Ullah millet

Ethnolinguistic community recognized in Ottoman law

History of the Ottoman Empire
Social structure
Court and aristocracy

* Ottoman court
* Slavery
* Devshirme

Ethnoreligious communities

* Muslims
* Millets
* Greek Orthodox
* Armenian
* Aromanian
* Bulgarian
* Armenians
* Jews
* Greeks
* Great Fire of 1660

Rise of nationalism

* Tanzimat
* Ottomanism

Classes

* Askeri
* Ayan
* Giaour
* Rayah
* Vlachs

* v
* t
* e

Part of a series on

Aromanians

* Etymology
* List of Aromanians

Geographical distribution

* Albania
* Bulgaria
* Greece
* North Macedonia
* Romania
* Serbia
* diaspora

Major settlements

* Moscopole
* Muzachia
* Metsovo
* Pindus
* Kruševo
* Gramos
* Grabova
* Farsala

Culture

* Cuisine
* Cultural organizations
* Folk dance
* Literature
* Music
* Traditional clothing

Language and identity

* Alphabet
* Anthem
* Flag
* National day
* Nationalism

Religion

* Eastern Orthodoxy
* Aromanian Orthodox Church

History

* Romanization
* Great Vlachia
* Aromanian question
* Ullah millet
* Samarina Republic
* Principality of the Pindus
* Recommendation 1333 (1997)

Related groups

* Romanians
* Moldovans
* Megleno-Romanians
* Istro-Romanians

* v
* t
* e

The Ullah millet (Turkish: Ulah milleti, lit. 'Vlach millet', can be interpreted as "Aromanian nation"[1]) was a separate millet (that is, a recognized ethno-religious and linguistic community) within the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Ottoman authorities for the Aromanians (also known as "Vlachs"; Turkish: Ulahlar) in 1905, during the rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire. Although the Megleno-Romanians are also sometimes called Vlachs, the Ullah millet was not intended for them.

## History

[edit]

The Aromanians are a Balkan ethnic group which is scattered in several countries such as Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia.[1][2] Usually, the neighbors of the Aromanians use the term "Vlach" (Turkish: Ulahlar) to refer to them. However, the same term is also used for the Megleno-Romanians, a small related Balkan people.[3] Before the establishment of the Ullah millet, the Aromanians were under the jurisdiction of the Greek Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. This was because they practised Eastern Orthodoxy. During this time, most of the priests were Greeks and the Aromanians could not use their own language in church services. This conflict between the Aromanians and Greeks eventually escalated to physical violence, sparking fights between members of both groups. Due to this, the Aromanians started to call for help to the Ottoman authorities and the Romanian Government.[4]

The situation began to be studied by the Ottoman Empire and, on 9 August 1891, the Ministry of Justice sent to the Ottoman grand vizier a report in which it stated that the Aromanians had the right to use their own language in the church just like many Orthodox people in Arab-populated lands could use their mother language if it was not Greek. It also said that the dissatisfaction of the Aromanians could lead them to establish their own independent church. The Aromanian issue had to be treated delicately by the Ottoman authorities. While granting more rights to them could improve relations between Romania and the Ottoman Empire and raise pro-Turkish opinions on its citizens, it could also anger the Ottoman citizens of Bulgarian, Greek and Serb ethnicity. On the other hand, Romania pressured the Ottoman Empire for greater autonomy for the Aromanians and their right for an independent church, even offering a treaty of alliance with them if the ambitions of the Aromanians were fulfilled.[4]

Ethnographic map of the Balkans of 1861 by Guillaume Lejean. The Aromanians are shown in a very dark blue color, surrounded mostly by Albanians (who are represented in yellow; their distribution in this map is inaccurate in the area of Epirus). The Megleno-Romanians are shown as Aromanians.

On 28 June 1904, the Aromanians made a request to the Ottoman authorities. They asked to be separated from the Greeks and to be recognized as a community (a millet) officially and legally in the country. They also asked to have a representative in Istanbul and the right to choose Aromanians in the villages they populated. The Romanian government strongly supported these demands and tried to convince the Ottoman Empire to accomplish them. However, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Abdul Hamid II, decided to ignore these requests to avoid political conflicts. In those times, the Ottoman Empire was specially worried about a possible loss of the region of Macedonia and a change of the status quo in the Balkans. For these reasons, the requests were rejected.[4]

The rejection of their requests by the Ottomans and the Greek opposition of their self-determination sparked the beginning of cooperation between Aromanians and Bulgarians. Bulgarians allowed Aromanian priests to worship in their own language if they joined the Bulgarian Exarchate and some Aromanians started joining Bulgarian local bands. This alarmed the Ottoman authorities, which feared a possible complete alliance between the Bulgarians and the Aromanians. Furthermore, as the Macedonian Struggle intensified in the international scenario, the Aromanian problem took on greater importance. As a result, the German Empire began to support them in their quest for rights. After Abdul Hamid II learned of the demands that Germany was making on behalf of the Aromanians, he turned towards the Sublime Porte to seek a solution to the Aromanian issue.[4]

Thus, on 22 May 1905, Sultan Abdul Hamid II issued an irâde-i seniyye ("spoken will") in which he granted the Aromanians all rights proper of a millet with the exception of a religious head, therefore creating the Ullah millet.[1][2][5] In this decree, the Aromanians were not granted a separate church, but they were given the right to perform religious services in Aromanian[5][6] and to choose their own mayors in their villages.[5] The following day, the Sultan's decision was publicly announced. The news was happily received in Romania, in which the establishment of the Ullah millet was seen as a great victory.[7] However, the decision met a strong Greek opposition, leading to the killing of Aromanian clergymen and violence against the attendants of Aromanian schools by Greek bands. This caused a diplomatic crisis between Greece and Romania.[5]

Although they did not obtain their independent church, the Aromanians were satisfied with the new situation. However, they had problems exercising their new rights in some conflictive or multiethnic areas. In the end, after the Balkan Wars, the Ottoman Empire lost the lands where the Aromanians lived. This caused the Aromanians to lose their minority rights and made them an ethnic group scattered in various countries, making the fight for the survival of the Aromanian ethnicity, language and culture more difficult.[4]

## Legacy

[edit]

The establishment of the Ullah millet is symbolic for the Aromanians and is commemorated by many of them in the Aromanian National Day every 22[1][2] or 23 May.[7][8] Nevertheless, many of those Aromanians in Greece who are still loyal to the country usually reject the holiday as it is perceived as symbolizing a defeat for their perceived "motherland". This is because the recognition of the Ullah millet was regarded as a diplomatic defeat for Greece at the time.[7]

The Ullah millet is also observed in Romania through the Balkan Romanianness Day. This holiday is meant for the Aromanians but also for the Megleno-Romanians and the Istro-Romanians, perceived in Romania simply as ethnic Romanian subgroups living south of the Danube.[9] Unlike the Aromanian National Day, the Balkan Romanianness Day is celebrated every 10 May[10] as Romania only adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1919.[11] Additionally, attempts to officialize the Aromanian National Day in Romania have been rejected.[12]

## See also

[edit]

* Armenian Millet
* Bulgarian Millet
* Rum Millet
* Vlach law

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Kahl, Thede (2002). "The ethnicity of Aromanians after 1990: the identity of a minority that behaves like a majority". Ethnologia Balkanica. 6: 145–169.
2. ^ a b c Kahl, Thede (2003). "Aromanians in Greece: Minority or Vlach-speaking Greeks?" (PDF). Jahrbücher für Geschichte und Kultur Südosteuropas. 5: 205–219.
3. ^ Kahl, Thede (2006). "The Islamisation of the Meglen Vlachs (Megleno-Romanians): The Village of Nânti (Nótia) and the "Nântinets" in Present-Day Turkey". Nationalities Papers. 34 (1): 71–90\. doi:10.1080/00905990500504871. S2CID 161615853.
4. ^ a b c d e Arslan, Ali (2004). "The Vlach issue during the Late Ottoman period and the emergence of the Vlach community (millet)". Études balkaniques (4): 121–139.
5. ^ a b c d Motta, Giuseppe (2011). "The Fight for Balkan Latinity. The Aromanians until World War I" (PDF). Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences. 2 (3): 252–260\. doi:10.5901/mjss.2011.v2n3p252. ISSN 2039-2117.
6. ^ Demirtaş Coşkun, Birgül (2001). "The Vlachs: A Forgotten Minority in the Balkans". Ankara Papers. 1. Frank Cass: 1–68\. ISSN 1474-7782.
7. ^ a b c "Nikola Minov: Why don't all Aromanians celebrate May 23 as their national day?". Trâ Armânami Association of French Aromanians. 24 May 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
8. ^ "PM Gruevski congratulates National Day of the Vlachs". Government of the Republic of North Macedonia. 22 May 2013.
9. ^ Vușcan, Cătălin (13 May 2021). "Ziua Românității Balcanice a fost adoptată de Camera Deputaților. Frații noștri din sud vor fi sărbătoriți, anual, pe 10 mai. Bust la Corcea, Albania, pentru Părintele-martir Haralambie Balamace, ucis de greci cu baionetele pentru că a slujit în română". ActiveNews (in Romanian).
10. ^ "Promulgat de Iohannis: Se instituie Ziua Românității Balcanice pe 10 mai". Tomis News (in Romanian). 7 June 2021. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
11. ^ Alexander, Michael (3 April 2019). "Romania: Centenary anniversary of adopting the Gregorian calendar depicted on new silver coins". Coin Update.
12. ^ Florian, Marius (27 September 2021). "DOCUMENT SEPARATIȘTII aromâni, LOVIȚI în Parlament: S-a RESPINS propunerea de consacrare a zilei de 23 mai ca sărbătoare a "comunității"". Tomis News (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 13 March 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2022.

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Aromanians

Names|

* Aromanians
* Vlachs
* Koutsovlachs
* Macedo-Romanians
* Macedonians
* Tsintsars

History|

* Origin of the Aromanians
* Vlach uprising of 1066
* Great Vlachia
* Ottoman era
* Macedonian Struggle
* Romanian churches in the Balkans
* St. Sotir Church, Korçë
* Romanian schools in the Balkans
* Romanian High School of Bitola
* Armatoles
* Chetas
* Ullah millet
* World War I
* Samarina Republic
* World War II
* Population exchange between Bulgaria and Romania
* Roman Legion (1941–1943)
* Principality of the Pindus
* Recommendation 1333 (1997)

Identity|

* Genetic studies on Aromanians
* Aromanian nationalism
* Aromanian studies
* Aromanian question
* Grecomans
* Flag of the Aromanians
* Aromanian National Day
* Dimãndarea pãrinteascã
* Political parties
* Democratic Union of the Vlachs of Macedonia
* Party of the Vlachs of Albania
* Party of the Vlachs of Macedonia

Culture|

* Aromanian cuisine
* Aromanian folk dance
* Aromanian language
* alphabet
* dialects
* Bible translations into Aromanian
* Influence on Slavic languages
* Linguistic parallels with Albanian
* Aromanian-language names
* Aromanian literature
* Aromanian Missal
* Codex Dimonie
* Aromanian mass media
* I'm Not Famous but I'm Aromanian
* Newspapers
* Românul de la Pind
* Radio stations
* Radio Romania International
* Aromanian music
* Aromanian Orthodox Church
* Aromanian traditional clothing
* Avdhela Project
* Subgroups of the Aromanians

Organizations|

* Lunjina Serbian–Aromanian Association
* Macedo-Romanian Cultural Society
* Panhellenic Federation of Cultural Associations of Vlachs
* Society Farsharotu
* Trâ Armânami Association of French Aromanians
* Union for Aromanian Language and Culture

Population|

| Geographical
distribution|

* Albania
* Bulgaria
* Greece
* North Macedonia
* Romania
* Serbia
* diaspora

|

Settlements|

* Avdella
* Bitola
* Constanța
* Gramos
* Kruševo
* Malovište
* Metsovo
* Moscopole
* Peshtera
* Samarina

People|

* Nicolae Constantin Batzaria
* Constantin Belimace
* Mihail G. Boiagi
* Toma Caragiu
* Matilda Caragiu Marioțeanu
* Alcibiades Diamandi
* Pitu Guli
* Gheorghe Hagi
* Simona Halep
* Manaki brothers
* Nicolaos Matussis
* Gheorghe Constantin Roja
* Nuși Tulliu
* Constantin Ucuta

Related groups|

* Romanians
* Moldovans
* Megleno-Romanians
* Istro-Romanians

* v
* t
* e

Ottoman Empire

History|

* Osman's Dream
* Rise
* Ghaza thesis
* Interregnum
* Constantinople
* Classical Age
* Sultanate of Women
* Transformation
* Decline thesis
* Köprülü
* Stagnation and reform
* Tulip
* Decline and modernization
* Tanzimat
* 1st Constitutional
* Dissolution
* 2nd Constitutional
* Partition
* Abolition
* Persecution of Ottoman Muslims

Politics|

* Foreign relations
* Foreign Affairs Ministry
* Safavid
* United States
* Treaties
* Wars
* Law
* Constitution
* Armenian Constitution
* Electoral
* Family law
* Düstur
* Civil codes
* Mecelle
* Halakha
* Translation Office

Government|

| House of Osman|

* Ottoman dynasty
* List of Ottoman sultans
* Roman succession claim
* Ottoman Caliphate
* Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
* Imperial Harem
* Valide sultan
* Haseki sultan
* Kadınefendi
* Hanımefendi
* List of Ottoman sultans' mothers
* List of Ottoman sultans' consorts
* Kizlar Agha
* Inner Palace Service
* Kapi Agha
* Palace Schools

|

Central (Porte)|

Imperial Council
(classic period)

* Grand Vizier
* Viziers
* Kazaskers
* Defterdars/Ministers of Finance
* Nişancı
* Reis ül-Küttab
* Dragoman of the Porte
* Outer Palace Service

|

Imperial Government
(reform and constitutional period)

* Assembly
* Senate
* Chamber of Deputies

Millets|

* Islam
* Shaykh al-Islām
* Christianity
* Rūm
* Ullah
* Bulgarian
* Armenian
* Judaism
* Hakham Bashi

Provincial|

* Eyalets
* Beylerbeys
* Vilayets
* Sanjaks
* Sanjakbeys
* Mutasarrifates
* Kazas/Kadiluks
* Vassal and tributary states

Military|

| Army|

* Classic period army: Janissaries
* Agha of the Janissaries
* Six Divisions of Cavalry
* Timariots
* Reform period: Nizam-i Djedid
* Sekban-i Djedid
* Mansure Army
* Hamidieh
* Modernized army

|

Navy|

* Kapudan Pasha
* List
* Dragoman of the Fleet
* Imperial Arsenal
* Admirals
* Naval battles
* Ships

Other|

* Aviation
* Conscription
* Weapons

Economy|

* By era
* Enlargement
* Reformation
* Agriculture
* Central bank
* Currency
* Akçe
* Para
* Sultani
* Kuruş
* Lira
* Science and technology
* Taxation
* Transport

Society|

* Social structure
* Devshirme
* Ottomanism
* Ottoman court
* Languages
* Ottoman Turkish
* Slavery

Culture|

* Architecture
* Mosques
* Art
* Illumination
* Miniature
* Music
* Shadow play
* Clothing
* Cuisine
* Literature
* Prose
* Poetry
* Education
* Schools
* of Armenians
* Media

Demographics|

* Armenians
* Greeks
* Jews
* Women

Religion|

* Islam
* Christianity
* Judaism

Symbols|

* Anthem
* Coat of arms
* Flag
* Tughra
* Star and crescent

* Outline
* Bibliography
* Category

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*[e]: Edit this template
*[lit.]: literal translation