Analysis on the Origin of Torbeshes: Case of Gorno Vranovci

Torbeshes are a Muslim community in Macedonia who speak Macedonian as their native language. The village of Gorno Vranovci is a Torbeshes village in the city of Köprülü. The entire village migrated to various parts of Izmir after 1950. The subject of this study is to try to clarify the origins of the Torbeshes living in Macedonia by analyzing their history, culture, and language. Are the Torbeshes Macedonian/Slavic Muslims, are they Cuman-Pecheneg remnants who settled in the Balkans before the Ottoman period, or are they from the yörüks who settled in Macedonia during the Ottoman period? In our study, these questions are being sought to be clarified, and our research covers the Northern Macedonia region. An oral history study was conducted with the Torbeshes from Gorno Vranovci, who migrated from Macedonia to Türkiye, and the results were obtained by comparing them with the sources. Torbeshes live around the city of Köprülü, Debre/Reka region, around the Delçevo and Makedonski Brod cities in Macedonia. Torbeshes living in these regions have started to migrate to İzmir since 1950. There is no written source concerning the Torbesh ethnonym until the early 20th century. We begin to come across the names of Torbeshes during of Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Before this, we find their information within the Muslim and Turkish cultural circles in Ottoman archival sources. Today, the majority of Torbeshes in Macedonia and Türkiye identify themselves as Turkish. As a result of our oral history studies, Torbeshes from the village of Gorno Vranovci reported that; they forgot their language but did not give up on their religion due to the assimilation policy of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. They report that they migrated from the Reka region to the Gorno Vranovci village and that they heard this from their ancestors. In addition, many historians in Macedonia and Serbia state that the Torbeshes originated from an Islamized part of a Slavic people called Mijak. Being Melami Muslims who do not speak any language other than Macedonian, the people of Vranovci identify themselves as Turkish. Seemingly, Albanians lived in the village named Vranofça-i Bala reference to the ‘registry of the Muslim population’ of the first Ottoman census dated 1831. Oral history sources confirm that Torbeshes from Vranovci did not migrate from the Reka region to Vranovci during this period. The sources of those who offer opinions on the Cuman-Kipchak origins of the Torbeshes have been insufficient. The resources of those who present the explanation of the Torbesh ethnonym as Türkbaş are insufficient. According to the oral sources, since they abandoned their religion in return for a pouch (torba in Turkish) of dry cottage cheese, they have been given the name ‘Torbeş’, which was derived from the word torba.  There are also some views put forward that there is a correlation between Acemi Ocagi –as known as Torba Oglanlari, Torba Acemileri. Torbeshes is a community of those who work for living abroad. As regards the fact that they only bring a pouch with them, it is most likely that the Torbesh ethnonym is taken ground.  In fact, most parts of the Torbeshes, those who migrated from Vranovci to İzmir, moved to Germany to work. Vranovcian Torbeshes are also separated from Macedonian Yörüks, considering the holidays/feasts. Vranovcian holidays such as Letnik, Blogovets, and Bogordisa are relevant to Orthodoxy. These cultural elements support the argument that Torbeshes were Turkified by Islamisation in the Ottoman era. Nevertheless, the majority of Torbeshes, by placing themselves inside the Turkish cultural circle, identify as Turks today.