ROMANIANS IN BULGARIAStudent: Prisacariu Alexandra

THE ROMANIAN PEOPLE IN E. EUROPE

The presence of Vlachs in Bulgaria, along the southern part of the Danube River is not such a new phenomenon. A number of Vlachs has been recorded since the last quarter of the XIXth century.

The first reliable data regarding the Bulgarian localities inhabited by Vlachs are provided in the first census in the Bulgarian Kingdom, a census that took place on the 1st of January 1881.

Region Number of Vlachs Percentage of the region’s populationTotal Men Women

1. Vidin 23,845

11,943

11,902 0.1

2. Lom Palanca 1,494 784 710 3.53. Svistov 1,260 652 608 3.04. Orhanie 89 62 27 0.25. Pleven 6,077 3,052 3,025 6.06. Rahovo 8,054 4,044 4,010 11.07. Sofia 514 376 138 0.38. Varna 360 - - 0.39. Silistra 1,626 - - 1.610. Razgrad 115 - - 0.111. Turnovo 409 - - 0.2Western Bulgaria 42,40

721,47

920,928 4.3

Eastern Bulgaria 6,663 3,485 3,178 0.6Total in the entire Kingdom

49,070

24,964

24,106 2.44

Year Number of Vlachs Way of tracing Vlachs

1881 49,070

1887 75,235

1905 89,847

1910 96,502 according to mother tongue81,272 according to ethnic origin

1920 75,065 according to mother tongue66,944 according to ethnic origin

1926 83,746 according to mother tongue79,248 according to ethnic origin

1934 16,405

1940 250,000-280,000 approximation

2001 10,556 Vlachs according to ethnic origin1,088 Romanians

2009 150,000 Romanians

THE ORIGIN OF VLACHS IN BULGARIA Concerning the origin of the Vlach population from

Bulgaria, it has been established that they were not native, aboriginal inhabitants, but they came from Romanian parts on the left of the Danube River.

Their settlement started in the second half of the XVIIIth century and continued through the first half of the XIXth century.

REASONS FOR THE MIGRATION OF VLACHS TO BULGARIA One major reason why many Vlachs came to Bulgaria during

the 1830s is the fact that, at that time, Romania introduced the so-called Organic Regulations, which imposed obligatory military draft.

Another reason was Vlachs’ attempt to escape landowners’ exploitation.

In addition, the land on the south of the Danube River was very fertile, which enabled Vlachs to build comfortable houses and to enjoy prosperity.

TYPES OF VLACH POPULATIONS LIVING IN BULGARIA 1. Population of Vlach (Romanian) origin;

2. Population of Aromanian origin (Bulgarian cincari, kucovlasi);

3. Population of Vlach background, closely related to the Roma woodworkers – rudari, lingurari,

kopanari, vretenari.

From an ethnographical point of view, the Vlach population in the N-W Bulgaria and N-E Serbia belongs to two main groups:

1. ungureni (emigrants from Hungary, Banat and Transylvania);

2. țărani (emigrants from Țara Românească ‘Wallachia’).

The Vlach population from Vidin and Kula counties can also be subdivided into three important groups:

1. văleni (‘valley-dwellers’) – in the villages around Vidin;

2. câmpeni (‘plain-dwellers’);

3. pădureni (‘forrest-dwellers’) – in the villages by the border with Serbia.

The Romanian people living along the Danube River and speaking Romanian are usually called by their Bulgarian fellow citizens vlasi, rummnci,

mokani (in the northeastern part), mămăligari (“polenta eaters” – pejoratively) or mokri (“wet ones”).

LANGUAGE Gustav Weigand is the first one to publish linguistic material

regarding the Vlach dialects south of the Danube River. He also includes in his Dacoromanian Linguistic Atlas three Bulgarian localities from the northwestern part: Bregovo, Vruv and Florentin.

The Vlachs from Bulgaria speak the oltean and bănățean sub-dialect (a mixture between these two).

Each of the three groups presented above (namely vălenii,

pădurenii and câmpenii) seem to have many linguistic features specific to the area where they come from.

LANGUAGE AND LIFESTYLE

Many Vlachs are fluent also in Bulgarian and this fact is not a result of other people forcing them, but it is rather their own preference.

Borrowings from Bulgarian are very frequently used (sometimes as neologisms, sometimes as everyday words).

“Each countryman is the owner and benefits from having the same rights as the Bulgarian people. The Romanian language is taught in schools, but the students learn Bulgarian with enjoyment because they need this language”. (Weigand, 1900:37)

LIFESTYLE

“The reality is different in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Government takes no action in order to bulgarize the Romanian people. […] Under no circumstances do they feel the need to come back to their country, Great Wallachia”. (Weigand, 1900:89-90)

Weigand also noticed that the Vlachs have adopted many features belonging to the Bulgarian lifestyle, features concerning clothing, house building, land cultivation, diet etc.

LIFESTYLE

A large number of Vlachs still dress similarly to the way in which people from the northern bank of the Danube do.

There is also a number of Vlachs who preserve some features from the Romanian folklore together with some from the Bulgarian one.

One can still distinguish between a Romanian and a Bulgarian only taking a look at their clothes.

RELIGION

As far as religion is concerned, they are Orthodox Christians, as well as Bulgarians. From a confessional point of view, there is no obstacle regarding their integration into the Bulgarian community.

VLACHS FROM THE BULGARIAN TIMOK

As in the case of Serbia, the Vlachs from Timok represent a special group.

In comparison with those from the eastern part of

the Timok River, the number of Vlach people from the western part is considerably smaller: 200,000 people in Serbia as opposed to several thousand in Bulgaria.

There is enough data which suggests that the Vlachs from Timok have come earlier than those from other regions. The romanization of this period seems to have started in the XVIIIth century.

The northern part of the region between Timok and Morava, including Vidin region was ravaged and almost depopulated.

Most of the people who came were from Wallachia, Transylvania and Banat.

The political border first drawn between Turkey and Serbia (1833) and then between Serbia and Bulgaria (1878) separated along the Timok River not only the Bulgarian population, but also the Vlach one.

Compared to the total number of people living in Serbia and Bulgaria, Vlachs are considered to be a minority, but compared to the number of people from the region of Timok, they form the majority in 161 localities.

They do not enjoy the same rights as the Bulgarian people do;

Students are not allowed to have Romanian classes;

They are not given Romanian citizenship;

BULGARIAN VS. SERBIAN TIMOK CLOTHING

SOURCES Nestorescu, Virgil (1996). Românii timoceni din

Bulgaria. București: Editura Fundației Culturale Române.

Șerban, Stelu (2007). Transborder identities. The Romanian-speaking population in Bulgaria. București: Editura Paideia.

Țîrcomnicu, Emil (2010). Românii dintre Vidin, Dunăre și Timoc. Sărbători, obiceiuri, credințe. București: Editura Institutului Cultural Român.

Vâlsan, George (1996). Românii din Bulgaria și Serbia. Craiova: Editura Scrisul românesc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYT2VrZBJgs http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/

f4/Localitatile_din_Timocul_bulgaresc_locuite_de_romani,_1941.jpg

http://www.romanianmuseum.com/Romania/RomaniaFolkEuropa.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlHmrLFcXJk

http://www.icr.ro/bucuresti/evenimente/traditie-si-spiritualitate-romaneasca-in-timocul-bulgaresc.html

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR ATTENTION!