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2010-10-14 Europe

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Posted by trailing wife 2010-10-14 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 I was surprised to learn that Muslim Tartars have been living in Poland since the 1400's.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-10-14 03:36|| 2010-10-14 03:36|| Front Page Top

#2 There's only about 2000 Polish Tarters in Poland. Seems like a pretty big center for 2000 people.
Or are they going to proselytize and stir up trouble... ya think?

(Lipka Tatars and Islam in Poland

From the 13th to 17th centuries various groups of Tatars settled and/or found refuge within the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth. This was promoted especially by the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, because of their deserved reputation as skilled warriors. The Tatar settlers were all granted with szlachta (~ nobility) status, a tradition that was preserved until the end of the Commonwealth in the 18th century. They included the Lipka Tatars (13-14 centuries) as well as Crimean and Nogay Tatars (15th-16th centuries), all of which were noticeable in Polish military history, as well as Kazan Tatars (16th-17th centuries). They all mostly settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, lands that are now in Lithuania and Belarus.

Various estimates of the number of Tatars in the Commonwealth in the 17th century range from 15,000 persons to 60 villages with mosques. Numerous royal privileges, as well as internal autonomy granted by the monarchs allowed the Tatars to preserve their religion, traditions and culture over the centuries. The Tatars were allowed to intermarry with Christians, a thing uncommon in Europe at the time. The May Constitution of 1791 gave the Tatars representation in the Polish Sejm.

Although by the 18th century the Tatars adopted the local language, the Islamic religion and many Tatar traditions (e.g. the sacrifice of bulls in their mosques during the main religious festivals) were preserved. This led to formation of a distinctive Muslim culture, in which the elements of Muslim orthodoxy mixed with religious tolerance and a relatively liberal society. For instance, the women in Lipka Tatar society traditionally had the same rights and status as men, and could attend non-segregated schools.

About 5,500 Tatars lived within the inter-war boundaries of Poland (1920-1939), and a Tatar cavalry unit had fought for the country's independence. The Tatars had prserved their cultural identity and sustained a number of Tatar organisations, including a Tatar archives, and a museum in Wilno (Vilnius).

The Tatars suffered serious losses during World War II and furthermore, after the border change in 1945 a large part of them found themselves in the Soviet Union. It is estimated that about 3000 Tatars live in present-day Poland, of which about 500 declared Tatar (rather than Polish) nationality in the 2002 census. )

Posted by Dinah Kanser 2010-10-14 13:38|| 2010-10-14 13:38|| Front Page Top

#3 sorry, correct to: 3000 Polish Tarters

Posted by Dinah Kanser 2010-10-14 13:39|| 2010-10-14 13:39|| Front Page Top

#4 It's not for the Tarters, Dinah. From the article:

The country has a growing Muslim community, fed by immigrants from Syria, Iraq and Libya, who are attracted by Poland's membership of the European Union.

The Islamic cultural center being built in Warsaw has been designed to fit in with Polish architectural tradition. Salim Ismail of The Polish Islamic League stressed that care was taken to avoid symbols that Poland's Roman Catholic majority might find offensive. "There is no minaret to remind the faithful of prayer times," Ismail said. "Our idea was to make the center multi-functional We want to build bridges and forge contacts."

Not a rabat like the Ground Zero mosque. Not yet, at least.

Posted by trailing wife 2010-10-14 15:02|| 2010-10-14 15:02|| Front Page Top

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