Written by Petrit Latifi
In a Serbian article on the origin of some villages in southern Serbia, we find information on Albanians having lived there in the 19th century.
Municipality of Merošina: Azbresnica, Aleksandrovo, Arbanasce,
“The origin of the village and the origin of the population.
It is not known when this village was first founded. Until 1878, it was inhabited by Arnauts, and before that by Serbs. The Arnauts settled in Dobrejanac 100-120 years ago, when they also settled in the rest of Poljanica and the surrounding areas. Of the Serbian families that lived in Dobrejanac before the Arnauts, only two families are now known; they were the Dabarci and the Kovandžici , and besides them, a Greek man and his family lived in the village.
Judging by the antiquities (churches) and the name of the village, it seems that this village was founded by Serbs, who lived in it before the Arnauts, and later the village was rebuilt on its own. It is mentioned that the Arnauts first settled in Dobrejanac. The Serbs who had lived in it until then had to flee. It is only known that the Dabarci went to Vranje, Kovandžici (Ristini) to the nearby village of Smilović while the Greek converted to Turkism and stayed in the village, but the Arnauts still called him a Greek.
The Arnauts were not of the same origin. There were 4 fisa. Some were from Desivojac (the brothers Zećir and Ibiš), some from Glogovo and were Moljaci and some were called Gašnjani and others Krasnićani; the last were Malisije (“Malosijan”) and some of them celebrated St. Nicholas Day. It is said that some of these Arnauts brought colorful pigs upon their arrival, which had never been seen in Poljanica before.
This village was mentioned by Han in 1861 as Dobrjanze – on the left bank of the Veterenica, as a large and very scattered Albanian village. By 1878, there were 16 Albanian houses in it, but during the liberation in 1878, the Arnauts moved out of Dobrjanze and the village was repopulated by Serbs.
Mijakovce, City of Vranje – Pčinj
Origin of the population of the village of Mijakovce, City of Vranje – Pčinj district. According to the book “Poljanica and Klisura” by Rista T. Nikolić, based on data collected in 1902 and 1903. Prepared by Origin contributor Milodan.
Location of the village.
In terms of location and type, this village is almost the same as the villages of Kruševa Glava and Streška. It is on the right side of the Mijakovačka River, on the flat side of its valley, where there are fields and meadows. The houses are on the edges of the estates, not far from the roads that pass through the village. They are all far from the river, so when it comes, it does not cause any damage, neither to the houses nor to the estates that are nearby, especially to the meadows and gardens.
Water and climate.
Locals use drinking water from wells, the best known of which are: Well in Livade, in Oskoruša, on Rid, in Selo, in Rupa, Well “kide vrbu”, in Selimište, in Jabučina, in “Malo Jasiče”, Kurvarić, etc. These wells do not dry out.
On the north side, the village is sheltered by the Lisca mountain range, which stretches between the Mijakovačka and Tumbanska Rivers. However, it is colder there than in the part of Golemo Selo, which is below Mijakovac. The first snow that falls in Poljanica reaches this village, as well as the nearby villages of Kruševo Glavi and Strešak, at least a week earlier than in other villages. The winds in the village blow the most; south, which – they say – “coasts” the sheep, and east, which blows (“drives”) them down the valley.
Lands and forests.
There are fields around the houses and further on in places called: Gornji Rid, Rosulja, Jaseiče, Selište, Preka Njiva, Lešanska Njiva, Aljavi Kum, Đurka, Kovandžiska Njiva, Gluvača, Sovje, Kitice, Oskoruša, Makovi, Ljutež, Ogorelica, Turska Ornica, Ključ, Gabar, Papratljivica, Kopotine, Košarište, etc. In these places, in addition to fields, there are also meadows.
The locals have enough pasture for their cattle. It was left to them by their ancestors and they divided most of it, such as: Polom, Preke Lavine, Poležak, Košarište, Čašku and Mili Lom. The common pasture is in the places: Zarbine, Žežnica, Mrtvica, Široki Put and Ređan Put. In these places they also have a common forest.
There are enough forests around the village and in the immediate vicinity of the houses, so that fields and meadows outside the village are only in places, while the rest of the land is covered with forest, especially in the valley of the Mijakovačka Reka and the valleys of its tributaries. In addition, there are forests in places such as Berinski Kamen, Gornov Do, Ornička, Rosulja, Kamenita Čuka, Goleni Čukar, Todora, etc. Most of them are oak, holm oak and hornbeam forests, and to a lesser extent beech, pine, aspen and hornbeam forests.
Mijakovačka Reka
This village was also compact at the beginning. The first five houses were in a place that the locals call “the village that cracks nuts”. It is on the left side of the Jasičet valley, whose stream flows into the Mijakovačka Reka on the right. There is also the best well in the village. From there, the inhabitants moved to their current places; wherever someone made a “heritage”, they moved there; only one remained in the “village”, where he still lives today.
Leščanska Mala and Livadska below
Today, the village is of a scattered type, with few real neighborhoods, although Leščanska Mala and Livadska below it can be distinguished, while those whose houses are by the river are called Rekari. The main road runs along the upper edge of the village and some houses are along that road. There are no groups of houses in the village, as many of the divided cooperative members have moved to nearby, former Albanian, villages.
-The Lazarevics or Kaluđerčani , Aranđelovdan, are originally from Kaluđerec – Klisuri, from where their ancestor Neša fled with his family from Arnaut.
From Jabukova Dolina it widens somewhat, on the left side, which is known as Bela Voda, there are fields and meadows, as well as along the river. From this widening, again along the river, a gorge-like part of the valley emerges, behind which another widening occurs, where there are fields and meadows, and in the Turkish era the Arnauts had their mosque there.
On the site of today’s cemetery, there was an old Serbian cemetery, which the Arnauts called the “Kaur cemetery“. There are no special traces on it, only pointed stones sticking out of the ground, which have grown into the grass.
There is a legend that on the site of today’s village of Trstena (Serbian, not Albanian) there used to be a village called Novakovce. The mentioned old cemetery is probably from the time when this village existed.
On the right side of the Trstenska Reka River at its source, there is a place called Samokov, where today there are meadows and a forest. It is said that there was a Samokov there, and the old man Ilija Đurakov talks about the “vadas” that exist there and through which the water from the Samokov was conducted.
An old road, which the Arnauts called the “Kaur Road”, ran through the village. It passed by Samokov. Today, there is a dense beech forest there.
Trstena
The origin of the village and the origin of the population.
The first settlement on the site of today’s Trstena is lost in the past. Before today’s Trstena, there was the village of Novakovce, about which very little is known. They say that the blacksmith Novko lived there, after whom the village was named. It is known that the village of Trstena existed, but in the place where the Arnaut village of Trstena in Turkey is today, at the source of the Desivojačka Reka River.
At that time, Trstena was inhabited by Serbs, as were all the other villages in the area, which are now inhabited by Arnauts. There is a legend that 70 girls came out of Trstena alone at that time and that “quite a few beautiful families” came from them. It is not known how Novakovce was displaced. Before the arrival of the Arnauts, Serbs lived in Trstena, to whom the legend certainly refers, and Novakovce, until it was taken over by the Arnauts, was part of the village of Vlasa.
The Arnauts, after occupying Trstena and other nearby villages, began to violently appropriate the land in Novakovce. Having captured Novakovci, they expanded Trstena into the Veternica basin. Some Arnauts in Trstena were originally from Otnjani, and some families were called: Cukinska, Azirosa, Ljuljinska, etc. After 1878, all Arnauts fled Trstena, which was then settled by Serbs.
Lands and forests.
Fields, meadows and fences are in the places where the houses are, and all together – the property of each – still bears the name of that Arnautin, on whose estate some of the inhabitants settled, such as: Demovo, Jakupovo and other similar names. There are no other names in these villages. The rest of the land is covered with forest.
Origin of the population of the village of Gagince, City of Leskovac – Jablanica District. According to the book “Poljanica and Klisura” by Rista T. Nikolić, based on data collected in 1902 and 1903. Prepared by Origin contributor Milodan.
Location of the village.
This village is on a slope between Veternica and Lipovačka Reka, towards Veternica. An embankment runs along the slope. Its surface is sparsely forested, and its sides are intersected by deep valleys, which are covered with forest. There are houses on the top of the slope closer to the embankment, as well as on the slopes and sides of the valleys, which extend towards Veternica. There are houses on the left side of Gaginska Reka, under a chukka, on the slope towards Golemi Luka, which is next to Veternica.
Water.
The locals use drinking water from wells, which are located near every house. Well-known wells include: Leska, Suljina Češma, Kočine, and others.
Lands and forests.
Fields, meadows and fences are in the places where the houses are, and all together – the property of each – still bears the name of that Arnautin, on whose estate some of the inhabitants settled, such as: Demovo, Jakupovo and other similar names. There are no other names in these villages. The rest of the land is covered with forest.
Interval tips.
The village is of a scattered type, like all other villages in the gorge. There are no small ones in it, because it is of recent origin and could not have developed. There are 35 houses in the village.
Antiques in the village.
There was an Old Cemetery in the village, near the present-day embankment, which leads along the slope on which the village is located. They say it was Serbian. There are no traces of it today, so it is not known – that there used to be a cemetery there. It was destroyed by the Arnauts.
On the right side of the Lipovačka Reka valley, where there are meadows (Milenko meadow), there is Selište.
Selište
There are still old fruit trees (pears) in Selište. They say they are left over from the Serbs who lived here before the arrival of the Arnauts.
The origin of the village and the origin of the population.
Nothing is known about the first origins of this village today. Before the Arnauts, who lived there until 1878, there were Serbs. Whether the Serbs founded this village or it existed before – it is not known.
With the arrival of Arnauts and Gagince, the Serbs were displaced from the village. Today, only one Serbian family is known, which then moved from Gagince to Moštanica, where they still live today. They are the Gagini (Aleksa and Rista Gaga), named after the village from which they moved. It is not known where the other families moved. Some of the Arnauts in Gagince were from Otnjani (Hoti) as well as Beštica. At first there was one house on Jusenovo Rida, then they multiplied and took over Gagince and Beštica. During the liberation in 1878, all the Arnauts left the village, which was then repopulated by Serbs.
Antiques in the village.
There are no settlements in Dragobužd. There are remains of an Arnaut cemetery.
A hill in the area of this village is called Kula. That’s what the Arnauts called it, but it is not known whether there was ever a tower there.
The origin of the village and the origin of the population.
Nothing is known about the first origins of this village. It was probably a Serbian village at first, because in the village of Gradnji, there is a story that priest Gmitar from the Šikoparci family (ancestor of today’s Šikoparci) had a parish in addition to other villages (Dobrejanci, Golemi Selo, Vlas, Roždanci and Stanac) and in Dragobužde, which could then only have been a Serbian village.
Until 1878, it was inhabited by Arnauts, and before them it was held by the inhabitants of the nearby village of Vlas. They had their own huts and huts in Dragobužde, where their cattle lived. Later, about 100-120 years ago, they were replaced by Arnauts from the nearby villages of Ravni Del and Orulica. They are said to have been invited by the lord of the village of Vlas, in order to use their help to oppress the Vlachs, who were not loyal to him.
Dobrejanac
They first started herding cattle in Dragobužd, where they used to graze and then settled permanently, taking over all the land of Dragobužd from the Vlasi villagers. Some of them were Maljoci, some were called Sveto Nikolci, and the following surnames are also known: Memetovci, Adžinci, Rustemovci, Išljamovci, Redžinci , etc. Some were of the same fis with the Arnauts in Dobrejanac, and all of them were from Ravni Del and Orulica. By 1878, there were about 35 Arnaut houses in Dragobužd.
After 1878, all the Arnauts fled Dragobužde, and it was then populated by Serbs, most of whom were from the village of Vlasa, but there were also some from nearby areas:
The origin of the village and the origin of the population.
Nothing can be said with certainty about the first origins of this village. Until 1878, it was inhabited by Arnauts, and before that, Serbs lived here. It seems, judging by the name of the village, that the Serbs were the first to settle it. After the arrival of the Arnauts, the Serbs fled and today they can be found in some villages of Poljanica and Klisura. In 1861, Han ga, certainly incorrectly, mentions this village – Kaludscheriza – as “Bulgarian” (?) with 5 to 6 houses.
Rapanje Bare and Kaluđerce
This certainly refers to Rapanje Bare, which was then counted as Kaluđerce and was inhabited by Serbs. Serbian families fled from Kaluđerce (the real one) earlier, as soon as the Arnauts began to settle there, at the end of the 18th or beginning of the 19th century, moving in from Golak. After the liberation in 1878, everyone fled and the village was then inhabited by Serbs.
The origin of settlements and the origin of the population.
Rapanja Bara is of recent origin, having been settled probably at the beginning of the 19th or at the latest at the end of the 18th century. Arnauts from nearby Barje kept cattle or mowed grass here. The inhabitants who lived there were like čivčijas to them, and they moved to the “trševina”. They were considered čivčijas because they provided workers to the nearby Arnauts in Barje when they needed them for work in the fields. There was forest (“šib”) everywhere, which they cleared and created fields.
The origin of the village and the origin of the population.
Crcevac
Before the Arnauts, who lived in Crcevac until 1878, this village was Serbian. It was inhabited by Serbs called “Šopovi”, who, with the arrival of the Arnauts, were displaced. The Arnauts moved from the nearby village of Barja. Their mother, they say, was a “kaurka” – a Serb. Until 1878, there were 5 houses in Crcevac. During the liberation, in 1878, the Arnauts moved out of Crcevac, and then the village was repopulated by Serbs.
References
Balkan Academia 