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| Unknown (most declare themselves as Croats,[1] some as Yugoslavs, and some as Šokci) | ||||||||
| Regions with significant populations | ||||||||
| Croatia, Vukovar-Syrmia Serbia : 1,864 (2002) Hungary Romania |
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Predominantly Roman Catholic. |
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South Slavs; especially Bunjevci, Croats and Serbs |
Šokci (Croatian: Šokci, singular Šokac; Hungarian: Sokácok) are an ethnographic group of South Slavs, mostly identifying as Croats, although not all, some are registered as Yugoslavs or Šokci. In Croatia, they do not constitute a separate group, and when registering, fall into the Croats.[1] They have a distinct culture and tradition, differentiating them from other Croats. They live in various settlements along the Danube and Sava rivers in the historic regions of Slavonia, Baranja, Srem and western Bačka. These regions today span eastern Croatia, northern Serbia (the Vojvodina province), and southeastern Hungary.
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Šokci living in Croatia and Hungary, as well as many of those living in Serbia, usually consider themselves to be a subgroup of Croats. In Serbia, Šokci are recognized as an ethnic group of its own; however, unlike Bunjevci, the other Catholic Slavic group from the same area, Šokci mostly declare themselves as Croats rather than the separate group.
In the old Austro-Hungarian censuses, a much larger number declared as Šokci, both in Croatia/Slavonia and in Vojvodina. In the 19th century, the number of declared Šokci in Vojvodina was more than 20,000. However, according to the 1991 census, there were only 1,922 declared Šokci in what has later become Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (and a much larger number of Croats).
Šokci are native population of Vukovar-Syrmia County in Croatia. Because of that reason, that area in Croatia is called "Šokadija".[2]
Villages with numerous Šokac population in the region of Bačka are: Sonta (Apatin municipality), Bački Breg and Bački Monoštor (Sombor municipality). In 2002 census in Serbia, most of the inhabitants of these villages declared themselves as Croats.
Most of the Hungarian Šokci live in the Baranya region, particularly in the town of Mohács.
In general, the number and the percentage of the Šokci has decreased because of an unwritten policy that each family should have only one child, because they did not wish to divide their estate and other riches in each following generation. Unfortunately such a practice worked up until the 19th/20th century, at which point they were practically overwhelmed in number by the immigrants which had a much larger reproduction rate (certainly over two children per family at the time).
According to Croatian Antun Kanižlić (1699–1766), the term Šokci was used by Serbs for Slavonians.[3]
In the Early Middle Ages there was a tribe called Succi that settled in Pannonia. There is also mention of this name in various ancient toponyms, notably a mountain called Succus which had in ancient times divided the Illyrians from the Thracians. The Slavic tribes settled in the former realm of the Illyrians in the 7th century, but there were few actual recorded mentions of the name until almost a millennium later.
It may derive from the Albanian word for Slavs: Shkja.
It is also interesting that in the Chakavian dialect (spoken in Croatia), a šokac (plural: šokci) means old settler.
The earliest known Ottoman Turkish defter that mentions the Šokci dates from 1615. It is a ferman by sultan Ahmed I, dated Safer 9, 1024 according to the Islamic calendar, in which he referred to them as the population of the "Latin faith" whose "religion is completely different from the faith of the Serbs, Greeks and Vlachs". They are also mentioned in the documents of the Roman Catholic Church where they requested Jeronim Lučić to become the bishop of Bosnia and Slavonia in 1635, and in one writing from the time when Eugene of Savoy invaded Ottoman territory down to Sarajevo in 1697.
In the 1702 census of newly regained Đakovo, there were 500-600 Catholic Slav/Slavonian (Slavi catholicae fidae) inhabitants. Tadija Smičiklas, when publishing the census, it says "Catholic Slovinci", also when referring to the 40 nearby villages. On occasions, it says "Slovinci or šokci". According to the contemporary Antun Kanižlić, the term šokci were used by Orthodox [Serbs], for Slavonians.[3]
The actual origins of the first Šokci people is not completely clear. While they may be descendants of the original Slavic (i.e. Croatian) tribes that came to Slavonia and adjacent areas during the Migrations Period, it is likely that they were not all descended from those groups, but also other groups which moved from the south (Bosnia) over the several centuries prior to the Ottoman wars in Europe. There are some indications that there was one such migration in the mid-13th century.
Regardless of when exactly they settled there, Šokci are considered to be the descendants of the pre-Ottoman indigenous Croatian population of Slavonia and Vojvodina, while the majority of the present-day population of these regions are descendants of latter settlers. It is worth noting that the Ottoman invasion caused much of the Christian population of Bosnia, Herzegovina and other adjacent regions either to convert or to move, so the population again moved from the more southern areas (today's Bosnia) towards the north.
The entire Catholic Slavonia was called Šokadija ("the land of Šokci") in the past, ever since the term became popular at the end of the 19th century. Earlier mentions of that name date from 1633 (in the vicinity of Našice), the early 18th century (in the vicinity of Đakovo), and by the writer Antun Kanižlić in 1757.
According to the 1840 data, the population of Croatia and Slavonia numbered 1,605,730 people, of which 777,880 (48%) were Croats, 504,179 (32%) Serbs, and 297,747 (19%) Šokci. The Šokci were concentrated in the Požega, Virovitica, and Syrmia counties, and in the Slavonian Military Frontier. According to the 1910 census, there were 68,725 Bunjevci and Šokci in Bačka, and 13,012 Šokci in Baranja.
The Šokci are Roman Catholic by faith and follow the Latin Rite. They speak an old-Shtokavian Slavonian sub-dialect that is almost exclusively spoken by Šokci and closely related to Bunjevci dialect. Slavonian dialect has mixed ikavian and ekavian accent: ikavian is predominant in Posavina, Baranja, Bačka and in the Slavonian sub-dialect enclave of Derventa; and ekavian in Podravina. There are also enclaves of one accent in the territory of the other, and also of mixed ekavian–ikavian and jekavian–ikavian accents. In some villages in Hungary, the original yat is preserved.
Many of the traditions of the Šokci are influenced by their environment - they live in the fertile Pannonian plain where they cultivate grains and corn in large fields surrounding their villages. The villages often have one main street (šor) where each subsequent family house has auxiliary buildings and a spacious yard, as well as a water well. The central street is surrounded on both sides by water channels, which have small crossings in order for one to reach the house.
Families often keep poultry, particularly ducks and geese, although the main source of meat are the pigs, which are almost inevitably kept by a Šokac. They enjoy pork-based products such as ham, sausages (particularly kulen) and bacon. These products are customarily obtained by the traditional autumn slaughtering. The most common fruit are plums, not least because it is often fermented into liquor called rakija.
The abundance in which they have traditionally lived has made the Šokci a naturally merry people, who pay a lot of attention to folklore. Each Šokac village inevitably has a cultural society where they nourish the folk songs and dances. A popular folk custom is the bećarac. They also hold a yearly festivity called the Šokačko sijelo.
The most recognisable feature of Šokci culture is their music which is played mostly on the tambura instrument. Many tambura bands achieved nationwide fame in Croatia. The body of the tambura was traditionally made of the wood of maple, poplar or plum trees, while today it's mostly made of spruce or fir trees. Another instruments used in the past was the bagpipe. The traditional wedding festivities are paid much attention to, sometimes even catching the attention of entire villages.
The traditional outfit of the Šokci (rubina) is made of white linen cloth with lace decorations, and the main part of it is a blouse called oplećak i krila. The women mostly wear the entire outfit only in the summer, replacing it with a wool skirt in the winter. The most esteemed decoration of a Šokac outfit are the gold coins known as dukat (pl. dukati), most probably originating from the ducats. A rich Šokac girl would have a large number of dukati weaved onto her chest not only as a decoration but as a clear sign that she comes from a wealthy family.
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