Krashovani

{{Infobox ethnic group|

|group=Krashovani

|population=5,000{{cn|date=October 2021}}

|popplace={{flagcountry|Romania}} (Caraș-Severin County)

|rels=Predominantly Catholic

}}

The Krashovani ({{langx|ro|Carașoveni}}, {{langx|hr|Krašovani}}) are a Croat community inhabiting Carașova and Lupac in the Caraș-Severin County within Romanian Banat. They are Catholic by faith and speak a Torlakian dialect.

Names

In Romanian, they are commonly known as Carașoveni; other variants include Carșoveni, Cârșoveni, Cotcoreți or Cocoși. In Croatian, they are commonly known as Krašovani; other variants include Karašovani, Krašovanje, Karaševci and Koroševci.

Settlements

Krashovani, declared as Croats, form a majority in two communes of Caraș-Severin County: Carașova and Lupac.

Carașova commune
Carașova (Karaševo)
Nermed (Neremić)
Iabalcea (Jabalče)
Lupac commune
Clocotici (Klokotič)
Rafnic (Ravnik)
Vodnic (Vodnik)
Lupac (Lupak)

Identity

The Krashovani are adhere to the Catholic Church and identify their language as Croatian.{{cite book|title=Гласник Етнографског института|volume=42-43|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WxOAAAAAMAAJ|year=1993|publisher=Научно дело|page=11}} Their dialect is regarded a sub-dialect of the Torlak dialect,{{cite book|author=Dalibor Brozović|title=Hrvatska enciklopedija: O-Pre|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ewUTAQAAMAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Leksikografski zavod "Miroslav Krleža"|isbn=978-953-6036-29-5|page=675}} a transitional dialect spoken in southeastern Serbia, westernmost Bulgaria and northeastern Macedonia.

According to the 2002 census in Romania, the population of the Carașova commune comprised 84.60% Croats, 4.96% others, 4.47% Roma, 4.41% Romanians and others.{{cite web|title=Structura etno-demografică pe arii geografice: Carașova|publisher=Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center|url=http://www.edrc.ro/recensamant.jsp?regiune_id=1832&judet_id=1909&localitate_id=1930}} 93.12% of the population in that commune declared their mother tongue as Croatian. Only 207 persons declared Krashovani ethnicity in the 2002 census.{{in lang|ro}} [http://www.recensamant.ro/pagini/rezultate.html# Recensământ 2002. Rezultate: Populaţia după etnie la recensământul din 2002] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080325223653/http://www.recensamant.ro/pagini/rezultate.html%23 |date=March 25, 2008 }}; retrieved November 10, 2007

History

Their ancestors first settled Carașova in the 13th and 14th centuries from northwestern Bosnia.{{cite book|author1=Marius Rotar|author2=Adriana Teodorescu|author3=Corina Rotar|title=Dying and Death in 18th-21st Century Europe: Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmwxBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA19|date=17 March 2014|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-5746-8|pages=19–}} They formed a community in the northern plateau of the Caraș river, in seven villages, the oldest, Carașova, being mentioned in the 13th and 14th centuries while the rest are first mentioned in the 17th century.

Serbian ethnographer Jovan Cvijić concluded that the community was "very old settlers with origin in Crna Reka who were Catholicised"; Stanko Žuljić claims that their origin is in Turopolje, in Croatia.{{cite book|author=Stanko Žuljić|title=Srpski etnos i velikosrpstvo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1XFpAAAAMAAJ|year=1997|publisher=AGM|pages=110, 274|isbn=9789531740838}}

The Carașoveni were considered Bulgarians by some Bulgarian scientists in the first half of the 20th century (such as G. Cibrus, M. Mladenov, K. Telbizov, and T. Balkanski), partially based on their view that Torlakian-speakers are ethnically Bulgarians.{{cn|date=October 2021}}

According to the Austrian population census there were over 10,000 Carașoveni in Banat. In the 1847 census over 10,000 people declared as Carașoveni. In 1896 the Austro-Hungarian census around 7,500 Carașoveni were listed. The same was stated by the authorities of the Kingdom of Romania in 1940. Their number dropped to 2,775 in 1992.Spațiul istoric și etnic românesc, Vol.I, Editura Militară, Bucharest, 1992

The Union of Croats of Romania ({{langx|hr|Zajedništvo Hrvata u Rumunjskoj}}, ZHR; {{langx|ro|Uniunea Croaților din România}}, UCR) is an ethnic minority political party in Romania representing the Croatian community.

References

=Dialectology=

{{cite book |date=2015 |first=Миља Н. |last=Радан |title=Фонетика и фонологија карашевских говора данас: прилог проучавању српских говорa у Румунији |url=https://digitalna.ff.uns.ac.rs/sites/default/files/db/books/978-86-6065-284-5.pdf |isbn=978-86-6065-332-3 |language=sr |trans-title=Phonetics and Phonology of Krashovani Dialects Today: Contribution to the Study of Serbian Dialects in Romania}}
{{cite journal |date=2011 |first1=Миља Н. |last1=Радан |first2=Миљана Радмила |last2=Ускату |title=Нови прилог карашевској крсној слави |pages=91-142 |journal=Темишварски зборник |issn=0354-6721 |volume=6 |url=http://www.maticasrpska.org.rs/stariSajt/casopisi/temisvarski_zbornik_6.pdf |location=Novi Sad |trans-title=A new contribution regarding the Karašovan celebration of the patron saint}}
Review: {{cite journal |date=2012-09-06 |first=Josip |last=Lisac |title=Karaševci nisu ekavci |url=https://www.matica.hr/vijenac/482/karasevci-nisu-ekavci-18971 |journal=Vijenac |eissn=1333-9249 |issue=482 |language=hr |trans-title=Karaševci are not Ekavians}}
{{cite book |date=2000 |first=Миља Н. |last=Радан |title=Карашевски говори данас: Фонетика и фонологија |language=sr |trans-title=Krashovani Dialects Today: Phonetics and Phonology}}