Subject: hayin bandit, rebel
Culture: Cretan Greek
Setting: Cretan rebellions, Crete 18-19c
Evolution:
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
* Detorakis 1994 p274-276
"From early Ottoman times in Crete many young adventurers fled to the mountains from where they were able to operate and launch attacks against the Turks in night raids. The Turks called these mountain outlaws Hayins (from the Arabic word hayin, meaning perfidious, treacherous, thankless). The number of hayins increased after the fall of Candia and the final subjugation of Crete. Without ever becoming quite as endemic as in the rest of Greece it is possible to compare the hayins with the klephts (organized bandit communities) of mainland Greece. Most of the hayins of Crete had taken to this lifestyle for entirely personal reasons. They carried out acts of revenge for grave family injustices perpetrated by the Turks against members of their families. After the fall of Candia the hayins sought refuge in the three remaining Venetian fortresses of Grambousa, Suda and Spinalonga. Once these fortresses succumbed to the Turks in 1715, the hayins then fled to the mountains and the monasteries. Their existence was a continual struggle for survival. Even priests are mentioned as being among their number. [...]
"[...] For many decades to come Ottoman rule on the island was to remain unshaken. Cretan resistance was only to reemerge after the rebellion of Daskaloyannis during the period of the domination of the Janissaries. It was then that these Cretan avengers were to act as a fearful countermovement against the injustices perpetrated by the agas. Bold and free-booting young men, fired by the spirit of revenge from some injustice carried out against their families, took up arms and made their base in the mountains."
* Pavlowitch 1999 p145
"Until 1841 Crete had been a dependency of the governor of Egypt. Since the return to direct Ottoman rule, repeated uprisings of the Christian population had resulted in the enactment and the suspension of reforms. Continued unrest and repression had led to segregation; Christians from the cities sought refuge in the countryside and fearful Muslims congregated in the cities. The appointment as governor in 1895 of Alexandros Karatheodori Pasha, a Phanariot who had been the Porte's chief representative at the Congress of Berlin, satisfied no one. It infuriated the Muslims and did not prevent another rising of the Greeks in 1896."
Costume
* Harrold/Legg 1978 p128
"The costumes of Crete denote past influences and the Cretans are a proud and defiant race although they still retain the characteristic friendliness of the Greeks. The men's costumes portray their background very strongly, with white Minoan boots (stivalia), Turkish baggy trousers (vraka) and rather severely cut jackets. Usually a dagger is thrust through a purple sash or zounari which is 8m (28 1/2 ft) long. The picture [p129] shows a black costume, but a similar style is made in dark-blue wool with a sleeveless waistcoat, or gileki, cut with diagonal fastening. The waistcoat is red and the shirt white."
* Collection des costumes grecs 1989 p38
"MATELOT: Vraka courte portée dans les îles, chemise blanche et gilet simple. Le poignard est enforcé dans le ceinture rouge."
Knife
*
