EMBORIOS  for the culture of kasos

Dodecanese history starts to become discernible in the Neolithic period with archaeological finds on the islands of Kalymnos, Kos and Tilos. It takes a more definite form in about 1700-1600 B.C. when the Telchines arrived at the islands of Rhodes, Kasos and Tilos. The Telchines were the Minoans of Crete. The name Kasos comes, according to legend, from the son of Kleomahos of Crete who was a Cretan prince and the island's first inhabitant. The peace imposed on the Aegean by the Minoans enabled the people of the region to live in relative harmony. The architectural influence of the Minoan Era on the style of Kasos can still be easily seen.

In about 1500 B.C. the first Mycenaeans from the Greek mainland arrived. The Mycenaeans were also known as Achaeans or Dorians and were fired by a more restless warrior spirit. In around 1200 B.C. the Pelasgic walls of Kasos were built. The Trojan War took place between 1193-1184 B.C. which was recorded by Homer in the Iliad. It is noted that Kasos joined in the campaign contributing several boats.

In the 8th century B.C., Kasos was conquered by Rhodes and, with the conclusion of the Persian wars in 479 B.C., most of Greece was united. The Dodecanese islands joined the Athenian League but the Athenians imposed high taxes and tributes on its member states hence, in 413 B.C., when an opportunity arose, they withdraw.

In about 334 B.C. Rhodes was defeated by Alexander the Great and it was not until 305-304 B.C. that Rhodes successfully battled itself free. Freedom lasted for almost three centuries until 42 A.D. when it was plundered and destroyed by the Romans and the Dodecanese islands were subjugated to Rome. Roman rule lasted, in one form or another, until the 1309, although began to weaken from the 7th Century onwards.

By this time the Aegean had became pirate territory. Approaching ships were feared, trade was paralysed and the inhabitants returned to an agricultural way of life. Rhodes, however, remained a Byzantine naval base from where the Saracens in 718 and again in 807, with the help of the Dodecanese islanders, set out to do battle against the Arabs, who had established themselves in Crete. Crete was recaptured.

In 1082, Venice was granted the right to establish a naval base in Rhodes. Marine trade began to flourish again and the Greeks returned to their former seaways, despite the continuing threat from pirates. In 1204 the city of Constantinople was sacked by the Latins and the Byzantine government fell. However, the Dodecanese islands remained under the control of the Byzantine government in exile, the so called Empire of Nicaea. In 1261 the Byzantine government was restored in Constantinople but by then its hold over Rhodes and the Dodecanese was little more than nominal.

In 1309, a Genoese adventurer to whom the Byzantine emperor had given Rhodes as a feudal property, or fief, sold the island to the Knights of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, who quickly spread their control over the other Dodecanese islands with the exceptions of Astypalaia, Karpathos and Kasos.

In 1453 the city of Constantinople fell to Mehmet the Conqueror and Rhodes braced itself for the onslaught of the Ottoman Turks. In 1480 the Turks besieged Rhodes, without success, but in 1523 they returned and conquered the island. The Knights of St John withdrew to Malta. In 1537 the Turks occupied Kasos, and neighboring Karpathos.

During the Turkish occupation the Dodecanese islands enjoyed a privilege granted by Sultan Suleiman according to which all Turkish generals, admirals and civil officials were forbidden to maltreat the islanders or interfere in their affairs. They were allowed self-government by elected elders of the community and the only Turkish official present was the so-called Soumbasis. For this privilege the islanders paid a special tax in kind twice annually.

According to accounts of Greek and foreign travelers, Kasos was deserted and in ruins from 1579-1599 but was settled a new before 1622 when it detached itself from the Archbishopric of Karpathos and established itself as a Patriarchal Province. In 1670 the population totaled 5,000. During this period the main occupations in Kasos were shipbuilding and merchant shipping.

Between 1768 and 1774 Kasos was occupied by the Russians, who repeatedly embroiled themselves in clashes with the Greeks. After the signing of the Koutjouk Kainartji treaty on 10-12 July 1774, the Russians evacuated the island and it was once more under Turkish rule. According to the French philosopher Claude Savary who visited Kasos in 1778, Kasos then enjoyed an independent and prosperous democratic system.

The Great War of Independence started in 1821. Below is the Navy's flag of independence. The population of Kasos was then about 11,000. It was the first island to openly declare independence and was perhaps foremost in providing ships for the Greek fleet. The powerful backing of ship owners and sea captains was instrumental in ousting Ottoman rule from Greece.

However, Kasos paid heavily for this when, in May 1824, the Turkish forces, hungry for revenge, devastated the island by setting it on fire and slaughtering many of its inhabitants. This tragic holocaust is commemorated each year on June 7th.

In 1833 when the Revolution came to its successful end and a new Greek nation was formed, Kasos and the rest of the Dodecanese were omitted and instead, by the Protocol of London, were returned by the newly established Greek state to the Ottomans in exchange for Euboea, the island close to mainland Greece.

During the period that followed, the Kasos naval tradition was reborn, new ships were built and the Kasians became major players in the Greek shipping industry. In 1858 several Kasians worked for the Suez Canal, and later applied their experience in the Panama Canal. In both places Kasian captains were among the first to sail through the canals.

In 1912, the Italians, in their war against the Turks, occupied the Dodecanese, including Kasos. The population of Kasos had fallen to about 6,700 by then but during the Italian occupation it dropped considerably further. Despite initial promises to the contrary, the Italians attempted to integrate the Dodecanese islands into the Italian State. However, the islanders protested vigorously, declaring autonomy under the name of the 'State of the Aegean', the ultimate goal being a union with Greece.

By the Treaty of Sèveres in 1920 the Dodecanese islands, with the exception of Rhodes, were ceded to Greece. However, the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne returned them again to Italy. This abrogated any further claims Turkey would have to the islands.

In 1940, after the outbreak of the Second World War, free Greece was invaded by the Italians from across the Albanian border in the North. This lasted until 1941 when, following the successful defeat of the Italian forces, the Dodecanese Battalion went to defend against the German army in Florina, in Northern Greece.

In 1943, following the collapse of fascist rule in Italy, the Germans took control of the Dodecanese but in 1945, at the end of the war, they handed them over to the British. The British did not name the islands as being Greek but did recognize that they were inhabited by Greeks. The British held onto the Dodecanese for a further two years before finally returning them to Greece in 1947.

It had already been decided at the Paris Peace Conference in September 1946 that the Dodecanese would be incorporated into the Greek state. In March 1947 the first Greek commanding officer, admiral Periklis Ioannidias, was appointed head of the new administration in the Dodecanese which, as of 28 October 1947, became Greek territory once more. The Kasiots continued to press for union with mainland Greece, which took place on 7th March 1948. Today the population of Kasos is only about 1,000.

The picture below shows the Greek flag being raised as the Dodecanese regains its freedom. The women of Kasos - in traditional dress - watch, a supreme moment of emotion and relief for the inhabitants.