The Asia Minor Slavs were the historical

South Slav South Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, Hun ...

communities relocated by the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

from the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

(Anatolia). After

Maurice's Balkan campaigns Maurice's Balkan campaigns were a series of military expeditions conducted by Roman Emperor Maurice (reigned 582–602) in an attempt to defend the Balkan provinces of the Roman Empire from the Avars and the South Slavs. Maurice was the only E ...

(582–602) and during the subduing of the Slavs in the Balkans in the 7th and the 8th centuries, large communities were forcefully relocated to Anatolia as military units to fight the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...

History

7th century

The earliest evidence for a relocation of Slavs from the Balkans may be a seal dated to 650. In 658 and 688/9 the Byzantines invited groups of Slavic settlers to

Bithynia Bithynia (; Koine Greek: , ''Bithynía'') was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Pa ...

. Constans II settled captured Slavs in Asia Minor, and 5,000 of these joined Abdulreman ibn Khalid in 664-665. There was a town in Bithynia known as Gordoservon, mentioned in 680–81, whose name possibly derived from the

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

resettled there from the areas "around river

Vardar The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . Th ...

" by Byzantine Emperor Constans II (r. 641–668), in the mid-7th century (in ca. 649 or 667).

Justinian II Justinian II ( la, Iustinianus; gr, Ἰουστινιανός, Ioustinianós; 668/69 – 4 November 711), nicknamed "the Slit-Nosed" ( la, Rhinotmetus; gr, ὁ Ῥινότμητος, ho Rhinótmētos), was the last Eastern Roman emperor of the ...

(685-695) also settled as many as 30,000 Slavs from

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...

in Asia Minor, in an attempt to boost military strength. Most of them however, with their leader

Neboulos Neboulos ( el, Νέβουλος) was a South Slavic or Bulgar military commander in the service of the Byzantine emperor Justinian II (r. 685–695 and 705–711), who defected with many of his men to the Arabs during the crucial Battle of Sebasto ...

, deserted to the Arabs at the

Battle of Sebastopolis The Battle of Sebastopolis was fought at Sebastopolis (mostly identified with Elaiussa Sebaste in Cilicia but also with modern Sulusaray) in 692 CE between the Byzantine Empire and the Umayyad Caliphate under Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The battle ...

in 692.

8th century

Bulgar aggression in northern Greece prompted the Byzantine state to relocate a large number of Slavs in 758 under

Constantine V Constantine V ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντῖνος, Kōnstantīnos; la, Constantinus; July 718 – 14 September 775), was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. His reign saw a consolidation of Byzantine security from external threats. As an able ...

, and again in 783 out of fear that they would side with the

Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as nomad ...

during an invasion. The Bulgar expansion caused massive Slav migrations, and in 762 more than 200,000 people fled to Byzantine territory and were relocated to Asia Minor. The most prominent among the Asia Minor Slavs was

Thomas the Slav Thomas the Slav ( gr, Θωμᾶς ὁ Σλάβος, Thōmas ho Slavos, – October 823) was a 9th-century Byzantine military commander, most notable for leading a wide-scale revolt in 821–23 against Emperor Michael II the Amorian (). A ...

, a military commander who raised most of the empire in an unsuccessful revolt against

Michael II the Amorian Michael II ( gr, Μιχαὴλ, , translit=Michaēl; 770–829), called the Amorian ( gr, ὁ ἐξ Ἀμορίου, ho ex Amoríou) and the Stammerer (, ''ho Travlós'' or , ''ho Psellós''), reigned as Byzantine Emperor from 25 December 820 to ...

in the early 820s. Although the 10th-century chronicler

Genesios Genesius ( el, Γενέσιος, ''Genesios'') is the conventional name given to the anonymous Byzantine author of Armenian origin of the tenth century chronicle, ''On the reign of the emperors''. His first name is sometimes given as Joseph, combini ...

calls him "Thomas from Lake Gouzourou, of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

race", most modern scholars support his Slavic descent and believe his birthplace to have been near Gaziura in the

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

. By the middle of the 9th century, the Asia Minor Slavs were integrated within the Bulgarian nationality.

10th century

The Slavs of the

Opsician Theme The Opsician Theme ( gr, θέμα Ὀψικίου, ''thema Opsikiou'') or simply Opsikion (Greek: , from la, Obsequium) was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) located in northwestern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Created from the imp ...

(''Sklabesianoi'') are still attested as a separate group in the 10th century, serving as

marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

in the Byzantine navy..

12th century

The Serbs rose up against the Byzantines in 1127–29, probably with Hungarian support. After the Byzantine victory, part of the Serb population was deported to Asia Minor.

References

Sources

* * Erdeljanović, J. "O naseljavanju Slovena u Maloj Aziji i Siriji od VII do X veka" ''Glasnik geografskog društva''; vol. VI 1921 p. 189 * * Niederle, Lubor, ''Slovanske starožitnosti''; Dilu II, (2 vols.) Prague, 1934, pp. 389–399, 444-446 * Ostrogorski, G. "Bizantisko-Južnoslovenski odnosi", ''

Enciklopedija Jugoslavije The ''Encyclopedia of Yugoslavia'' ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, Енциклопедија Југославије) was the national encyclopedia of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was published by th ...

''; 1, Zagreb, 1955, pp. 591–599 * * {{Cite book, last=Živković, first=Tibor, author-link=Tibor Živković, title=Forging unity: The South Slavs between East and West 550-1150, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JlIsAQAAIAAJ, year=2008, location=Belgrade, publisher=The Institute of History, Čigoja štampa South Slavic history Byzantine Anatolia Military units and formations of the Byzantine Empire