Written by Petrit Latifi. Original by Lugina Press.

Branislav Nušić was a playwright and satirist, the founder of modern Serbian rhetoric. It is said that he was a Vlach, but there is some evidence that his origin is Albanian – from the Arbëresh of Greece. He is the author of the book “Kosovo: Description of the Land and People”, and was also the consul of Serbia in Pristina, at the time of the Ottoman Empire.

During his mission as a consul, he naturally worked according to the interests of Serbia. However, he moved through Albanian lands, being among the first Serbs who, accompanied by Albanians, entered Drenica. Thus, in his travelogues that are not related to politics, there is a lot of accuracy, since unlike most Serbian historians, he says that Albanians have Illyrian origins and that Vlachs are Romanized Illyrians. Of course, he is also a supporter of the incorrect thesis that many Kosovo Serbs have assimilated into Albanians. Below, the Telegraph brings you his travelogue of Kosovo, written in 1912:

“The period in which the story begins, finds the Dardanians in Kosovo, an Illyrian tribe that inhabited the areas around old Shkodra, today’s Sharr. The plain of Kosovo, well-drained and fertile, rich in gold, silver and other ores, with bread, wine and other food for people and animals, has attracted various invaders who attacked it since the fourth century BC.

Of those invasions, after the long Roman-Illyrian wars, the Roman power, which lasted eight centuries, until the end of the fourth century of the new era, had the greatest influence on the inhabitants here. Such an influence was especially exerted by the Roman colonies, which in Kosovo, according to traces, were very numerous, especially near the mines around which the Romans mostly gathered.

With a long rule of these lands, with the power of cultural life and the level of education, which was much higher than what they had found among the locals, they defeated the locals so much that they accepted the language, customs and even the religion of the Romans. These Romanized Illyrians, the Serbs who came here later called them Vlachs. Even today there are traces of the Latinized locals in the toponyms in Kosovo, such as the villages of Vlashkobar, Vllahinje, Rimanishte (Rumanishte) etc.

That part of the locals, who lived in more isolated areas, was preserved from the influence of the culture of the invaders and has preserved to this day all its characteristics and the Illyrian language and this part is today called Arnauts, or Albanians.

So, the Albanians, but not the later Albanianized elements, are the oldest locals in these parts, or more precisely they are descendants of the locals who were before the Roman conquests. However, the Greekization of the natives, which occurred in the Balkan Peninsula, simultaneously with the aforementioned Latinization, never reached these regions, but only in the south (of the Balkans), so this phenomenon did not even have an impact on the physiognomy of the population about which I am writing in this travelogue.

After the obvious movements, which began at the end of the third century and continued during the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries, the Serbs also appeared in these regions, who found the natives here, the Illyrians (Arbanians) and the Latinized Illyrians (Vlachs). The Serbs had to densely populate the Kosovo plain and push the natives, who were retreating before this new wave of invasion.

The natives mostly retreated to the surroundings of Sharr and in Karadak of Skopje and, staying there, managed to mostly preserve the character and old docks. With their increasing arrival, the Serbs began to give the land a new physiognomy, reversing or replacing with new toponyms the names of settlements (localities), rivers and mountains (mountains). Thus, old Shkodra was called Sharr, Ulpiana – Lipjan and so on Llapi, Ibri etc. They also brought new names, such as: Vučitërn, Golesh, Jezerac, Sitnica, Nerodimka etc.

From that period, the Serbs became the masters of these areas and the circumstances there, until recent times. The fourteenth century also brought the Turks to the Balkans, while the Battle of Maritsa brought them to Kosovo. The displacement of the Serbs began immediately after the occupation of Kosovo. But the mass migrations that have significantly changed the physiognomy of the Kosovo plain are those under the leadership of Arsenije III Čarnojević, the second under that of Arsenije IV Jovanović, which, apart from the parts close to the Patriarchate of Peja, included a relatively large part of Kosovo. At that time, the Serbs abandoned the beautiful villages and fertile lands, their houses and properties, while the Albanians came down from their barren and deserted mountains and populated the empty villages.

From that time on, there were continuous small migrations, while they increased after the Serbo-Turkish war and especially in the years 1881, 1882 and 1883 and they continue even at this time (1912).

After the Serbo-Turkish war, the migration on a larger scale was caused by two reasons. The Albanians, the inhabitants of Kosovo, due to the war began to take revenge on the Serbs. On the other hand, from the new borders of Serbia, the expelled Albanians began to come in large numbers to Kosovo, which had the closest place to their properties, which they had left in Serbia (Toplica), occupying the properties of the Serbs who had abandoned Kosovo. These, known as muhajirs, flooded Kosovo, driving out the Serbs to make room for themselves.

In fact, the (Turkish) tsar had granted them land on which to build their villages, but these were not healthy places and for this reason even before that were unpopulated. Thus, for example, the muhajirs had sent them around the wetlands of Sazli and Robovci, which they had drained of water, to turn into a field.

Therefore, instead of the lands that the Tsar had granted them, they gladly built houses near Serbian villages and did everything possible to move the Serbs from there and take their properties. In this attempt, many of them succeeded.

Thus, the Albanians, simultaneously from two sides flooded the Serbian villages: some from the mountains, which were descending towards Sitnica, while others from their properties in Toplica.

In addition to these, the Muhajirs, from 1858 to 1862, Circassians also came to Kosovo, who were brought here by the Ottoman government after the Crimean War.

In Kosovo, the most powerful tribes are the Gashi and Berisha. The other tribes are more scattered. In the southern part of Kosovo are the Drobnjaku, Sopi, Krasniqi, Kryeziu, Kelmendi, Thaçi, etc. tribes, while in the other parts are the Bytyçi, Hoti, Shala, Elshani, Metplaka, etc.

There are not many Catholic Albanians in Kosovo, while the closest ones live in Dukagjin, in the Gjakova and Peja districts. There are no Ottomans, or real Turks, in Kosovo. This race is mainly made up of state employees, while the former fighters have all fled.

Around Novobërda, about 15 Turkish families have survived to this day, who came here immediately after the Battle of Kosovo. Today there are barely two houses there, the others have moved or died, while some families have moved to Prishtina.

It is true that the Turkish language should be used in the administration, but very often the Albanian language is also used.

Between 1858 and 1862, 6,000 Circassian families arrived in Kosovo. Their arrival was not well received by either the Albanians or the Turks, and they are not on good terms to this day, perhaps because the Circassians have preserved their own docks and live a somewhat different life.

The Circassians did not populate the empty villages, but built new villages for themselves, which is why today in Kosovo there are toponyms such as Çerkez-kej, Jeni-Çerkez, etc. Although they have lived in this country for six decades, the Circassians have still not learned either the Albanian or Turkish languages, except for those who live in the cities and because of the work they do.

The Circassians are not suited to life in this plain, and this has caused their numbers to decline significantly and they have to migrate. Especially a large number of them moved after the Serbian-Turkish war, so that today there are no more than 400 families left in Kosovo.

There are many Vlachs and they are engaged in trade. They live in villages, where they have opened shops, but most of all they like to gather around good markets, such as those of Mitrovica, Pristina and Ferizaj. The people call them goga. They are mainly newcomers from the Vilayet of Manastir. All of them are of the Orthodox religion.

There are Jews in the cities, where they are engaged in sarafllëk ​​and trade in grains, leather and manufactured goods. They do not go to the villages, but they do not stay in small towns for long either. In Vushtrri, for example, no Jews live. In Pristina they have their own municipality and rabbi (priest), and even a school with seven students.

They are few in number and in the service of the Turkish state administration, but such are Jews from Thessaloniki who have converted to the Donme sect. After the expulsion from Russia, a large number of Jews moved to Turkey, and from them 50 families came to Pristina. Surprisingly, within two years all 50 families died, so that now none are alive.

The Yevgians (Roma), among whom there are both Orthodox and Mohammedans, live in cities and villages, mainly engaged in blacksmithing and music. Each town has its own Yevgian quarter, which is separate from the others.”

Reference

https://luginapress.com/udhepershkrimi-i-branislav-nushiqit-per-kosoven-1912/