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• Ethnic/religious groups of Habsburg Empire
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• Pecs, Hungary: collision point between
Muslim and Christian empires
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• Islamic Mujahidin vs. Christian Spain
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• An analysis of Mussolini's 1938 racialist legislation
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• Yugoslavia's independent break from East and West
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• History of Jihad in Chechnya vs. Russians
• History of the Muslim Tatars in Eastern Europe
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• Breakaway states and independence movements in Europe
• The ancient Germanic Runic alphabet and Runestones
• Teutonic Order and their 800-year legacy in Eastern Europe
• 460-year struggle for Albanian homeland, and 540 for Kosovo
• 2,800-year-old white mummies of China, bringers of Buddhism?
• Alexander the Great's Greek descendents in Pakistan?
• Visual History of Yugoslavia and its breakup (1918-2008)

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Inside Romania's legacy of Islamic rule, their proud resistance to Ottoman conquest, and the Gypsy problem
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)

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This is an article on the history and visible legacy of Islamic Ottoman rule in Romania as presented with photographs and observations of mosques and Muslims in the eastern city of Constanta. Included is an analysis of the omnipotent conflict regarding the Gypsy (Roma) minority problem with the Romanian ethnic majority. The photos and observations are from my research travels to Eastern Europe in 2007 to investigate the history of Islamic conquest and the evolving presence of Muslims in Europe. Read our history of the Gypsies article for an total analysis of the Gypsy conflict in Europe.

Romania is one of the most unique cultures and nations of Europe, akin to no other. It is incredibly poor and delapidated, rife with a history of brutal conflict, genocide, inter-religious and inter-ethnic war, and invasion. It has the largest population of Gypsies in Europe, a minority so hated that many Romanians openly recollect the days when Romanian dictator Antonescu (Hitler's closest ally) sent them to death camps en masse. Despite these negative associations, Romanians are a proud and distinct people with a long history of bitter defense of their homeland and sovereignty, a deeply religious (Orthodox) character, and a personality of survival and independence. I went to Romania with the goal of investigating the legacy of Islamic Ottoman conquest in Europe and its enduring legacy, as well as the Gypsy social problem. For both aspirations, the eastern city of Constanta (see the above map) is the ideal destination. It must be emphasized that the horribly depressing poverty shown in this article is not reflective of the rest of Romania.

Romania's proud history and its staunch resistance to Islamic invasion

Romania did not exist until the 19th century as a unified state, but a uniform and solidified "Romanian" identity over what are today Romania and Moldova go back to at least the 13th century (referred to as the Vlach culture). Two resilient Orthodox Christian principalities were forged out of the collapsing domain of the Turkic Cumans and Kipchaks and Catholic Hungarians, Wallachia (Vlach-ia) in the south (roughly modern Romania) and Moldova where that independent nation rests today. They are of an obscure origin that is debated; some claim they are Slavs, others Thracians, others ancient Dacians, others the Romans. Their language is completely alone, the closest relative of Latin spoken today. The independence of these two Romanian states was short-lived, as the burgeoning Ottoman Empire invaded Europe to deliver the blade of jihad against the Christian Byzantines and Balkan kingdoms. Wallachia was one of the first to fall due to its proximity by 1500, although its resistance would endure as characteristic of the Romanian heritage. Romania became the focal point of a repeat cooperative effort by various European peoples to throw out the Turkish Mujahidin via a Papal-sanctioned crusade. The famous Battle of Varna and the Battle of Kosovo in 1448, led by the valiant Transylvanian regent Janos Hunyadi (who Romanians claim was a proud Romanian and Hungarians assert was a Hungarian), demonstrated the refusal of the Romanians and the Europeans to accept foreign Islamic rule. Wallachia and Moldova eventually became tributary states with relative autonomy, with the Romanians of Moldova being the last to fall after the resistance of Stefen the Great in Moldova to Turkish, Polish, and Hungarian invasion. Michael the Brave became one of the most heroic figures of Romanian history and a central example of a successful rebellion when he struggled against the Ottoman Muslim conquerers by briefly uniting Moldova, Transylvania, and Moldova before being assassinated. Both are saints in Romanian Orthodoxy for defending the faith. Romanians often (like the Poles, Germans, and Hungarians) take credit for "saving Europe" for the hated Turks.

The famous Romanian hero Vlad Tepeş III (Dracula) led a massive revolt against Ottoman rule throughout the late 15th century that famously evoked cruel methods of captivity, punishment, and execution in order to expel the Turks from Wallachia (where he was prince). Escaping from Turkish captivity, he declared the independence of the Ottomans' tributary vassal (Wallachia) against the foreign occupants that included the psychological tactic of impaling hundreds of Muslim janissary conscripts on poles, leaving the soil blood-red to compliment the pungent stench of decomposing Turks in a forest of stakes and corpses. These methods of torture have been exaggerated for the tales of Dracula, but his ceaseless resistance to Muslim conquest has made him a beloved hero in all of Romania and Moldova today. He enjoys a form of honorary sainthood status in the Romanian Orthodox Church (unofficially). The revolt ultimately failed, and Moldova and Wallachia were subjects of Islamic rule for nearly 400 years.

Vlad Dracul "the Impaler", defender of Romanians against the Jihad

Dracula enjoying fine dining as invading Muslim Turks decompose atop stakes

Due to the intensely violent history of resistance to Muslim occupation among the Vlachs, and an already-fervent adherence to Orthodoxy, almost no Romanians converted to the religion of their occupiers (Sunni Islam). Conversion attempts by Sufi mystics, a policy employed by the Sublime Porte (Istanbul) throughout their conquered realm and highly successful in occupied Albania and Bosnia, failed miserably. Romanians were subject to exorbitant taxation (jizyah) for their Christian faith at the same time as they were barely able to survive as poor farmers, lived as second-class citizens in their own homeland, and were forced to forfeit a ratio of their children to be taken forever to Istanbul to be converted to Islam and join the janissary elites, often to return to fight their own countrymen in jihad. It must be acknowledged that the typical European mantras of a foaming-at-the-mouth horde of Mujahidin who defiled Christian women is foolish and one-sided; Romanians enjoyed an unusual degree of political autonomy, and its people were allowed to (at least on paper) worship freely so long as they pay almost unlivable taxes and submit. Also, as the Turks had far greater military concerns in more contumacious territories, Romanians were able to live comparatively freely. Equally, the modern image of an august multi-cultural and tolerant Ottoman Empire is fanciful, especially in this proud nation that struggled so hard to resist the bloody and unprovoked invasion of a hated enemy. The remnants of Islamic conquest and rule survive today, as will be seen below. Romanians still take pride in leading a revolt so strong that Ottoman Muslims were unable to enter the rest of Europe, although this is a bit exaggerated.

Brief modern history

As the Ottoman Empire declined behind European powers, a massive revolt (supported by the Russians) gave Romanians independence from 400 years of hated Muslim rule in 1878. Moldova and Wallachia merged to become the Kingdom of Romania, which had an ethnic German king. During World War II, as the country fell into depression and infighting, Romanians quickly attached to the intense religious and racial nationalism of the ultra-right. Nationalists praised the independent racial heritage of the Romanians and venerated their soil as holy. The Iron Guard and militant legions devoted to St. Michael gravitated Romania towards Fascism. By 1940, Marshall Ioan Antonescu became the military dictator of Romania with broad public support, creating a Fascist state that became Adolf Hitler's closest and most brutal ally. Romania and Croatia were easily the two allies of the Third Reich that most actively participated in racial killings, genocide, the removal of Jews and Gypsies, and the Holocaust during the war. Virtually every Jew, particularly in Iasi, was killed, especially vulnerable due to their disproportionate support for Communist revolution. As I learned from many shocking conversations and interviews, a great number of Romanians today openly lionize Antonescu as a hero, either for his defense of Romania from the Soviets or his extermination of a hated minority.

After Romania was defeated, it became a part of the Warsaw Pact, a coalition of Soviet quasi-puppets. It was a major world exporter of petroleum on which the Soviets depended. Romania was among the most independent, and Nicolae Ceausescu became famous for his self-deification, quasi-monarchy, cult of personality, and complete bankruptcy of the state before he was executed in public by a mob. Moldova, which was taken from Romania by the Soviets as a republic territory, became separate from both the USSR and Romania in 1991. Today, it is rife with corruption, poverty, emigration to Western Europe (where they are sadly disliked as "lazy"), and major problems with the Gypsy minority.

Ioan Antonescu, Romania's Axis Fascist popular leader during WWII

Modern Romania's legacy of Islamic rule

Almost no Romanians converted during Muslim rule. As a result, little of Romania has a visible history reflecting this foreign hegemony that is so important to Romanian ethnocultural heritage. Constanta, with its many massive and beautiful mosques and comparatively sizable Muslim population, displays the legacy of the occupation better than any other. Constanta has one of the largest mosques of Europe, with a gorgeous interior. There are several mosques in the city, some being small and delapidated whilst others are massive and well-maintained. Some date back centuries, others are more recent. There is a very small Muslim population here, consisting of a tiny Turkish immigrant population, a small residual population of Turks who settled during the Islamic occupation, and a small number of Romanians who converted to Islam. Many of the worshippers entering the mosques were not Turkish or Arab, but white Romanian converts as I observed. Most are likely recent converts.

The most resplendent (shown below) was built and commissioned by the Romanian king Carol I in 1910, King Carol Mosque. In the early 20th century, as Romania was becoming a boomtown that was described as a "Paris in the East," the Romanian government sought to create a limited platform of an open and stable society. This facade of toleration would be reversed during Romania's Fascist and Communist interlude, although Muslims were not a victim of genocide. The King Carol Mosque is open to all visitors except during prayer, an unusual feature for mosques. The prayer call can be heard throughout the area as well. This mosque has one of the only opportunities in the world for regular visitors to climb to the minaret and view the whole city (view shown below). The mosque is upheld and maintained by a private source from Turkey whom is given a personal appreciation on a plaque on the wall. Entrance costs 5 Euros or the equivalent in Romanian Lei. Most of the employees are non-Turkish, white Romanians. The fantastic interior has a large mihrab (direction of Makkah) with ornate carpets, Arabic calligraphy, and other relics. Upon returning to view the Muslims at prayer and quietly discussing something together, the employees ordered my leave. Having a makarel pizza in a nearby restaurant crowded by thieving Gypsies, I asked a young Romanian waiter about their opinions of the mosque and the Muslim community here, whence he responded, "those Muslims are up to no good. No one knows what they are discussing but we are nervous." He went on to recall the triumphs of Michael the Brave's resistance to the Muslim invasion. Of course, the notion that they are in any way a threat is easily the same closed-minded stereotyping that Muslims receive in most societies, but it shows how Romania's history of resisting the presence of Muslims has not been forgotten.

My photo of the exterior of a lovely mosque.

My photo of a close-up of the exterior, with Arabic written above the door

My photo of the amazing interior of the mosque.

My photo of a view of the city from the exclusive minaret of the mosque.

Romania's Gypsy problem

The inexperienced reader of this section may consider it offensive or discriminatory. In frankness, one who has been to Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Moldova, or Romania will find it a nearly universal feeling. Please read our article on the Gypsies for more analysis.

The Gypsies (proper term is Roma) are a racial, cultural, and religious group not of European origin. They traveled from India millennia ago as nomads, settling mostly in Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary, Russia, and Macedonia. They are blatantly distinct from the native populations by their anatomy, physiognomy, their wicked poverty, and their sickly health and deformity. They are secluded to homelessness or ghettoes both by government compulsion and by their own cultural tradition or, as many Romanians angrily aver, their inherent inability to progress. They are a major source of crime, theft, disease, and inter-ethnic conflict, and are bitterly hated by the native Europeans whilst American human rights and liberal groups rally to their defense. Roma groups like the Kalderashi tribe are connected with prostitution and violence as far away as England. The Romanian government has been criticized for looking the other way as citizens employ mob tactics to abuse or even kill them. Even Italy's government suffers similar criticism. Having long heard these racist depictions of Gypsies elsewhere in Europe, I was amazed to see that the negative descriptions and stereotypes are overall true.

Constanta is often described as the Gypsy part of Romania, and indeed it seems to have more Gypsies than Romanian natives. Many of the mosques made out of stone have loitering Gypsies outside waiting to panhandle for money or rob unsuspecting passerbyers, or pretending to be Muslims in order to profit from the compulsory poor-due (zakah). As I experienced anywhere from Bulgaria to Ukraine, Gypsies -- who generally follow their own religion originally descending from India and not Christendom -- falsely feign Christianity and appeal to Christian compassion by begging outside of churches for money. Most Romanians refuse, some even spitting on them or kicking them. Most shop owners "shoo" them away with their brooms whilst yelling explitives.

Gypsies wander around and lay in the streets, publicly defecating, eating out of trash basins, and bathing in the nude using discarded water bottles. Children and even girls in their early pubescence have ratty clothes that freely expose their genitalia. Walking by the hallways of buildings I found several Gypsies laying down with a hysterical cough rife with disease and mucous. Some passengers on a cruiseship claimed to have been victims of Gypsy theft. It was so officious that I was anxious to leave the city. Many Gypsies can be seen obviously staring at people's purses when the owners are not vigilent.

One Romanian who I interviewed why Romania does not address the Roma problem replied with, "how? Sadly, Antonescu and Hitler are dead." Another who I asked if the Roma are a problem in Romania responded, "no, we killed them all. They're dead." When I replied puzzlingly, he continued "...We wish..." At least ten Romanians to whom I spoke personally in Romania and in diaspora all described the genocides of Antonescu against the Romanians as "a good thing." Coming from a liberal and multi-cultural society like the United States, such an open and fearless endorsement of genocide was shocking.

Other Romanians describe how the Roma have pursued a policy of cheating and pillaging, a claim that I still find exaggerated and overall ridiculous. Many described how Romanians pretend to be sick and ill only to get donations, and pool their earnings together through gang activity and theft to buy massive property and "palaces in the north." Given the abysmal living condition of the Roma and the pre-existant racism, this all seems ridiculous despite the fact that many Roma have become inordinately influential and wealthy.

Romania was a significant experience. Constanta, despite being such a poor, delapidated, and Gypsy-populated area that I could not wait to flee, afforded me as good an insight into Romania's legacy of Islamic rule as any other in Romania. It is obvious how the Romanian people's long history of proud defense against foreign hegemony, and a longstanding hatred for the Gypsies, has endured to create a very proud and openly discriminatory Romanian identity. Although as a new member of the European Union Romania is criticized as being intolerant and insufficiently active in protecting Gypsy interests, the officials at the EU must not have seen the horrendous economic and social conflicts that exist between these two groups in Romanian society.

My photo of a Gypsy family collecting their taken goods, with the daughter at center nude. (click to enlarge)

My photo of empty downtown Constanta. The delapidated city is rife with Gypsies and has an overall officious aura of theft (click to enlarge)

My photo of Romania's Constanta downtown, with the center building collapsed. (click to enlarge)

My photo of the poor center city. Clothes can be seen hanging to be dried at the center. (click to enlarge)

My photo of a room with a visible ceiling completely collapsing.

_______________________________________

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

James Mayfield is a historian and the Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I have a Cum Laude BA in History with a Minor in Germanic Studies (language and history), am presently working for my Masters in History, and plan to immediately progress to my PhD Doctorate. I have a special academic interest in Europe's diverse ethnic identities, languages, and cultures, and the political struggles of native European and immigrant minority identities. See my staff entry for more information.

BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES USED:

Personal observations, photos, and interviews.

CIA World Factbook