19th centuries, they enjoyed an explosion in literary refinement. Karamanli authors were especially productive in philosophy, religious writings, novels, and historical texts. Lyrical poetry in the late 19th century describes their indifference to both Greek and Turkish governments, and the confusion they felt as a Turkish-speaking people with a Greek ethos. This would later manifest itself in their isolation when they were forced out of their homeland and brought to Greece, only to have their language suppressed and identity shattered.
See also
References
- ^ Vryonis, Speros. Studies on Byzantium, Seljuks, and Ottomans: Reprinted Studies. Undena Publications, 1981, ISBN 0890030715, p. 305. "The origins of the Karamanlides have long been disputed, there being two basic theories on the subject. According to one, they are the remnants of the Greek-speaking Byzantine population which, though it remained Orthodox, was linguistically Turkified. The second theory holds that they were originally Turkish soldiers which the Byzantine emperors had settled in Anatolia in large numbers and who retained their language and Christian religion after the Turkish conquests..."
- ^ Blanchard, Raoul. "The Exchange of Populations Between Greece and Turkey." Geographical Review, 15.3 (1925): 449-56.
- ^ Pavlowitch, Stevan K. A History of the Balkans, 1804-1945. Longman, 1999, ISBN 0582045851, p. 36. "The karamanlides were Turkish-speaking Greeks or Turkish-speaking Orthodox Christians who lived mainly in Asia Minor. They numbered some 400,000 at the time of the 1923 exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey."
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