Twenty Years' Residence among the People of Turkey: Bulgarians, Greeks, Albanians, Turks, and Armenians

by Fanny Janet Sandison Blunt

In the hilly districts, the cottages of both Mohammedans and Christians are constructed with considerable solidity. The peasants throughout European Turkey are economical and frugal; their wants are few, and they are content with very little. They seldom taste fresh meat, and generally live on rye bread and maize porridge, or beans seasoned with vinegar and pepper. The dairy produce is consumed at home, and on great occasions a young pig or lamb serves as a pièce de résistance, washed down by home-made wine. For pastry they have a cake called Banitza, much relished by all.

The clothing of the peasants is warm and comfortable. It is chiefly composed of woollen stuffs, coarse linen, or cotton cloth. Every single article of wearing apparel is woven, embroidered, and made up by the hands of the women, who are at the same time spinners, weavers, and tailors. When coming to town, and on Prasnik days, coarse socks and sandals are worn; these are also home-made, and their use on other occasions is dispensed with.

The Bulgarian peasant is strong and healthy in appearance. Both in Bulgaria and Macedonia he is a diligent worker. He may not have the smartness and activity of the English laborer, but I have often been assured that, notwithstanding the numerous feast-days he keeps, at the end of the year he is found to have completed almost as much work, for the simple reason that he makes his working-day much longer, and his whole family turn out to assist him; for the women of these districts are as industrious as the men: no sooner are their household tasks accomplished than they join the paterfamilias in the field.

The German and Italian engineers who undertook the construction of the railways in Macedonia repeatedly asserted that the labor of the natives was equal to that of Europeans. In Macedonia, the Italian company, on commencing operations, brought out five hundred Italian navvies to work on the line; but on discovering that the natives, when well paid, well treated, and shown how to set about it, did the work better than the Italians, the latter were sent away. These gentlemen were most warm in their praises of the steadiness of the men and of the excellence of their work; but I must add that they did not omit to study the character of the people and treat them with the kindness and consideration that, in the long-run, never fail to improve and elevate even the most debased.

The Turkish peasants, who are in the minority both in Bulgaria and Macedonia, have also a healthy appearance, added in the former place to a look of audacity, and in the latter to a look of ferocity. The Greek peasant is tall and rather slim, with an intelligent look and a hardy and self-reliant expression.

All the rural population is sober. Greek and Bulgarian peasants have, it is true, every now and then, an orgy; but there is no systematic drunkenness. All the well-to-do farmers and peasants keep a provision of wine and raki, or spirit, but their daily portion is moderate, and excesses are only indulged in on feast-days, and even these are not of a very serious nature.

All the villages, both Greek and Bulgarian, have their Kodja-Bashis, who see to the administration of the village, proportion the taxes, settle petty disputes, attend to the arrival and reception of guests, Zaptiehs and troops, and other wants or necessities of the community.

The Turkish villages bear a more impoverished appearance and look more neglected and decaying than the Christian. This is partly owing to the seclusion of the women, who are little seen about, and, unlike the Christian, never sit working at their doors. They are helpless; do no field work, and very little weaving; and occupy themselves solely about their in-door duties, and as these are not very heavy, they consequently spend much of their time idly. The men are laborious, but not so active and energetic as the Christians. They spend a good deal of time smoking in the coffee-houses of the village, and are much poorer than the Christians. This is due partly to their character and to the absence of all help from their wives, but also in great part to the conscription, which takes many valuable years of labor from the working-man. Drunkenness is rare among Turks of this class, but when chance cases occur they are of the most vicious and incurable kind.

In Macedonia landed property is more unequally divided than in Bulgaria. Great portions of it are united in large estates held by native beys, or by pashas and officials at Constantinople. Some of these estates comprise an immense area, of which only a part is cultivated. They are called Chiftliks; the house, or Konak, on the estate, is the residence of the owner when he visits it, for he seldom resides on his property, but is represented by a Soubashi, or agent. The elegance, dimensions, and comfort of the Konak depend, of course, upon the means and habits of the owner. Some of the more ancient of these edifices are large and spacious, built in the style of the old Konaks at Stamboul; but they present a still more dilapidated and neglected appearance. Others of more recent erection are smaller, but neither more comfortable nor more tidy in appearance. Some, again, are in the form of turrets, which, if not elegant, have at least the merit of being as strong as small fortresses. A large court-yard contains, beside the house, the usual farm buildings. On entering the yard of the best regulated Chiftlik, the first thing that attracts the attention is the air of complete disorder and dirt that pervades the premises. In one or two corners may be seen heaps of refuse, in others broken carts and farm implements standing in the midst of mud-pools and filth of every description, including a collection of old brooms that could never have been worn out in sweeping the place. Among these, children, fowls, geese, ducks, and dogs roam in freedom. The interior of the Konak is usually divided into Haremlik and Selamlik, if sufficiently large. One or two rooms in each department may be furnished with a few hard sofas and dingy calico curtains. The room reserved for the master sometimes presents a somewhat better appearance, its walls decorated with fire-arms, sometimes of beautiful workmanship, and its furniture boasting a deal table and a few chairs. When the Bey intends paying a long visit to his estate and is accompanied by his family, the bedding and other household necessaries are brought from town. It is astonishing to see how little luggage a Turkish family travels with on such an occasion. Each person will have a boghcha,[6] containing his or her wearing apparel; the articles for general use comprise a few candlesticks, petroleum lamps, perhaps two Leyen[7] and Ibrik[8] for ablutions, which in the morning and at meal times make the round of the house; kitchen utensils and a few tumblers, plates, etc., are all that is needed for the Villeggiatura of a Turkish family.

The way in which the Bey spends his time on his estate is also regulated by the means and tastes of the individual. If he be a sportsman, he will have a battue on his lands and enjoy the pleasures of the chase. Should he be addicted to drinking and debauchery, he has every means of indulging his taste. His duties as landlord consist in regulating accounts with his agent, hearing the cases that need his interference, giving general instructions for future operations, and, above all, realizing the profits. As to improving his estate, ameliorating the condition of the tenants, beautifying the property by planting trees and laying out gardens, such things are never thought of or known to have been practised by any large land-owner in Macedonia.