Mijaks


Mijaks are an ethnographic group of Macedonians who live in the Lower Reka region which is also known as Mijačija, along the Radika river, in western North Macedonia, numbering 30,000-60,000 people. The Mijaks practise predominantly animal husbandry, and are known for their ecclesiastical architecture, woodworking, iconography, and other rich traditions, as well as their characteristic Galičnik dialect of the Macedonian language.

Settlements

The Mijaks have traditionally occupied the Mala Reka region along with the Torbeš, Macedonian-speaking Muslims and another sub-group of Macedonians. The area including the Bistra mountain and Radika region has been termed Mijačija. To the east is the ethnographic region of the Brsjaks.
As recorded by Jovan Cvijić in 1906, the Mijaks inhabited the villages of Galičnik, Lazaropole, Tresonče, Selce, Rosoki, Sušica, Gari and Osoj, while they also inhabited villages by the Radika, around the Monastery of Jovan Bigorski, where there are scarce predominantly Christian-inhabited villages, such as Bituše, Gorno Kosovrasti, Gorno Melničani, while the rest has mixed Christian-Muslim population, such as Trebište, Rostuša, and others.
However, the majority of Mijak villages are uninhabited as the majority of the inhabitants left during the 20th century. Many villages in Mijačija are now uninhabited due to population shift towards the cities. Large Mijak concentrations can still be found in certain villages around Debar and Bitola. The villages Oreše, Papradište and Melnica in the Veles region were populated by Mijaci during Ottoman rule in 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.

History

Middle Ages–18th century

Their ethnonym is unclear. A theory is that they derived the name from their way to say the first plural pronoun, mije, while their neighbours use nije. There is a theory that the Mijaks were the first to permanently settle this area; they found mostly Vlachs, who seem to have not been permanently settled; the Mijaks pushed the Vlachs out of the pasture lands, some of whom they assimilated. According to another theory the Miyaks are the remains of an old Slavic-Bulgarian tribe that inhabited the area of the Salonica field and was engaged mostly in the cattle breeding. This theory is also confirmed by the legends for the founding of the one of the most significant Miyak settlements as Galichnik.
The Brsjaks and Mijaks did not live geographically scattered prior to the Ottoman conquest. With the fall of medieval Serbia, the Mijaks likely gathered in the Mala Reka region and continued to live as an autonomous tribe. There is a tradition that the Mijaks, after participating at the Battle of Kosovo, took the war flag and hid it at the village of Sušice, and that their commander, Damčul, fell at the battle; his village, now in ruins, Damčulice, is situated between Skudrinje and Prisojnica. The Mijaks would fly the war flag whenever needed. There are claims that they supported the Sultan during Piccolomini's operation in 1689, having won at Vlainice; because of the victory, the Sultan acknowledged them the public use of the krstat barjak.
A proportion of Mijaks converted to Islam during the 16th and 17th centuries, and they are known by the name Torbeši.
In the 18th century, the Mijaks had an armed conflict with the Islamized population regarding pasture lands.

19th century

In the first half of the 19th century, a notable part of the population were Albanianized, and also, the Islamized population of Galicnik was re-Christianized in 1843.
In 1822, an unpublished lexicographical work by Panajot Ginovski, "Mijački rečnik po našem govoru", was written, containing 20 000 words.
In the summer of 1875, referendum was held on the church affiliation of the Christians in Debar county. The majority supported the accession to the Bulgarian Exarchate. Only 2 villages and 20 houses in Debar supported the Patriarchate of Constantinople, perceived by local Bulgarians as Greek church.
After the Treaty of San Stefano, the Debar county, along with 11 other counties of Macedonia, sent deputies and appeals to Prince Milan of Serbia, 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.

20th century

During the Ilinden uprising in Kruševo, a known Mijak involved was Veljo Pecan. During the guerilla period, the Mijaks were divided into Serbs and Bulgarians; one Serbian vojvoda was Doksim Mihailović from Galičnik, while a Bulgarian vojvods were Maksim N. Bogoja., Tale Krastev, Ivan Pendarovski, Rade Yankulovski, Kiro Simonovski, Yanaki Tomov, Apostol Frachkovski etc. One of the leaders and founders of IMARO, Damyan Gruev is also a Mijak with a Bulgarian self-determination.

Culture

The Mijaks are well known for the extent to which old customs are preserved in their everyday life. The pečalba 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 — this has contributed to the dispersion of Mijak families, with villages now 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, which is considered to be the best in North Macedonia.
The Galičnik Wedding Festival is the name of a traditional wedding and its characteristic ceremony, which is annually held on Petrovden, in which a couple is chosen to receive the wedding and be shown on national television. The Teškoto oro, a shepherd folk dance of the Mijaks, is one of the national dances of North Macedonia.
Some Mijaks believe that Skanderbeg, the Albanian military commander, hailed from Mijačija.
According to the Serbian ethnographer Jovan Cvijić writing in 1922, the older generation were familiar with the Battle of Kosovo and Tsar Lazar, and still held the Serbian feast days and sung the epic poetry regarding that time, but the songs were rarely sung as in earlier times, according to him because of Bulgarian pressure. The Mijaks were very familiar with Prince Marko, who according to them was "born in Legen-grad". From the same place, they said, a "Vojvoda Damjan" went and fought at Kosovo. Also, they had songs regarding the founding of the Hilandar monastery on Mount Athos. Every family had the slava. The center of spiritual life was in the Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery, of which interior there was a very old memorial, describing its history, which spoke of the Nemanjić dynasty and the Serbian archbishops. Also, the external frescoes depicted Serbian rulers until the Battle of Kosovo, painted by a peasant from Lazaropole. The history of the monastery, and the Mijaks themselves, showed 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.

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 Aromanians develop Kruševo into a large, prosperous and beautiful city in the 18th century. Apart from some masons from the Kriva Palanka region, they were the most proficient in all Macedonia and the Balkans. The Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery is built in the Mijak style.

Language

The Mijaks traditionally speak the Galičnik dialect and Reka dialect. Typical characteristics of the "Mijački govor", Mijak speech, include:
Mijak speechStandard MacedonianEnglishNotes
žamijadžamijamosquereduced use of the phenome "dž" to only "ž"
rokarakahandthe Big Yus is pronounced as a "o" and not an "a" as in Standard Macedonian
tužda/tužatugjaforeignuse of the phenome "ž" or "žd" in place of the standard Macedonian "gj"
trebuvad/trebittrebaneeduse of the suffix "-t" or "-d" for third person singular
stavajedstavaatthey placeuse of the suffix "-ajed" for third person singular
glagoljzborwordfrom Proto-Slavic *glagoliti ; cf. Glagolitic alphabet

Their speech include peculiarities, such as ovde, onde, kode, koga, zašto, dojdi, etc.

Ethnography

Mijaks have been subject to ethnographic studies by Macedonian, Bulgarian and Serbian scholars. According to the 2002 census, in the Municipality of Mavrovo and Rostuša there were 4,349 Macedonians, 2,680 Turks, 1,483 Albanians, and smaller numbers of Bosniaks, Roma, Serbs and others ; In the Municipality of Debar there were a total of 19,542 inhabitants, of which 11,348 Albanians, 3,911 Macedonians, 2,684 Turks, 1,080 Roma, 22 Serbs, 3 Bosniaks, 2 Vlachs and 492 others.
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