“The people of Peshter are tall, vital, elastic, eagle-eyed, of a beautiful breed”

– Jovan Cvijić

In his book, Anthropogeographic Studies, Cvijiqi addresses important aspects of the relationship between the geographical environment and spiritual and material culture in the Balkans. In 1905, Cvijiqi was one of the first full professors at the University of Belgrade. In his scientific analysis of Cvijiqi’s works, Academician H. Islami concludes that Cvijiqi “was biased, a speculator and a constructor of conclusions, a chauvinist and a hegemon”./

Among the most distinguished researchers in Slavic science, who has made a distinguished anthropogeographical contribution, he has come to the conclusion that the Albanian population is of Illyrian-Pellagian origin and is one of the oldest and indigenous Indo-European peoples in the Balkans. Other Slavic authors, whom we will mention later, have also come to this conclusion.

However, such statements were not in the interest of Slavic politics, especially that of Greater Serbia. The Serbian bourgeoisie of the time of Cvijić led a completely expansionist-devouring policy. Its goal, giving importance to natural factors, was to occupy those places that provide access to the sea and that have geostrategic importance.

To achieve this goal, the country had to be liberated from the Ottoman occupier at first, and then as much as possible to take land from the lands of other peoples. In order to achieve the specific objective of the Serbian government, later also the Yugoslav government, before and after the LDB, it had to be assisted by scientists, led by the Academy of Sciences.

Precisely for this purpose, Cvijiqi with his supporters of the time and later followers, forgetting what they had previously established, began to put forward new theses on the Albanian issue that were untenable in the scientific field, which served the interests of the gluttonous state policy. These theses of Cvijiqi also found support in later times from Slavic authors.

The geographical school of the anthropogeographic direction, which was founded by Jovan Cvijiqi, was distinguished by two qualities: first, it relied on partial explanations and distortion of facts that speak of the autochthonous nature of the Albanians, and, second, it had purely political purposes.

In the scientific analyses he made of Cvijiqi’s works, this distinguished scholar in the scientific field comes to quite correct conclusions. In interpreting information and data from the field, Cvijiqi “was biased, a speculator and a constructor of conclusions, a chauvinist and a hegemon”, underlines Academician Hivzi Islami.

Below we are giving parts of the author’s writings in question, which are related to the environment, namely, the Sandzak, where the Slavic and Albanian populations meet. In geographical terms, the strongest ethnographic tribes of the Balkan Peninsula[1] are: the inhabitants of the Montenegrin Hills, parts of Herzegovina, Peshter and the regions of northern Albania.

The inhabitants of these regions have preserved the old form of tribal brotherhood, clan-tribes and their organization. These, for the most part, are very tall, vital, elastic and by no means fat, with expressive faces, eagle eyes, of the most beautiful type/race in the Balkan Peninsula: all of them Muslim Albanians, as he calls the Mohammedan Arbanasi.

In everyday life they are very restrained, in most cases they do not consume any kind of alcoholic beverage, while they smoke and drink coffee very rarely. There is almost no individual with physical defects, degenerate as he says. They have preserved the strong mountain morality, often with generous features, with deep feelings for the family community and sacrifice, which is not lacking even in the most precious victims.

From these features derive numerous ethnographic and anthropogeographical features. These features are in direct opposition to the culture and customs of the Byzantine and Cincarian peoples. For the Tosk Arbanasi (Albanians) in the south, he says that they have many Byzantine and Cincarian features, few even in appearance are like that.

In the northwestern parts of Serbia[2], the herders call them “Arnauts”, but this is a name that does not indicate a person rich in cattle, but now the people of these regions, namely the inhabitants of Sjenica and Peshteras, call them Arnauts (Albanians). Meanwhile, the inhabitants of the Novi Pazar and Senica regions, who have largely inhabited the regions of Stari Vllahu and Šumadija, are said to have come from Arnautllak (Albania).

Many villages in lower Šumadija are called Arnauts (Albanians) regions, such as: Rogaci, Babana, etc. Then, also the Užicas, who have come down to live in Jadar and Maçva. The people of those places have called them Arnauts (Albanians). The inhabitants of Kragujevac, who have come from the regions of Raska (Sandžak), have called them Arnauts (Albanians).

In eastern Serbia, the name Arnaut is not uncommon, and is associated with immigrants from the area of ​​Raška (Sandžak), where they are in large numbers. Thus, the neighborhoods of the villages have called the Arnaut neighborhood, while the river that runs through the small town of Bolevaci is called the Arnaut, as is the case with many whirlpools.

Most of the newcomers to Serbia[3], in the towns where the Cincars are concentrated, the largest stream in terms of the number of newcomers are from Herzegovina, the Montenegrin Hills, the Novi Pazar region, Bosnia, mainly in Šumadija, but there are also Arbanas (Albanians).

In the Sandžak of Novi Pazar[4] among the newcomers, in the Sandžak region there are Vasojevic, and a large number of the Kuč tribe, especially along the Lim river valley. Cvijić in his work, among other things, writes: “Important ethnographic processes have occurred in those areas where the Slavic and Albanian peoples met in Montenegro[5].

The Arbanasi have also been Serbified in Montenegro. Of such origin are a part of the Kuç and Piper tribes, in addition to the Vasojevićs who expanded at the expense of the Kliments. Oral traditions of the common origin of the Vasojevićs, Pipers and Ozrinićs with the Hoti and Krasniqi[6] and the closeness between them are well known. For the tribes in Montenegro, it is said that they have assimilated the old population in Bukumir, Krička and Potarje, and among them also the neighboring Albanian tribes”.

References

[1] Јован Цвијић – Антропогеографически проблики Балканског полуострва, pages 30, 31

[2] Ibid., page 137

[3] Ibid., page 187

[4] Ibid., page 194

[5] Ibid., page 6

[6] Ibid., page 222

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