In an earlier post we discussed a possible DNA connection to the Arvanite and Aromanian populations in Central Greece. At times both groups have been called the “Vlachs”.
Regarding the Vlachs…..
“They are the nomadic breeders of the Peloponnese …. In the various books and documents…… they are referred to as “the defeated”or “the shepherds”. They themselves … identify themselves as ‘Vlach Nomads‘.
As a place of origin, they mention Pindos (Syrrako, Agrafa), where they left at the beginning of the 19th century, chased by the Ali Pasha … In the revolution of 1821 they contributed significantly to the struggle by selling livestock and food to the resistance, so Ibrahim made his Corinthian forces their primary goal to destroy the Vlachs livestock on Mount Ziria …
At the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century ‘the Vlach Nomads’ were at the height of their glory. Flocks with thousands of horses, hundreds of horses, countless children and grandchildren and thousands of pounds that will allow them to make big purchases later. In the 1920s, the state, trying to curb robbery and desertion, forced them to register with the communities in order to be able to rent a lot. In addition, they began buying houses and meadows in the mountainous communities of Achaia and Corinth, whose inhabitants had already begun to emigrate to the coast of the Corinthian Gulf from the late 19th century …
In the 1930s they began to be tentatively engaged with the cultivation of land. Laws prohibiting the over-grazing of forests also played a decisive role. The war of 1940 and later the civil war caused great losses of lives, animals, and money and marked the end of nomadic life. They began to abandon livestock farming, abolished inter-marriage, abandoned their native clothing, and settled, as farmers, on the coastal sites. Today, only 25% are engaged in livestock farming, 50% in agriculture and 25% in other professions, mainly butchers, barbecues and dairy shops. Most of the Vlachs’ tents are located in Corinthia (50%), Achaia (20%), Argolida (10%), Ilia (15%) and (5%) Megara and Salamina.”
Source: Leonidas V. Petrou: Moraites, Nomads, Breeders (Karagounides, Karakatsanides, Roumeliotes), Aegio 2007
You can read more about the Vlachs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlachs