Krashovani
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The Krashovani (Croatian and Serbian: Krašovani, Крашовани, Karašovani or Krašovanje, Karaševci and Koroševci; Romanian: Caraşoveni, Cârşoveni, Cotcoreţi or Cocoşi; also known as Krashovans) are a South Slavic people indigenous to Caraşova and other nearby locations in Caraş-Severin County within the Romanian Banat.
It is estimated that there are around 5,000 Krashovani in Romania, with only some 200 opting for the nationality itself, the remainder chosing the Croatian ethnicity.
Geography
Krashovani are in majority in two municipalities of Caraş-Severin County: Caraşova and Lupac.
According to the 2002 census in Romania, the population of Caraşova municipality comprises 84.60% Croats, 4.96% others (presumably Krashovan), 4.47% Roma, 4.41% Romanians, etc. [link] The population of Lupac municipality comprises 93.38% Croats, 5.32% Romanians, etc. [link] The 79.75% of population of Caraşova municipality and 93.45% of population of Lupac municipality declared to speak Croatian as mother tongue in 2002 census.
Origin and history
Original Slavic settlements had existed in these regions before the Krashovan migration. Krashovani themselves are mostly descendants of the inhabitants of eastern Serbia, namely the region around the Timok River.
Some of the Krashovani originate from Turopolje region of present-day Croatia (they are being referred as Turopoljci). Because of the long-time influence of other Krashovani, who speak the Torlakian dialect, the original (Kajkavian) dialect of this group also became Torlakian. Other groups are supposedly Croats from the Franciscan province of Bosna Srebrena.
The Krashovani are also considered Bulgarians by some (mainly Bulgarian) scientists (such as G. Cibrus, M. Mladenov, K. Telbizov, and T. Balkanski). However, these claims are based on the fact that Bulgarian scientists consider the entire Torlakian-speaking Slavic population ethnically Bulgarian, as well as Serbian scientists consider it ethnically Serbian. The question of whether the Torlakian dialect belongs to the eastern or western branches of South Slavic languages is also disputed, and it is often classified as a transitional dialect between the two.
Krashovani migration to Banat can be traced to the 1370s, when fleeing the Ottoman onslaught, they moved there from Timok region (in that time ruled by Bulgaria). The Catholic supremacy inside the Kingdom of Hungary (to which the Banat region belonged at the time) may account for their distinctiveness from the rest of the Torlakian-speaking population in present-day eastern Serbia.
Language and religion
Their dialect is an archaic speech elsewhere preserved only in the area of eastern and southern Serbia and in the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, the Torlakian dialect of the Timok valley around Zaječar.
However, their religion has more recently set them apart from Eastern Orthodox Serbs in the Banat, despite the common language and a long history of solidarity (partly continued to this day through joint Serb-Krašovan organizations).
See also
External links
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