Torbeši

The Torbeši () are a Macedonian-speaking Muslim ethnoreligious group in North Macedonia and Albania. The Torbeši are also referred to as Macedonian Muslims () or Muslim Macedonians. They have been religiously distinct from the Orthodox Christian Macedonian community for centuries, and are linguistically distinct from the larger Muslim ethnic groups in the greater region of Macedonia: the Albanians, Turks and Romanis. However, some Torbeši also still maintain a strong affiliation with Turkish identity and with Macedonian Turks. The regions inhabited by these Macedonian-speaking Muslims are Debarska Župa, Dolni Drimkol, Reka, and Golo Brdo (in Albania).

==Name== Many ethnonyms are used for the Macedonian-speaking Muslims. The most widespread ethnonym, which is also their endonym, is Torbeši. There are numerous theories on the origin of the term. Some link it to an old Slavic tribe Torbeachei, whereas other theories have suggested a derivation from the Persian torbekes meaning person with a bag. According to one theory, the Torbeši were a group of public servants in the Ottoman Empire tasked to carry bags (). Some scholars have linked the term with the kutugeri, a group of Bogomil missionaries who carried bags. The most common explanation in North Macedonia of the origin of the term is that the Torbeš sold their faith for a bag (torba in Macedonian) of goods from the Ottomans.