Podlachia
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Podlachia, Podlesia, or Podlasie is a historical region in eastern part of Poland and western Belarus. It is located between Biebrza River in the north and its natural continuation to the south — the Polesia area. The region is called Podlasie, Podlasko or, Podlasze in Polish, Падляшша Padljašša in Belarusian, Підлісся Pidlissja, Підлясіє Pidljasije, or Підляхія Pidljaxija in Ukrainian, Palenkė in Lithuanian, Подлясье Podljas’e in Russian, and Podlachia in Latin.
There are two opinions about the origin of the name of the region. Some derive it from the Slavic word les or las meaning "forest", i.e., it is an "area near the forest" or "area of forests", and in this sense Podlachia is synonymous with the adjacent Polesia. Another suggest that the terms comes from the expression pod Lachem, i.e., "under the Poles" or under the Polish rule. A variant of this theory holds that the name originates from the times when the territory was within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's Trakai Province, along the borderline with the Kingdom of Poland where pod Lachem would mean "near the Poles."
At present the name of Podlachia is used especially for Polish part of the region, which is traditionally divided between northern (north of Western Bug River) and southern Podlachia. The northern part of Podlachia is included in the Podlachia Voivodship.
Major towns of Podlachia include:
History
The Podlachia area was inhabited through history by various tribes of different ethnic roots. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the area was probably inhabited by Lechitic tribes in the south and Baltic (Yotvingian) tribes in the north. Between the 10th and the 13th centuries, Podlachia was occupied by Ruthenian tribes speaking a form of proto-Ukrainian, probably from Volhynia. Until the 14th century this area was part of Ruthenian states, later annexed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1569, after the Union of Lublin, the western part of Podlasie was ceded to the Kingdom of Poland. Southern Podlachia belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until the Third Partition of Poland in 1795.
Ethnic situation
Until the 19th century, Podlachia was populated by Polish-speaking gentry, Jews, primarily in towns, and Ruthenians, Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholics speaking a dialect related to modern Ukrainian language - so-called Khakhlak (Chachlak), from the derogatory name for Ukrainians (khakhol or khokhol being the name of their traditional haircut). In 19th century, inhabitants of Podlachia were part of the Russian Empire with southern Podlachia forming a part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland. After 1831, Russian authorities forbade the Eastern Rite confession in northern Podlachia and it disappeared from the area. In 1875, Russians forbade this rite in southern Podlachia as well and all Eastern Rite inhabitants were forced to accept Orthodox confession. But resistance of local people was surprisingly strong and Ruthenian speakers from this area rejected the Orthodox faith. As reaction to these measures, the Ruthenians of Podlachia began to identify themselves with the national movement of the Catholic Poles.
In 1912, Russian authorities issued a tolerance edict that made possible to change confession from Orthodox to Roman Catholic (but not to Eastern Rite). A majority of inhabitants of southern Podlachia changed their confession from Orthodox to Roman Catholic.
In 1947 the Ukrainian population of Podlachia was violently deportated in other regions of Poland in Operation Wisła, finishing the polonization of this historically Ukrainian region. At present, very few people in Podlachia continue speaking Ruthenian (Ukrainian) and almost all consider themselves as Poles. The counties along the border with Belarus are populated by Belarusians. There is a small Tatar minority as well.
External links
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