Mijaks
Encyclopedia
Mijaks are an ethnographic group of ethnic Macedonians
who live in the so-called Mijačija area (Dolna Reka), along the Radika
river, in western Macedonia
, numbering 30,000-60,000 people. The Mijaks are predominantly working with animal husbandry
, and are known for their ecclesiastical architecture, woodworking
, icon painting
, and other rich traditions, as well as their characteristic Galičnik dialect
of the Macedonian language
.
The Mijaks have traditionally occupied the Reka region along with the Torbeš, another sub-group of Macedonians. The area including the Bistra mountain and Radika region
has been termed "Mijačija" . The region borders the Brsjak region to the west, also an ethnographic area.
The most well known Mijak villages are Galičnik
and Lazaropole
. Other major Mijak villages are Selce
, Tresonče
, Rosoki, Sušica
, Gari and Osoj. However the majoriy of these villages are uninhabitated as the majority of the inhabitants left during the 20th century. Large Mijak concentrations can still be found in certain villages around Debar
and Bitola
. The villages Oreše, Paparadište and Melnica in the Tito Veles
region were populated by Mijaci during the Turkish occupation of Macedonia. The village of Smilevo
, in the Bitola region, is also considered to be a Mijak village, in regards to its architecture and history. The north-western quarter of Kruševo
was populated by Mijaks.
Many villages in Mijačija are now uninhabited due to population shift towards the cities.
is unclear. Slavs were known as having conquered most of Macedonia in the 6th century, their territory was conquered before 785, when Constantine VI holds the Sclaviniae of Macedonia (Sclavenias penes Macedoniam). Eventually their nomadic lifestyle transformed into an agriculturally and industrial based one. Their area of settlement roughly corresponds with the Reka regions and along the river Radika.
A proportion of Mijaks converted to Islam during the 16th and 17th centuries, and they are known by the name Torbeši. In the first half of the 19th century, a notable part were Albanianized, and also, the Islamized population of Galicnik was re-christianized in 1843.
In 1822, an unpublished lexiographical work by Panajot Ginovski, "Mijački rečnik po našem govoru", was written, containing 20 000 words.
After the Treaty of San Stefano
(March 3, 1878), the Debar county, along with 11 other counties of Slavic Macedonia, sent deputies and appeals to Prince Milan of Serbia (r. 1868-1889), asking him to annex the region to Serbia. This was made after the Principality of Bulgaria
received most of the Macedonia region by the Ottoman Empire
, and the earlier establishment and expansion of the Bulgarian Exarchate
(February 28, 1870; in 1874, Skopje and Ohrid voted in favour of the Exarchate).
During the Ilinden
uprising in Kruševo
(August 2-3, 1903), a known Mijak involved was Veljo Pecan.
Mijaks had mastered the craft of woodcarving, and for many years a wood carving school operated in the Mala Reka region. They were responsible for the intricate wood carving which is found inside the Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery
, which is considered to the be best in Republic of Macedonia.
The Galičnik Wedding Festival (Галичка свадба) is the name of a traditional wedding and its characteristic ceremony, which is annually held on Petrovden (St. Peter feast day, 12 July), in which a couple is chosen to receive the wedding and be shown on national television. The Teškoto
oro
(lit. "the hard one"), a shepherd
folk dance of the Mijaks, is one of the national dances of the Republic of Macedonia.
Some Mijaks believe that Skanderbeg
, the Albanian military commander, hails from Mijačija.
construct Kruševo
into a large prosperous beautiful city in the 18th century. Apart from some masons from the Kriva Palanka
region, they were the most proficient in all of Macedonia and the Balkans. The Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery
is built in the Mijak style.
and Reka dialect
. It has however been suggested that they were originally Aromanian speakers
(Vlachs) who assimilated into the South-Slavic Macedonian society. Macedonian historians are still uncertain as to whether the Mijaks did change from Aromanian to Slav speaking. This theory still needs more research relating to the Mijaks tribes. Typical characteristics of the "Mijački govor" , Mijak Speech, include:
, writing in 1922, the Mijaks had preserved a Serb consciousness; the older generation knew of the Battle of Kosovo (1389) and Tsar Lazar
, and still had the Serbian feast days and sung the epic poetry regarding that time
. However, due to heavy Bulgarisation (Bulgarian Exarchate
, etc) the songs are rarely sung as in earlier times. The Mijaks are very known to Prince Marko
, who according to them was "born in Legen-grad" (of which ruins exist above the Torbeš village of Prisojnica). From the same place, they say, a "Vojvoda Damjan" went and fought at Kosovo. Also, they have songs regarding the founding of the Hilandar
monastery on Mount Athos
. Every family has the slava
(служба, veneration of protecting family saint). The center of spiritual life is in the Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery
, of which interior is related to the Serbian history (in an ethnic designation, Serb): there is a very old memorial, describing its history, which only speaks of the rulers of the Nemanjić dynasty and the Serbian archbishops. Also, the external frescoes depict only Serbian rulers until the Battle of Kosovo, painted by a peasant from Lazaropole
. The history of the monastery, and the Mijaks themselves, shows that they were always striving for independence. They constantly opposed the use of Greek as liturgical language in the churches, and when the Bulgarian Exarchate was imposed in the region, the Mijak monks maintained complete ecclesiastical freedom, and kept all old Serbian monuments of the St. John's monastery.
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...
who live in the so-called Mijačija area (Dolna Reka), along the Radika
Radika
The Radika is a river in southern Kosovo and western Macedonia, a -long right tributary to the Black Drin river....
river, in western Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
, numbering 30,000-60,000 people. The Mijaks are predominantly working with animal husbandry
Animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.- History :Animal husbandry has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....
, and are known for their ecclesiastical architecture, woodworking
Woodworking
Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...
, icon painting
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
, and other rich traditions, as well as their characteristic Galičnik dialect
Galicnik dialect
The Galičnik dialect or Mala Reka dialect is a member of the subgroup of western and north western dialects of the western group of dialects of the Macedonian language. The dialect is spoken on small territory on the mountain Bistra in western part of the Republic of Macedonia. The name of the...
of the Macedonian language
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
.
Settlements
Radika
The Radika is a river in southern Kosovo and western Macedonia, a -long right tributary to the Black Drin river....
has been termed "Mijačija" . The region borders the Brsjak region to the west, also an ethnographic area.
The most well known Mijak villages are Galičnik
Galicnik
Galičnik is a mountain village in the Republic of Macedonia and along with Lazaropole is one of the two biggest and oldest Mijak villages in the region. Galičnik has well preserved traditional architecture, including an amphitheater in the village square and is famous for its surrounding...
and Lazaropole
Lazaropole
Lazaropole is a settlement in the Republic of Macedonia. Situated on a plateau at Mount Bistra and surrounded by beech and oak forest; at 1,350 m altitude, it is one of the highest settlements in the country....
. Other major Mijak villages are Selce
Selce
Selce is the name of:* Selce, Banská Bystrica District, a municipality of the Banská Bystrica District, in Slovakia* Selce, Krupina District, a municipality of the Krupina District, in Slovakia...
, Tresonče
Tresonce
Tresonče is a village located in the Western Balkans in Macedonia, part of the Mavrovo and Rostuša Municipality. It is a mountain village populated by Macedonian Orthodox Christians.- History :...
, Rosoki, Sušica
Sušica
-Populated places:*Şuşiţa, a village in Romania*Sušica, the name of several villages in Macedonia*Sušica, a village near Kruševac, Serbia*Sušica, a village near Sjenica, Serbia*Sušica, a village in the municipality of Valjevo, Kolubara District, Serbia...
, Gari and Osoj. However the majoriy of these villages are uninhabitated as the majority of the inhabitants left during the 20th century. Large Mijak concentrations can still be found in certain villages around Debar
Debar
Debar is a city in the western part of the Republic of Macedonia, near the border with Albania, on the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality.-Geography:...
and Bitola
Bitola
Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The city is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba and Nidže mountains, 14 km north of the...
. The villages Oreše, Paparadište and Melnica in the Tito Veles
Veles (city)
Veles is a city in the center of the Republic of Macedonia on the Vardar river. The city of Veles is the seat of Veles Municipality.-Name:The city's name was Vylosa in Ancient Greek and before the Balkan Wars, it was a township with the name Köprülü in the Üsküp sandjak, Ottoman empire for 600...
region were populated by Mijaci during the Turkish occupation of Macedonia. The village of Smilevo
Smilevo
Smilevo is a village in the Republic of Macedonia, municipality of Demir Hisar.It is famous for the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising which started in the village in the morning of August 2, 1903...
, in the Bitola region, is also considered to be a Mijak village, in regards to its architecture and history. The north-western quarter of Kruševo
Kruševo
Kruševo also spelled Krushevo, is a town in the Republic of Macedonia. It is the highest town in Macedonia, situated at an altitude of over 4,000 feet above sea level. The town of Kruševo is the seat of Kruševo Municipality.-History:...
was populated by Mijaks.
Many villages in Mijačija are now uninhabited due to population shift towards the cities.
History
Their ethnonymEthnonym
An ethnonym is the name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms and autonyms or endonyms .As an example, the ethnonym for...
is unclear. Slavs were known as having conquered most of Macedonia in the 6th century, their territory was conquered before 785, when Constantine VI holds the Sclaviniae of Macedonia (Sclavenias penes Macedoniam). Eventually their nomadic lifestyle transformed into an agriculturally and industrial based one. Their area of settlement roughly corresponds with the Reka regions and along the river Radika.
A proportion of Mijaks converted to Islam during the 16th and 17th centuries, and they are known by the name Torbeši. In the first half of the 19th century, a notable part were Albanianized, and also, the Islamized population of Galicnik was re-christianized in 1843.
In 1822, an unpublished lexiographical work by Panajot Ginovski, "Mijački rečnik po našem govoru", was written, containing 20 000 words.
After the Treaty of San Stefano
Treaty of San Stefano
The Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed at the end of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78...
(March 3, 1878), the Debar county, along with 11 other counties of Slavic Macedonia, sent deputies and appeals to Prince Milan of Serbia (r. 1868-1889), asking him to annex the region to Serbia. This was made after the Principality of Bulgaria
Principality of Bulgaria
The Principality of Bulgaria was a self-governing entity created as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. The preliminary treaty of San Stefano between the Russian Empire and the Porte , on March 3, had originally proposed a significantly larger Bulgarian territory: its...
received most of the Macedonia region by the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, and the earlier establishment and expansion of the Bulgarian Exarchate
Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
(February 28, 1870; in 1874, Skopje and Ohrid voted in favour of the Exarchate).
During the Ilinden
Ilinden
-Events:* Day of the Republic in the Republic of Macedonia, celebrated on 2 August each year.-Geographic locations:* In Bulgaria:** Ilinden, Blagoevgrad Province, a village** Ilinden, Sofia, an urban municipality* In Macedonia:** Ilinden municipality...
uprising in Kruševo
Kruševo
Kruševo also spelled Krushevo, is a town in the Republic of Macedonia. It is the highest town in Macedonia, situated at an altitude of over 4,000 feet above sea level. The town of Kruševo is the seat of Kruševo Municipality.-History:...
(August 2-3, 1903), a known Mijak involved was Veljo Pecan.
Culture
The Mijaks are well known for the extent to which old customs are preserved in their every day life. However the act of "Pečalba" or seasonal work, was a deeply entrenched tradition of the Mijaks. Males in their 20s would often leave the village for months, or even years, at a time in order to work in more prosperous regions and create wealth for the family. It can be attributed to this that most of the Mijak villages are deserted or sparsely populated.Mijaks had mastered the craft of woodcarving, and for many years a wood carving school operated in the Mala Reka region. They were responsible for the intricate wood carving which is found inside the Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery
Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery
The Monastery of Saint Jovan Bigorski is a Macedonian Orthodox monastery located in the western part of Macedonia, near the road connecting the towns of Debar and Gostivar....
, which is considered to the be best in Republic of Macedonia.
The Galičnik Wedding Festival (Галичка свадба) is the name of a traditional wedding and its characteristic ceremony, which is annually held on Petrovden (St. Peter feast day, 12 July), in which a couple is chosen to receive the wedding and be shown on national television. The Teškoto
Teškoto
Teskoto , is a Macedonian folk dance.Origins of this folk dance are from the western part of Republic of Macedonia and are related to whole Miak region. This traditional folk dance is the image of the hard life that Macedonian people lived starting from the second half of the 19th century...
oro
Oro
Oro means gold in Italian and Spanish.Oro may refer to:Places* Oro, Estonia, a village in Estonia* Orø, an island in DenmarkIn music:*"Oro" , the Serbian entry in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest...
(lit. "the hard one"), a shepherd
Shepherd
A shepherd is a person who tends, feeds or guards flocks of sheep.- Origins :Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations, beginning some 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Sheep were kept for their milk, meat and especially their wool...
folk dance of the Mijaks, is one of the national dances of the Republic of Macedonia.
Some Mijaks believe that Skanderbeg
Skanderbeg
George Kastrioti Skanderbeg or Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu , widely known as Skanderbeg , was a 15th-century Albanian lord. He was appointed as the governor of the Sanjak of Dibra by the Ottomans in 1440...
, the Albanian military commander, hails from Mijačija.
Architecture
Mijak architecture has become a defining factor in the culture of the Mijaks. The Mijaks were among the most skilled masons and they helped wealthy AromaniansAromanians
Aromanians are a Latin people native throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Serbia and Romania . An older term is Macedo-Romanians...
construct Kruševo
Kruševo
Kruševo also spelled Krushevo, is a town in the Republic of Macedonia. It is the highest town in Macedonia, situated at an altitude of over 4,000 feet above sea level. The town of Kruševo is the seat of Kruševo Municipality.-History:...
into a large prosperous beautiful city in the 18th century. Apart from some masons from the Kriva Palanka
Kriva Palanka
Kriva Palanka is a town located in the northeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia. It has 14.558 inhabitants. The town of Kriva Palanka is the seat of Kriva Palanka Municipality which has almost 21.000 inhabitants....
region, they were the most proficient in all of Macedonia and the Balkans. The Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery
Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery
The Monastery of Saint Jovan Bigorski is a Macedonian Orthodox monastery located in the western part of Macedonia, near the road connecting the towns of Debar and Gostivar....
is built in the Mijak style.
Language
The Mijaks traditionally speak the Galičnik dialectGalicnik dialect
The Galičnik dialect or Mala Reka dialect is a member of the subgroup of western and north western dialects of the western group of dialects of the Macedonian language. The dialect is spoken on small territory on the mountain Bistra in western part of the Republic of Macedonia. The name of the...
and Reka dialect
Reka dialect
The Reka dialect is a member of the west and north-west subgroup of the western group of dialects of the Macedonian language. The dialect is mainly spoken on the territory of the region Reka in north-western Macedonia. The Reka dialect is very close with the Galičnik and the Debar dialects...
. It has however been suggested that they were originally Aromanian speakers
Aromanian language
Aromanian , also known as Macedo-Romanian, Arumanian or Vlach is an Eastern Romance language spoken in Southeastern Europe...
(Vlachs) who assimilated into the South-Slavic Macedonian society. Macedonian historians are still uncertain as to whether the Mijaks did change from Aromanian to Slav speaking. This theory still needs more research relating to the Mijaks tribes. Typical characteristics of the "Mijački govor" , Mijak Speech, include:
| Mijak speech | Standard Macedonian | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| žamija | džamija | mosque | reduced use of the phenome "dž" to only "ž" |
| roka | raka | hand | the Big Yus Yus Little Yus and Big Yus , or Jus, are letters of the Cyrillic script, representing two Common Slavonic nasal vowels in the early Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets. Each can occur in iotified form , formed as ligatures with the letter Decimal I... is prounounced as a "o" and not an "a" as in Standard Macedonian Standard Macedonian Standard Macedonian or Literary Macedonian is the standard variety of the Macedonian language and official language of the Republic of Macedonia used as a written language, in formal contexts, and for communication between different dialect areas... |
| tužda/tuža | tugja | foreign | use of the phenome "ž" or "žd" in place of the standard Macedonian "gj" |
| trebuvad/trebit | treba | need | use of the suffix "-t" or "-d" for third person singular |
| stavajed | stavaat | they place | use of the suffix "-ajed" for third person singular |
| glagolj | zbor | word | derived from Old Slavonic Old Slavonic Old Slavonic may refer to:*Old Church Slavonic language*Common Slavonic language... ; "Glagolithic" |
Ethnography
According to Serbian ethnographer Jovan CvijićJovan Cvijic
Jovan Cvijić was a Serbian geographer, president of the Serbian Royal Academy of Sciences, and rector of the University of Belgrade. A world-renowned scientist, Cvijić is considered the founder of geography in Serbia.-Early life and family:Jovan Cvijić was born on October 11 Jovan Cvijić...
, writing in 1922, the Mijaks had preserved a Serb consciousness; the older generation knew of the Battle of Kosovo (1389) and Tsar Lazar
Lazar of Serbia
Lazar Hrebeljanović , was a medieval nobleman that emerged as the most powerful Serbian ruler after the death of the previous, childless, Emperor Uroš the Weak, which resulted in years of instability in the Serbian realm. As Stefan Lazar, he was Prince of Serbia from 1371 to 1389, ruling what is...
, and still had the Serbian feast days and sung the epic poetry regarding that time
Serbian epic poetry
Serb epic poetry is a form of epic poetry written by Serbs originating in today's Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro. The main cycles were composed by unknown Serb authors between the 14th and 19th centuries...
. However, due to heavy Bulgarisation (Bulgarian Exarchate
Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
, etc) the songs are rarely sung as in earlier times. The Mijaks are very known to Prince Marko
Prince Marko
Marko Mrnjavčević was de jure the Serbian king from 1371 to 1395, while de facto he ruled only over a territory in western Macedonia centered on the town of Prilep...
, who according to them was "born in Legen-grad" (of which ruins exist above the Torbeš village of Prisojnica). From the same place, they say, a "Vojvoda Damjan" went and fought at Kosovo. Also, they have songs regarding the founding of the Hilandar
Hilandar
Hilandar Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos in Greece. It was founded in 1198 by the first Serbian Archbishop Saint Sava and his father, Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja of the medieval Serbian principality of Raška...
monastery on Mount Athos
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
. Every family has the slava
Slava
The Slava , also called Krsna Slava and Krsno ime , is the Serbian Orthodox tradition of the ritual celebration and veneration of a family's own patron saint. The family celebrates the Slava annually on the patron saint's feast day...
(служба, veneration of protecting family saint). The center of spiritual life is in the Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery
Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery
The Monastery of Saint Jovan Bigorski is a Macedonian Orthodox monastery located in the western part of Macedonia, near the road connecting the towns of Debar and Gostivar....
, of which interior is related to the Serbian history (in an ethnic designation, Serb): there is a very old memorial, describing its history, which only speaks of the rulers of the Nemanjić dynasty and the Serbian archbishops. Also, the external frescoes depict only Serbian rulers until the Battle of Kosovo, painted by a peasant from Lazaropole
Lazaropole
Lazaropole is a settlement in the Republic of Macedonia. Situated on a plateau at Mount Bistra and surrounded by beech and oak forest; at 1,350 m altitude, it is one of the highest settlements in the country....
. The history of the monastery, and the Mijaks themselves, shows that they were always striving for independence. They constantly opposed the use of Greek as liturgical language in the churches, and when the Bulgarian Exarchate was imposed in the region, the Mijak monks maintained complete ecclesiastical freedom, and kept all old Serbian monuments of the St. John's monastery.