Vallahades

[7][8] The Vallahades were descendants of Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodox Christians from southwestern Greek Macedonia, with their conversion to Islam likely occurring in stages between the 16th and 19th centuries.

These events ranged from the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, and especially the repercussions of the Orlov Revolt in the Peloponnese, during the period when Albanians exerted significant influence in Macedonia, referred to by some Greek sources as[unbalanced opinion?]

'Albanokratia',[further explanation needed] and the policies[specify] of Ali Pasha of Ioannina, who governed areas of western Greek Macedonia and Thessaly as well as most of Epirus in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

A credible mid 19th c. source is the Greek B. Nikolaides who visited the area and interviewed local Vallahades and recorded oral traditions about their origins, customs etc.

[9] Nevertheless, the Vallahades were still considered to be relatively wealthy and industrious peasants for their part of Macedonia, which is why their prospective inclusion in the population exchange between Greece and Turkey was opposed by the governor of Kozani.

The Vallahades' preservation of their Greek language and culture, and adherence to forms of Islam that lay on the fringes of mainstream Ottoman Sunni Islam, explains other traits they became noted for; such as the use of an uncanonical call to prayer (adhan or ezan) in their village mosques that was itself actually in Greek rather than Arabic, their worship in mosques which did not have minarets and doubled as Bektashi lodges or tekkes (leading some visitors to southwestern Macedonia to conclude that the Vallahades had no mosques, based on their observations), and their limited adherence to mainstream Sunni Islamic practices and beliefs, as observed by contemporaries.

Consequently, pressure from the local military, the press, and the incoming Greek Orthodox refugees from Asia Minor and northeastern Anatolia meant the Vallahades were not exempted from the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey of 1922–23.

[19] The Vallahades resettled particularly in East Thrace (e.g. Kumburgaz, Büyükçekmece, Çatalca, Çorlu, Lüleburgaz, and Edirne), but also in Asia Minor (e.g. Honaz, Manisa, and Samsun).