Christians and Muslims

Mass conversion of Christians to Islam first began in the Cretan War. For many inhabitants, this represented an attempt to avoid the burdensome taxation that Ottoman law imposed on non-Muslim imperial subjects. Conversions and mixed marriages created a powerful, distinctive group within the population, known as the Cretan Muslims or Turco-Cretans. Though Muslims by religion, they maintained many traits deriving from their Cretan roots, such as the Greek language, dress, dietary habits and, in several cases, elements of Christian tradition. Some of them, such as the influential Kormoulis family from Messara, even remained covert Christians.

Relations between the two religious communities on the island varied over time and from one region to the other. The brutalities often occurring in times of revolutionary upheaval only served to divide the two groups still further. On the other hand, centuries of coexistence fostered powerful mutual influences between the communities, as is evident in language.