The Contribution of the White Croats in a process of ethnogenesis of Ukrainians
Journal Title: Eminak - Year 2016, Vol 1, Issue 1
Abstract
The article deals with the origin and migration of White Croats. An attempt to find the etymology of their ethnonym is made. Nowadays there is no certainty about the precise process of ethnogenesis of Croats. The existing hypotheses sometimes are completely opposite in meaning. However, one could argue that the Carpathian Croats crystallized from a conglomerate of a number of ethnic groups – a migrants from the east and an autochthons of Western Ukraine. Most researchers are inclined to think about the Iranian origin of the ethnonym «Croats», as evidenced by the toponymic and linguistic arguments. The Carpathian (autochthonous) theory is a quite common, according to which the Croats got their name in the Western Ukraine. Also other theories are presented: Gothic, Turkic, Sarmatian-Alanian etc. The social and political development of the Croatian tribes in Ukraine are shown. A strong feudal Croatian state was formed as a result of wars between the Croats and Avar khanate in the last quarter of the VI century and on the beginning of the VII century. Many found Byzantine and Arabian coins in Halychyna are explained by international trade between these regions and Carpathian area. Due to the development of trade relations in the Croats appear the settlements, in which the Croatian political administration is concentrated. The major administrative centers of White Croatia were Przemysl, Stilsko and Galich. In the tenth century the Carpathian Croatia has appeared under economic (and later under the political) influence of Kievan Rus’. The remains of the Croatian State saved in the Carpathian region as Peremyslian and later (from 1141) – as Galician principality. The local nobility has saved own influence, becoming the Galician «boyarstvo» (nobility). Becoming as a part of Kievan Empire, the Croats continued to create Ukrainian history. The parallels between the Croats and the Ukrainians of the Carpathians in toponymic, linguistic, ethnographic and others features are analyzed in the article. Ukrainian culture of the Carpathian region formed on the cultural traditions of the White Croats. The ancestors of the South Slavs in the Carpathian region were immediate neighbours of the modern Carpathian Ukrainians and thus formed the modern Ukrainian language affinity. Maybe the Croatian language was the official in Galicia until the twelfth century because the Galician Gospel was written in 1144 by this language. Croatian influence also contains «the Word about Igor’s regiment» («Slovo o polku Ihorevim»). The assumption is suggested about the identity of the White Croats and the population of the Ukrainians in the Carpathians on the basis of linguistic, ethnographic and other materials. In general, many parallels between the Croats and the Ukrainian Galicians – in ancient times and today – indicate that the White Carpathian Croats have not disappeared, but were integrated into Ukrainian nation (in particular its west part) while maintaining the uniqueness of its regional character. The descendants of the White Croats on our western territories is today’s Lemkos, Boykos, Hutsuls and Transcarpathians. White Croatia is an important and integral part of the history of the Ukrainians and the Croats.
Authors and Affiliations
Mykola Nahirnyj
Keywords
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