Petrit Latifi

Stevan Sinđelić, the Serbian patriot who blew himself up in 1809 during the Battle of Nish, was from Smederevo, back then an Albanian inhabited region. Sinđelić also met with Karadjorgje (Karagjorgje) from the Albanian Kelmendi who instructed him to organize the revolution. The historical archives on the history of the Albanians of Smederevo indicates that Stevan (Shtjefen) Sinđelić may have been of Albanian Orthodox origin.

Painting of Stevan Sinđelić.

Serbian authors: Albanians dominated Smederevo

“Radoshi Trbjeshan in his work regarding the event of the first Serbian uprising says: “The absolute majority of Albanian residents moved from cities, respectively from numerous towns such as: Karanova, Kruševci, Paraćin, Rožanji, Smederevo, Kladovo, Belgrade, Šabac, Aleksinci and from many other cities and towns as well as from some palankas of those regions.”

Tihomir Đorđević

“According to Tihomir Đorđević in the cities and towns of the Pashalik of Belgrade, the majority of the residents consisted of ”Turks”. This data of his strengthens the large presence of Albanians, Bosniaks, etc.”

Dr. Radmila Tričković, p. 99:

“The insurgent Albanians had at that time (1785) blocked many roads in the vicinity of Kruševci, Pustareka, Toplica, Kadilić, Leskoc, Niš and Belgrade. So they had blocked the roads leading to Niš, Belgrade, Pirot, Vranje, Novi Pazar, Prishtina, etc.”

Page 89:

“Cities and towns in which there were also Albanians were: Belgrade, Smederevo, Kladovo, Jagodina, Ada-Kala, Karanova, Poreč, Qupria, Rudniku, Kurushevo, Aleksinci, Užica, Šabac, Paraqini and Negotin. In some of these cities, such as Smederevo, Kladovo and Qupria, there were more Albanians than Serbs.”

Albanians first lived in Smederevë

“There were also Albanian residents in many centers, such as in Krushevci, Cyprus, Aleksinc, Karanovc, Belgrade, Vidin in Bulgaria, Kladovo, Smederevo, etc. (S. Brestovci, Kritiku Vll. Stojančević, Milosh Obrenović i njevo delo, Prosveta, Belgrade, 1966, 487, Albanian traces, Series hist. II 1972, p. 342).”¹

“The authentic archival documents exhibited in the exhibition testify to the continuous extension of the Albanian population to Niš and Pirot and their livelihood in these cities such as Kralevë, Smederevë, Kruševec, Kuršumli and others”.²

Smederevo was full of mosques indicating Albanian presence

“… In Smederevo, out of 24 mosques, we have none today, in Osijek, out of 66 mosques, we have none today, in Herceg Novi, out of 46 mosques, we have none today, in Kruševac, out of 9 mosques, we have none today, in Mitrovica, out of 18 mosques, we have none today”.³

Serbia gained Smederevo and other regions in 1867

“In April 1867 Serbia gained the cities of Užice, Soko, Belgrade, Šabac, Smederevo and Kladovo.”⁴

Non-Slavic heritage of Smederevo or Semendria

“In Semendria, Vinceia, known from the Itin Ant, is suspected, whose mountains the soldiers of Emperor Probus had planted with vines like the Aureus mons. Eutr Semendria rose during the Roman era to the civitas It Hieros, while Tricornium Grocka had sunk to a mere mutation post station. Anville gives the following information about the origin of the present name of Semendria: Chalcondylas speaks of Semendria as Spenderobis, which name was changed by the Slavs to Smender, by the Turks to Semender, by the Magyars as a mutilation of St. Endre Heil Andreas to Sendren. Rancanus called Semendria Smedris, from which the Serbian Smederevo may have originated”⁵

References

1. https://www.google.se/books/edition/Gjurmime_albanologjike/_aLiAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=smederev%C3%AB+shqiptare&dq=smederev%C3%AB+shqiptare&printsec=frontcover ↩︎
2. https://dardaniapress.net/histori/konference-shkencore-ekspozite-140-vjetori-i-debimit-te-shqiptareve-nga-sanxhaku-i-nishit-1877-1878/ ↩︎
3. https://www.google.se/books/edition/Islami_N%C3%AB_Trojet_Iliro_shqiptare_Gjat%C3%AB/AY9DaYBV0ucC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=smederev%C3%AB+shqiptar&pg=PA63&printsec=frontcover ↩︎
4. https://books.flossk.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/1953-historija-klasa-8.pdf ↩︎
5. https://www.google.se/books/edition/Mittheilungen_der_Kaiserlich_K%C3%B6nigliche/z_BYAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=semender+smederevo&pg=PA61&printsec=frontcover ↩︎