Post by Bonobo on Jun 19, 2011 9:05:11 GMT 1
Conjuring traces of the Polish Tatars
26.05.2011
Events marking the 85th anniversary of the Muslim Religious Association continued, Wednesday, with the opening of an exhibition conjuring up the all but vanished world of the Polish Tatars.
“Mosques on the Polish, Lithuanian and Belarusian lands,” hosted at the Historical Museum of the eastern Polish city of Bialystok, presents Tatar houses of worship past and present.
Many of the buildings, typically crafted from wood, and invariably echoing vernacular styles of Catholic and Orthodox churches, have now disappeared forever, but artist Elwira Sobolewska-Waliszewski has depicted 22 examples, referring to archival prints and photographs.
Tatars have lived on the territories of present day Poland, Lithuania and Belarus since the 14th Century. During the 16th century, when the lands were part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, they were granted various privileges.
It is estimated that about 3000 Tatars remain on Polish soil today.
The late Nobel Prize laureate Henryk Sienkiewicz had Tatar ancestry, likewise Poland's most acclaimed living sculptor, Magdalena Abakanowicz.
Two Tatar villages - Bohoniki and Kruszyniany - endure in eastern Poland with their distinctive wooden mosques. Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, visited the community during his trip to Poland in March 2010.
The Lipka Tatars (also known as Lithuanian Tatars, Polish Tatars, Lipkowie, Lipcani or Mu¶limi, Belarusian Tatars) are a group of Tatars who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of 14th century. The first settlers tried to preserve their shamanistic religion and sought asylum amongst the non-Christian Lithuanians.[1] Towards the end of the 14th century, another wave of Tatars - this time, Muslims, were invited into the Grand Duchy by Vytautas the Great. These Tatars first settled in Lithuania proper around Vilnius, Trakai, Hrodna and Kaunas [1] and later spread to other parts of the Grand Duchy that later became part of Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. These areas comprise present-day Lithuania, Belarus and Poland. From the very beginning of their settlement in Lithuania they were known as the Lipka Tatars. While maintaining their religion, they united their fate with that of the mainly Christian Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. From the Battle of Grunwald onwards the Lipka Tatar light cavalry regiments participated in every significant military campaign of Lithuania and Poland.
The Lipka Tatar origins can be traced back to the descendant states of the Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan - the White Horde, the Golden Horde, the Crimean Khanate and Kazan Khanate. They initially served as a noble military caste but later they became urban-dwellers known for their crafts, horses and gardening skills. Throughout centuries they resisted assimilation and kept their traditional lifestyle. While they remained very attached to their religions, over time however, they lost their original Tatar language and for the most part adopted Polish.[2] There are still small groups of Lipka Tatars living in today's Belarus, Lithuania and Poland, as well as their communities in United States.
Read more about the history of Polish tatars:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipka_Tatars
Past:
Polish Lithuanian Tatar horse riders
1919, Tatars fighting for Poland
Lipkas today
Today there are about 10,000-15,000 Lipka Tatars in the former areas of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The majority of descendants of Tatar families in Poland can trace their descent from the nobles of the early Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Lipka Tatars had settlements in north-east Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, south-east Latvia and Ukraine. Today most reside in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. Most of the Lipka Tatars (80%) assimilated into the ranks of the nobility in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth while some lower noble Tatars assimilated to the Belarusian, Polish, Ukrainian and Lithuanian townsfolk and peasant populations.
Charles Bronson was a descendant of the Lipka Tatars of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which caused many people to think that he looked like a Chicano or Mexican-American who was a Mestizo (mixture of Spanish and Indian ancestry). Thus, due to his looks, Bronson sometimes played characters who were Mexican or who were part-Indian.
A number of the Polish Tatars emigrated to the US at the beginning of 20th century and settled mostly in the north eastern states (although there is also an enclave in Florida). A small but active community of Lipka Tatars exists in New York City. "The Islamic Center of Polish Tatars" in New York City until recently had its own mosque in Brooklyn (106 Powers Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211 USA, originally build in 1928).[2]
After the annexation of eastern Poland into the Soviet Union following World War II, Poland was left with only 2 Tatar villages, Bohoniki and Kruszyniany. A significant number of the Tartars in the territories annexed to the USSR repatriated to Poland and clustered in cities such as Gdañsk, Bia³ystok, Warsaw and Gorzów Wielkopolski totaling some 3,000 people. One of the neighborhoods of Gorzów Wielkopolski where relocated Tatar families resettled has come to be referred to as "the Tatar Hills", or in Polish "Górki Tatarskie".
In 1925 the Muslim Religion Association - Muzu³mañski Zwi±zek Religijny was formed in Poland in Bia³ystok. 1n 1992, the Organization of Tatars of the Polish Republic (Zwi±zek Tatarów Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) with autonomous branches in Bia³ystok and Gdañsk began operating.
In Poland, the Tatar population reached approximately 100,000 in 1630 but the 2002 census showed only 447 people declaring this ethnicity.[5]
In November 2010, a monument to Poland's Tatar populace was unveiled in the port city of Gdansk at a ceremony attended by President Bronislaw Komorowski, as well as Tatar representatives from across Poland and abroad. The monument is a symbol of the important role of Tatars in Polish history.
“Tatars shed their blood in all national independence uprisings. Their blood seeped into the foundations of the reborn Polish Republic,” President Komorowski said at the unveiling.
The monument is the first of its kind to be erected in Europe.
See photos from The Polish Tatars` Festival in 2010:
More
e-suprasl.pl/index.php/2010/08/17/iii-festiwal-kultury-i-tradycji-tatarow-polskich/
26.05.2011
Events marking the 85th anniversary of the Muslim Religious Association continued, Wednesday, with the opening of an exhibition conjuring up the all but vanished world of the Polish Tatars.
“Mosques on the Polish, Lithuanian and Belarusian lands,” hosted at the Historical Museum of the eastern Polish city of Bialystok, presents Tatar houses of worship past and present.
Many of the buildings, typically crafted from wood, and invariably echoing vernacular styles of Catholic and Orthodox churches, have now disappeared forever, but artist Elwira Sobolewska-Waliszewski has depicted 22 examples, referring to archival prints and photographs.
Tatars have lived on the territories of present day Poland, Lithuania and Belarus since the 14th Century. During the 16th century, when the lands were part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, they were granted various privileges.
It is estimated that about 3000 Tatars remain on Polish soil today.
The late Nobel Prize laureate Henryk Sienkiewicz had Tatar ancestry, likewise Poland's most acclaimed living sculptor, Magdalena Abakanowicz.
Two Tatar villages - Bohoniki and Kruszyniany - endure in eastern Poland with their distinctive wooden mosques. Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, visited the community during his trip to Poland in March 2010.
The Lipka Tatars (also known as Lithuanian Tatars, Polish Tatars, Lipkowie, Lipcani or Mu¶limi, Belarusian Tatars) are a group of Tatars who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of 14th century. The first settlers tried to preserve their shamanistic religion and sought asylum amongst the non-Christian Lithuanians.[1] Towards the end of the 14th century, another wave of Tatars - this time, Muslims, were invited into the Grand Duchy by Vytautas the Great. These Tatars first settled in Lithuania proper around Vilnius, Trakai, Hrodna and Kaunas [1] and later spread to other parts of the Grand Duchy that later became part of Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. These areas comprise present-day Lithuania, Belarus and Poland. From the very beginning of their settlement in Lithuania they were known as the Lipka Tatars. While maintaining their religion, they united their fate with that of the mainly Christian Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. From the Battle of Grunwald onwards the Lipka Tatar light cavalry regiments participated in every significant military campaign of Lithuania and Poland.
The Lipka Tatar origins can be traced back to the descendant states of the Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan - the White Horde, the Golden Horde, the Crimean Khanate and Kazan Khanate. They initially served as a noble military caste but later they became urban-dwellers known for their crafts, horses and gardening skills. Throughout centuries they resisted assimilation and kept their traditional lifestyle. While they remained very attached to their religions, over time however, they lost their original Tatar language and for the most part adopted Polish.[2] There are still small groups of Lipka Tatars living in today's Belarus, Lithuania and Poland, as well as their communities in United States.
Read more about the history of Polish tatars:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipka_Tatars
Past:
Polish Lithuanian Tatar horse riders
1919, Tatars fighting for Poland
Lipkas today
Today there are about 10,000-15,000 Lipka Tatars in the former areas of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The majority of descendants of Tatar families in Poland can trace their descent from the nobles of the early Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Lipka Tatars had settlements in north-east Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, south-east Latvia and Ukraine. Today most reside in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. Most of the Lipka Tatars (80%) assimilated into the ranks of the nobility in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth while some lower noble Tatars assimilated to the Belarusian, Polish, Ukrainian and Lithuanian townsfolk and peasant populations.
Charles Bronson was a descendant of the Lipka Tatars of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which caused many people to think that he looked like a Chicano or Mexican-American who was a Mestizo (mixture of Spanish and Indian ancestry). Thus, due to his looks, Bronson sometimes played characters who were Mexican or who were part-Indian.
A number of the Polish Tatars emigrated to the US at the beginning of 20th century and settled mostly in the north eastern states (although there is also an enclave in Florida). A small but active community of Lipka Tatars exists in New York City. "The Islamic Center of Polish Tatars" in New York City until recently had its own mosque in Brooklyn (106 Powers Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211 USA, originally build in 1928).[2]
After the annexation of eastern Poland into the Soviet Union following World War II, Poland was left with only 2 Tatar villages, Bohoniki and Kruszyniany. A significant number of the Tartars in the territories annexed to the USSR repatriated to Poland and clustered in cities such as Gdañsk, Bia³ystok, Warsaw and Gorzów Wielkopolski totaling some 3,000 people. One of the neighborhoods of Gorzów Wielkopolski where relocated Tatar families resettled has come to be referred to as "the Tatar Hills", or in Polish "Górki Tatarskie".
In 1925 the Muslim Religion Association - Muzu³mañski Zwi±zek Religijny was formed in Poland in Bia³ystok. 1n 1992, the Organization of Tatars of the Polish Republic (Zwi±zek Tatarów Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) with autonomous branches in Bia³ystok and Gdañsk began operating.
In Poland, the Tatar population reached approximately 100,000 in 1630 but the 2002 census showed only 447 people declaring this ethnicity.[5]
In November 2010, a monument to Poland's Tatar populace was unveiled in the port city of Gdansk at a ceremony attended by President Bronislaw Komorowski, as well as Tatar representatives from across Poland and abroad. The monument is a symbol of the important role of Tatars in Polish history.
“Tatars shed their blood in all national independence uprisings. Their blood seeped into the foundations of the reborn Polish Republic,” President Komorowski said at the unveiling.
The monument is the first of its kind to be erected in Europe.
See photos from The Polish Tatars` Festival in 2010:
More
e-suprasl.pl/index.php/2010/08/17/iii-festiwal-kultury-i-tradycji-tatarow-polskich/