Laz people

Laz, Lazi
(ლაზი, ლაზეფე)

Statue of a Laz man and woman in Arhavi (Ark'abi), Turkey
Regions with significant populations
Turkey	1.6 million or 500,000 to 1,000,000 or 250,000 or 45,000 to 500,000
Georgia	2,000
Russia	160
Languages
Laz, Georgian, Turkish
Religion
Sunni Islam, Georgian Orthodox
Related ethnic groups
Mingrelians, Svans and other groups of Georgians

The Laz people or Lazi ([ლაზი lazi] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help); Georgian: [ლაზი, lazi; or ჭანი, ch'ani] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help); Turkish: Laz) are an indigenous Kartvelian-speaking ethnic group inhabiting the Black Sea coastal regions of Turkey and Georgia.

Estimates of the total population of the Laz people today vary drastically, with numbers as low as 45,000 to as high as 1.6 million people, with the majority living in northeast Turkey. The Laz speak the Laz language, a member of the same Kartvelian language family as Georgian, Svan, and Mingrelian. The Laz language is classified as endangered by UNESCO, with an estimated 130,000 to 150,000 speakers in 2001.

Etymology

The earliest attestations of the exonym Lazica date around the 2th century BC. The Lazi people themselves are first certainly attested by Pliny (NH 6.4.12). The ethnonym ‘Laz’ is unhesitatingly linked to an Svan toponym La-zan (i.e. La = territorial prefix+Zan <-> Chan) ‘country of the Zans’. 

After the losing of the ancient metropolis, Phasis, Trebizond became the metropolitan see of 'Lazica'. it appears that Lazia became the general Greek name for the western Colchian tribes (the earlier known as Zianni, or Zanni, Tzanni, Šanni and Thanni) lying outside of the direct control of the Lazic Kingdom.

The Colchians of Pontus, or the Chani (Greek: Τζανοί, romanized: Tzanoi) were called the "Lazi" (Greek: Λαζοί, romanized: Lazoi) at the time when the great Caucasian state of Lazica existed on the traditional territory of Colchis, in the Rioni (or Phasis) valley basin. The Pontic Lazi (Chani/Tzanoi), which later were incorporated within the Byzantine Empire, and differed from the Colchian Lazi, have retained the old name "Lazi" till today.

Origins

The Laz are ethnically a branch of the Georgian people. The ancestors of the Laz (including the Chaldaeans, the Tzans, and many others) are cited by many classical authors from Scylax (sixth century b.c.) to Procopius and Agathias (both 6th century A.D.), but the Laz themselves are cited by Pliny as early as the first century A.D. from this period the terms “Colchian” and “Laz” were often interchangeable.

According to the scholar of the Caucasian studies Cyril Toumanoff:

Colchis appears as the first Caucasian State to have achieved the coalescence of the newcomer, Colchis can be justly regarded as not a proto-Georgian, but a Georgian (West Georgian) kingdom ... It would seem natural to seek the beginnings of Georgian social history in Colchis, the earliest Georgian formation.

History

Main article: Lazica

Antiquity

Ancient Georgian states of Colchis and Iberia, 500–400 BC

In the 13th century BC, the Kingdom of Qulha or Kolkhis (Colchis) was formed as a result of the increasing consolidation of the tribes inhabiting the region, which covered modern western Georgia and the modern Turkish provinces of Trabzon and Rize.

Later the region was overrun by the Cimmerians and Scythians in the 730s-720s BC. The Cimmerians spread throughout Anatolia and still today there are many places named Kemer as a record of their presence, including some villages in Rize. The advanced economy and favourable geographic and natural conditions of the area attracted the Greek colonists, according to Pliny the Elder, from 670 BC onwards the Aegean Ancient Greek community of Miletus established a series of trading posts along the Black Sea coast; One of these was Trapezus ([ტამტრა Tamtra] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)).

By the 6th century BC, the region had become officially a part of the Achaemenid Empire. The tribes living in southern Colchis (Tibareni, Mossynoeci, Macrones, Moschi, and Marres) were incorporated into the 19th Satrapy of Persia. later the Persian armies were defeated by Alexander the Great. Following the death of Alexander a number of separate kingdoms were established in Anatolia including Bithynia and Cappadoccia and in this corner of the eastern Black Sea, Pontus, ruled by Mithridates, a Persian nobleman from Asia Minor. During the 2rd and 1st century BC, while the kingdom grew in strength, Pharnaces was able to incorporate surrounding eastern black sea coastline, including Laz populated areas into the Kingdom.

As a result of the brilliant Roman campaigns led by the generals Pompey and Lucullus, the Kingdom of Pontus was completely destroyed by the Romans and all its territory, including Colchis, was incorporated into the Roman Empire. The former southern provinces of Colchis were re-organized by the Romans into the Roman province of Pontus Polemoniacus, while northern Cholchis became the Roman province of Lazicum, with Emperor Nero later incorporating it into the Province of Pontus in 63 AD, and successively in Cappadocia by Domitian in 81 AD.

Despite the fact that all major fortresses along the seacoast were occupied by the Romans, their rule was pretty loose. In 69 AD, the people of Pontus and Colchis under Anicetus staged a major uprising against the Romans which ended unsuccessfully.

In the 3rd century AD, the Lazi tribe came to dominate most of Colchis, establishing the kingdom of Lazica, locally known as Egrisi.

Middle Ages

The kingdom of Lazica in Late Antiquity

Beyond Rhizaeum there was a territory occupied by the Tzannoi or Sannoi, situated between the jurisdiction of the Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom of Lazica. Settlements such as Athenae, Archabis and Apsarus were neither subject of the Romans nor of the king of Lazica, except the fact that the bishops of Lazica appointed Lazian priests.

During the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) the warlike tribes, called Sannoi or Tzannoi, were subdued, christianized and brought under central rule. locals began to have closer contact with the Greeks and acquired various Hellenic cultural traits, including in some cases the language. Colchis-Lazica was a scene of the protracted rivalry between the Eastern Roman and Sassanid empires, culminating in the Lazic War from 542 to 562. But Emperor Heraclius's offensive in 628 AD brought victory over the Persians and ensured Roman predominance in Lazica until the invasion and conquest of the Caucasus by the Arabs in the second half of the 7th century.

The Lazica fell to the Muslim conquest in the 7th century. in the 8th century Lazica-Abasgian allied forces successfully repelled the Arab occupation and formed the Kingdom of Abkhazia from c. 780. The successful defense against the Arabs, and new territorial gains, gave the Abkhazian princes enough power to claim more autonomy from the Byzantine Empire. Towards circa 786, Leon won his full independence with the help of the Khazars.

Annexion of Lazica by the Abkhazians ousted the Tzan-Laz from western Georgia; thereafter, the Laz lived under nominal Byzantine suzerainty in the region of Chaldia. The coastal regions of the southern Black Sea of the Byzantine Empire were populated not so much by Greeks as by Lazic-Chaneans. With the collapse of direct Byzantine rule in eastern Anatolia after the Crusader Capture of Constantinople in 1204, the theme of Chaldia, was turned into the Empire of Trebizond. Central parts of this new empire, mainly the rural areas, appear to have been predominantly Laz in ethnic composition, while the Laz would also monopolize its coastal shipping and even transporting Trapezuntine troops in their small craft. The Constantinople emperors called the Trapezuntine emperors “Kings of the Laziks”. In the eastern part of the same empire, an autonomous coastal theme of Greater Lazia was created, containing the strips of land between modern Pazar, Ardeşen and the Arhavi and Hopa areas; the borders of this administrational district remained basically identical over the next 300 years.

Laz family names, with Hellenized terminations, are noticeable in the records of the mediaeval empire of Trebizond, and it is perhaps not too venturesome to suggest that the antagonism (Trapezuntine Civil War) between the "town-party" and the "country-party," which existed in the politics of "the Empire," was in fact a national antagonism of Laz against Greek. Byzantine authors, such as Pachymeres, and to some extent Trapezuntines such as Lazaropoulos and Bessarion, regarded the Trapezuntian Empire as being no more than a Lazian border state.

After the Mongols had driven the Georgian queen Rusudan from Tbilisi, her son David VI of Georgia was elected king by the 'Iberian' and 'Lazian' tribes, who had hitherto remained independent, his capital was at Kutasion in Imerathia. David VI attempted to restore Georgian influence in the Empire of Trebizond. For this purpose, he marched to Trebizond in April 1282; besieged the capital. Though King David failed to take the city, the Georgians occupied several provinces and all the Trebizontine province of Iberia threw off its allegiance, and united itself with the new Georgian Kingdom of Imereti.

Early Modern era

Sanjak of Lazistan, Ottoman Anatolia, 1914

Laz populated area, also known as Lazia was remaining as part of Georgian duchies, until 1547, when it was finally conquered by Ottomans. under the Ottoman Empire, Lazia became the Lazistan Sanjak as part of eyalet (province) of Trabzon. Under Turkish rule, the great Ottoman-built coastal fortress of Gonia, completed in 1547, was the capital of Lazistan; then Batum served as the capital until the latter was acquired by the Russians in 1878. Thereafter, Rize became the capital of the sanjak and remains so to this day.

however, not only were the pashas (governors) of Trabzon native Laz until the 19th century, but real authority in many of the cazas (districts) of each sanjak by the mid-17th century lay in the hands of relatively independent derebeys ("valley-lords"), whose power was not really broken until the assertion of Ottoman authority during the reforms of the 1850s.

The autonomous Lazistan sanjak existed until the end of the empire in 1923. the designation of the term of Lazistan was officially banned in 1926, by Kemalists. region was divided between Rize and Artvin provinces. In 1801, the Laz living in Georgia became members of the Russian Empire and eventually became Soviet citizens after World War I.

according to Turkish historian and geographer Evliya Çelebi (The Book of Travels): “Turkish (sailors) seafarers” who were mostly coastal tribes of the southern and south-eastern Black Sea, were notably the Lazik-Chanians and Abkhazians.

Population and geographical distribution

Further information: Laz people in Turkey

The total population of the Laz today is only estimated, with numbers ranging widely. The majority of Laz live in Turkey, where the national census does not record ethnic data on minor populations.

Self-identification

Laz identity in Georgia has largely merged with a Georgian identity, and the meaning of "Laz" is seen as merely a regional category. At the same time, in Turkey, the term Laz is a 'folk' definition for people of different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds originating from the eastern Black sea region. Officially, the Laz people are not recognized as a minority. Thus, many Turks do not even know about their diverse existence and falsely call the inhabitants of the Black Sea coast as the "Lazlar". Within the last decade more and more intellectual Laz people realized that the disappearance of their language would lead to the disappearance of their identity and tried to preserve their inherited culture through political empowerment, linguistic education, and music and poetry.

Area

The majority of the Laz today live in an area they call Laziǩa, Lazistan or Lazona (ლაზონა) name of the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Laz people in Northeast Turkey, in a strip of land along the shore of the Black Sea and part of Southwest Georgia. the designation of the term of Lazistan was officially banned in 1926 by Kemalists, the name was considered to be an 'unpatriotic' invention of ancien regime. Geographically, Lazistan consists of a series of narrow, rugged valleys extending northward from the crest of the Pontic Alps (Turkish: Anadolu Daglari), which separate it from the Ch'orokh Valley, and stretches east-west along the southern shore of the Black Sea.

Laz ancestral lands are not well-defined and there is no official geographic definition for the boundaries of Lazistan. However, the following provinces are usually included:

• Adjara region in Georgia
• Artvin province in Turkey
• Rize province in Turkey
• Trabzon province in Turkey

Settlements

The Laz are the majority in the Pazar (ათინა/Atina), Ardeşen (არტაშენი/Art'aşeni) and Fındıklı (ვიწე/Vitze) districts of Rize, and in the Arhavi (არქაბი/Ark'abi) and Hopa (ხოფა/Xopa) districts of Artvin. They live as minorities in the neighbouring Çamlıhemşin (ვიჯა/Vija), Borçka (ბორჩხა/Borçxa), and İkizdere (Xuras) districts. There are also communities in northwestern Anatolia (Karamürsel in Kocaeli, Akçakoca in Düzce, Sakarya, Zonguldak, Bartın), where many immigrants settled since the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878), and now also in Istanbul and Ankara.

The Laz in Georgia are chiefly centered in the country's southwestern autonomous republic of Adjara. The largest Laz villages in Adjara are: Sarpi, Kvariati, Gonio and Makho. The Laz also live in Batumi, Kobuleti, Zugdidi and Tbilisi. Laz identity in Georgia has largely merged with a Georgian identity, and the meaning of "Laz" is seen as merely a regional category.

Small expatriate communities of Laz are also present in Belgium, France, Germany and Russia.

Economy

The traditional Laz economy was based on agriculture—carried out with some difficulty in the steep mountain regions—and also on the breeding of sheep, goats, and cattle. Orchards were tended and bees were kept, and the food supply was augmented by hunting. The only industries were smelting, celebrated since ancient times, and the cutting of timber used for shipbuilding.

Culture

A Laz newspaper in 1928

Over the past 20 years, there has been an upsurge of cultural activities aiming at revitalizing the Laz language, education and tradition. Koyuncu, who in 1998 became the first Laz musician to gain mainstream success, contributed significantly to the identity of the Laz people, especially among their youth. The Laz Cultural Institute was founded in 1993 and the Laz Culture Association in 2008, and a Laz cultural festival was established in Gemlik. The Laz community successfully lobbied Turkey's Education Ministry to offer Laz-language instruction in schools around the Black Sea region. In 2013, the Education Ministry added Laz as a four-year elective course for secondary students, beginning in the fifth grade.

Discrimination against the Laz people

During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, the Muslim population of Russia near the war zones was subjected to ethnic cleansing; many Lazes living in Batumi fled to the Ottoman Empire, settling along the southern Black Sea coast to the east of Samsun.

The term ‘Lazistan’ is also used for the region of the Laz in Turkey, but the region does not cover all the Laz territory. In addition Lazistan is a virtually a forbidden term in Turkey.

Hüseyin Avni Alparslan (1877–1921), a Turkish soldier and author of books about Turkish language and culture, was inspired by the efforts of Enver Pasha, writing in his book Trabzon İli Lâz mı? Türk mü? (Is the Trabzon province Laz or Turkish?) that

If we want to be the owner of our country, then we should turn even the name of the smallest village into Turkish and not leave its Armenian, Greek or Arabic variants. Only in this way can we paint our country with its colors.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the leader of the early decades of the Republic, aimed to create a nation state (Turkish: Ulus) from the Turkish remnants of the Ottoman Empire. During the first three decades of the Republic, efforts to Turkify geographical names were a recurring theme. Imported maps containing references to historical regions such as Armenia, Kurdistan, or Lazistan (the official name of the province of Rize until 1921) were prohibited (as was the case with Der Grosse Weltatlas, a map published in Leipzig).

Percentage of geographical name changes in Turkey from 1916 onwards

Neil Ascherson (1996) wrote in his book Black Sea, about a German intellectual, Wolfgang Feuerstein, who worked in a little village in the Black Forest to rescue the Lazi from assimilation. Feuerstein, who first visited the Laz country in 1960, was fascinated by the distinctive unwritten Laz language and realized that the Lazi were what Germans call a Volk with a rich folk-identity, which was about to be lost forever.

Cultural assimilation into the Turkish culture has been high, and Laz identity was oppressed during the days of Ottoman and Soviet Rule. One of the pivotal moments was in 1992, when the book Laz History (Lazların tarihi) was published. The authors had failed to have it published in 1964.

Most Laz people today live in Turkey, but the Laz minority group has no official status in Turkey. The number of the Laz speakers is decreasing, and is now limited chiefly to the Rize and Artvin areas.

Language

Further information: Laz language

Distribution of the Kartvelian languages

Lazuri is a complex and morphologically rich tongue belonging to the South Caucasian language family whose other members are Mingrelian, Svanetian, and Georgian. The Laz language does not have a written history, thus Turkish and Georgian serve as the main literary languages for the Laz people. Their folk literature has been transmitted orally and has not been systematically recorded. The first attempts at establishing a distinct Laz cultural identity and creating a literary language based on the Arabic alphabet was made by Faik Efendisi in the 1870s, but he was soon imprisoned by the Ottoman authorities, while most of his works were destroyed. During a relative cultural autonomy granted to the minorities in the 1930s, the written Laz literature—based on the Laz script—emerged in Soviet Georgia, strongly dominated by Soviet ideology. The poet Mustafa Baniṣi spearheaded this short-lived movement, but an official standard form of the tongue was never established. Since then, several attempts have been made to render the pieces of native literature in the Turkish and Georgian alphabets. A few native poets in Turkey such as Raşid Hilmi and Pehlivanoğlu have appeared later in the 20th century.

Religion

One of the chief tribes of ancient kingdom of Colchis, the Laz were converted to Christianity while living under the Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom of Georgia. In the relatively limited territory of Empire of Trebizond there was enough room for three dioceses: Trebizond, which was the only diocese established far in the past, Cerasous and Rizaion in Lazia, both formed as upgraded bishoprics. All three dioceses survived the Ottoman conquest (1461) and generally operated until the 17th century, when the dioceses of Cerasous and Rizaion were abolished. the diocese of Rizaion and the bishopric of Of were abolished at the time due to the Islamisation of the Lazs. most of them subsequently converted to Sunni Islam.

There are also a few Christian Laz in the Adjaria region of Georgia who have converted to Christianity.

Mythology

Famous for its saga and myths and bounded by the Black Sea and the Caucasian Mountains, the ancient region of Colchis spreads out from West Georgia to Northeast Turkey. The famous tale in Greek mythology of the Golden Fleece in which Jason and the Argonauts stole the Golden Fleece from King Aeetes, with the help of his daughter Medea, has brought Colchis into the history books. Yet little is known about the history, people, and language of Colchis.

Music

The national instruments include guda (bagpipe), kemenche (spike fiddle), zurna (oboe), and doli (drum). In the 1990s and 2000s, the folk-rock musician Kâzım Koyuncu attained to significant popularity in Turkey and toured Georgia. Koyuncu, who died of cancer in 2005, was also an activist for the Laz people and has become a cultural hero.

Dance

Extension and distribution of folk dances in Turkey

The Laz are noted for their folk dances, called the Horon dance of the Black Sea, originally of pagan worship which was to become a sacred ritual dance. Their are many different types of this dance in different regions. Horon is related to those performed by the Ajarians known as Khorumi. These may be solemn and precise, performed by lines of men, with carefully executed footwork, or extremely vigorous with the men dancing erect with hands linked, making short rapid movements with their feet, punctuated by dropping to a crouch. The women's dances are graceful but more swift in movement than those encountered in Georgia. In Greece such dances are still associated with the Pontic Greeks who emigrated from this region after 1922.

Cuisine

Laz cuisine specialities include:

Mıhlama – a filling corn meal, butter, and cheese fondue;

Hamsi pilavı – spiced rice enclosed in fried Black Sea anchovies;

Kuru fasulye – white beans in a tomato sauce;

Laz böreği – a custard filled baklava like dessert;

Karadeniz pidesi – an elongated and closed form of the popular pide dish.

Postcard of Laz soldiers dressed in national clothes (Trabzon, Turkey).

Traditional clothing

The traditional Laz men's costume consists of a peculiar bandanalike kerchief covering the entire head above the eyes, knotted on the side and hanging down to the shoulder and the upper back; a snug-fitting jacket of coarse brown homespun with loose sleeves; and baggy dark brown woolen trousers tucked into slim, knee-high leather boots. The women's costume was similar to the wide-skirted princess gown found throughout Georgia but worn with a similar kerchief to that of the men and with a rich scarf tied around the hips. Laz men crafted excellent homemade rifles and even while at the plow were usually seen bristling with arms: rifle, pistol, powder horn, cartridge belts across the chest, a dagger at the hip, and a coil of rope for trussing captives.

Notable Lazs

• Mircan Kaia, Turkish musician and songwriter.
• Ioane Lazi, a Georgian theologian and philosopher, со-author of the works of the  Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite.
• Ioane Petritsi, a Georgian Neoplatonist philosopher of the 11th-12th century, active in the Byzantine Empire and Kingdom of Georgia, best known for his translations of Proclus, along with an extensive commentary.
• Laz Aziz Ahmed Paşa, an Ottoman statesman. He was as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire briefly between 1811-1812.
• İskender Chitaşi, a Laz Linguist, writer and activist.
• Sezen Aksu, a Turkish pop music singer, songwriter and producer who has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Her nicknames include the "Queen of Turkish Pop" and Minik Serçe ("Little Sparrow").
• Nur Yerlitaş, Turkish fashion designer.
• Giorgi Tugushi, ex-Minister of Corrections and Legal Assistance of Georgia (MCLA).
• Sopho Khalvashi, a Laz singer from Georgia, was a finalist at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.
• Kâzım Koyuncu, Turkish singer-songwriter and activist.
• Nebahat Çehre, Turkish actress, model, and singer who was crowned Miss Turkey 1960.
• Mehmet Bekaroğlu, Turkish human rights activist, scientist, professor, psychiatrist, writer and politician.
• Turgay Ciner, Turkish businessman and billionaire.
• Şerif Sezer, Turkish actress.
• Resul Dindar, Turkish singer.
• Gregorios Meizomates, Trapezuntine general-in-chief 
• Leo Kabasites, Trapezuntine Grand-domestikos.
• John Kabasites, Trapezuntine grand-chancellor of the finances
• Michael Meizomates, marshal of the Trebizond.
• Stephanos Tzanichites, grand-constable of Trebizond Empire.

• Hasan Helimishi, Georgian painter and poet.
• Hüsnü Çakır,Turkish politician.
• Ruşen Çakır, Turkish Journalist.
• Serdar Özbayraktar, a Turkish football player who last played for Ümraniyespor in the striker and right winger positions.
• Ali İhsan Aksamaz, Turkish writer and researcher.
• Besim Tibuk, Businessperson.
• Birol Topaloğlu, a folk music artist.
• Cavit Şadi Pehlivanoğlu, a Turkish statesman, who served as a legislator of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for three terms between 1961 an 1996, first as a member of Justice Party (Turkey) and then as the Vice President of Motherland Party (Turkey).
• Cengiz Kurtoğlu, Turkish musician, pianist and singer.
• Lütfi Çırakoğlu, Turkish politician.
• Muhammed Şahin, a Turkish academic. He is the former rector of Istanbul Technical University (2008-2012), and the founding rector of MEF University (2013 – present).
• Murat Murğulişi,a Turkish novelist and story writer.
• Toprak Sağlam, a Turkish actress.
• Yaşar Yakış, a Turkish politician. He is a former Foreign Minister, and a former ambassador to the UN Office in Vienna, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.
• İsmail Bilen, a Turkish politician. He was elected as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Turkey in 1974.

See also

• Adjarians
• Pontian Greeks
• Chveneburi
• Chepni
• Hemshin

References

• Andrews, Peter (ed.). 1989. Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. pp. 497–501.
• Benninghaus, Rüdiger. 1989. "The Laz: an example of multiple identification". In: Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey, edited by P. Andrews.
• Bryer, Anthony. 1969. The last Laz risings and the downfall of the Pontic Derebeys, 1812–1840, Bedi Kartlisa 26. pp. 191–210.
• Hewsen, Robert H. Laz. World Culture Encyclopedia. Accessed on September 1, 2007.
• Negele, Jolyon. Turkey: Laz Minority Passive In Face Of Assimilation. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 25 June 1998

External links

• Laz Culture Association (Turkish)
• Lazca.org: Culture, News and Information (Turkish)
• Lazebura.com: Culture, News and Information (Turkish)
• Lazuri.com: Culture Portal (Turkish)