by Gani I. Mehmeti and Vesel Jaha, 2023. Review of book “Deme Ahmeti. Translation Petrit Latifi.
Abstract: This text explores the preserved oral and written tradition surrounding the tragedy of the Demë Ahmeti family from Reçicë in the Llapi region, a story transmitted for more than two centuries through song and local memory. The posthumously published work of Prof. Vesel Jaha (2023), a fifth-generation descendant of the family, reconstructs the lineage, political context, and military role of Demë Ahmeti and his descendants within the complex dynamics of Ottoman, Serbian, and Albanian interactions from the 18th to early 19th centuries. The book situates the massacre of 30 family members within broader regional conflicts, highlighting both Serbian Chetnik violence and Albanian retaliation. Jaha’s study integrates extensive historical literature, though weakened by the absence of footnotes, and proposes the controversial thesis that several key Serbian historical figures—including Karađorđe—had Albanian origins. Ultimately, the work invites scholars to re-evaluate the historical identity, role, and legacy of Demë Ahmeti in the formation of Albanian national resistance.
I do not know when the song of the famous tragedy of Demë Ahmeti was sung in the village of Reçicë in Mavriq i Llapi. However, the tragic event of this family has been passed down for more than 200 years. This has been passed down both by tradition and by song. And, this cannot be treated in songs or legendary events, because it is not that long ago and has been passed down by people who have known or even experienced the event, perhaps.
At least, until now, we have learned to recognize the event as such, which is so painful why a family suffers from 300 or more harambashas, that is, Serbian Chetniks, who had expressed their anger and hatred towards this family just because it was Albanian.
But, on the other hand, we are proud, because, for the 28 members of this family and the 2 guests who had been shot there, so that for a total of 30 people killed, the revenge was multiplied tenfold by the men of Llap and Gallap, who without hesitation had taken the path to revenge, upon hearing about the event.
They had run, had rushed so much to catch the enemies for revenge, because those killed in the Dema family could not be resurrected now, but revenge is also what to some extent reconciles both the dead and the living for the evils committed by the evildoers, in this case the Serbian enemies, who until then, it can be said, had lived in good neighborhood, being like peoples conquered by the Ottoman Empire. So, the Albanians had managed to catch the Serbs celebrating their evils against this family, to the extent that they were drunk either from alcohol or from music or from their “successes” against this family.
Here the Serbs were surrounded, all were killed, except for 6 people, who were now sent to the king himself as free prisoners, to do as he pleased, but who were also a kind of proof of the rules of war and of the Albanians that they were the ones who applied the rules of war and were not criminals.
VESEL JAHA, DIFFERENTLY, WITH THE TRAGEDY OF THE DEMË AHMET FAMILY
Vesel Jaha was born on 23. 4. 1949 in the village of Reçicë in Llapi. Veseli graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in the Sociology department in Prishtina. Veseli died on 25. 11. 2016, but, as it is said, he had left the work written, which, with great dedication from his family, saw the light of publication in 2023.
Veseli, as a descendant of the large and ancient family of Demë Ahmeti, was interested in and dealt with the lineage, the settlement of Demë Ahmeti in Reçicë, as well as his wars waged until the end of his life.
Vesel Jaha, the author of the book, is the fifth generation after Demë Ahmeti. So, Veseli is of Mehmet of Zukë of Jaha of Avdulli of Demë of Ahmeti1.
The book is very well prepared in all aspects. With hard covers. There is a lot of historical data not only about the Albanians, but also about the peoples they are surrounded by and about the invaders, especially about the Ottoman Empire, and certainly with the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, German and French historical currents, when everyone was trying to conquer and exploit other peoples in Europe and further afield, to Asia and Africa.
The book is written scientifically and in a high scientific historical style. There are many events, there are many war dates, historical personalities. It is to be envied in its memory and the academic level of the book.
The main scientific flaw of the book is that it lacks footnotes, which would help the reader or scientific worker to find the sources mentioned in the book. As a scientific work, footnotes should also be presented, which would be a great relief to get to the books and documents where the subject is taken, the citation of others in the book, of course where the author, the book, the year of publication, the place of publication and the page should be given, because it is a great effort, not to say impossible, to find a quotation, a date, a saying taken from a book, when we are not even given the page, so as not to be required to browse an entire book, or all the books mentioned. For this, the footnote is a help and scientific research.
Much has been written about the events and they are quite well connected not only to Albanian events, but also to European events in general and at different times, where they are often given with dates.
The main purpose of the book is to present Demë Ahmeti as a pasha and even a vizier in defense of the Albanian cause, who often has to fight against an Albanian pasha, as well as against the Ottomans and against the Serbs, later.
Based on Vesel Jaha’s book, the Serbian people and their liberation are from the Albanians themselves. This has been said several times by different historians.
“In 1830, despite the great dilemmas and conjectures of the great powers, such as Austria, Russia and the Ottoman Empire, even though they disputed the existence of the Serbian nation, these three big states decided to accept the Serbian nation. This is because it was a creation and a work that they themselves had done. So, in this way a cherished state was created and which continues to be so even today. Another thing is what ethnic groups existed at that time.
In these territories, the most numerous groups were the Vlachs who were not Serbs, but who had a high Albanian origin, because there is a fact that is also proven by the documents of the time that their language was undecipherable… the second group was made up of the so-called Cincari, Greeks and Cincari Arnauti, so both the first and the second belonged to the Orthodox confession.
Here the question arises as to who the Cincari and the Greek Cincari really were. Both the first and the second were Albanians, but the difference was that those who had learned the Greek language were called Cincari Greeks, while those who did not know the Greek language were called Cincari Arnauti. The third largest group of these territories were the Kelmenda Albanians, who also had their own Catholic churches in Belgrade, then in Avala and one on the outskirts of Belgrade.
In the area of Kragujevac, in a territory called Rudnik, all Kelmendas were there. To this day, we can also find numerous surnames, different toponyms, some of which they changed and some that they did not change, for example: the village of Gjinofci, today’s Ivankovci had the name “Shuplaka” Mirjevë, which is exactly an Albanian toponym, as is the case with the place Bukmir in Croatia, which also exists in Serbia, the place called Bukmir. Later, the people of these places took the surname Bukmirović, Arnautović, Gjeta, Qupi, who later took the suffix Qupići, etc. etc.”2
So, in a word, these were people who, based on the Orthodox religion, were devoted to this religion and to the Tsar of Russia.
The author has used a fairly large number of books by authors, especially Serbian ones, but also others. At the end of his book, the author has presented the literature of 35 sources, both from authors and from documents and archives. We have also recorded these authors and works, which are not mentioned in the literature at the end of the book, but which are cited in the book by the author Vesel Jaha. f – indicates on which page of the book they are cited:
Leopold Ranke, German
Vjekoslav Jellović, p. 47
Antonio Protić, from Smederevo
Trandafil Duka from Kosturi, in the language Greek, published in Pest, Hungary on 22. 3. 1807, p. 185
Bartomole Koninbergu
Vasa Qubrillovic
Ferid Duka, p. 42, 93
Ottoman Documents, p. 43 and 44
Italian Documents, p.
Radmila Triqkovic, p. 87 and 119
Asllan Sulo, Berat, 15th century
Molla Mustafa Besheskia, p. 101
Andrija Lojnovic, publicist, p. 118
Hanri Pukëvili, p. 122
Johan Joseph Miteseri, p. 122
Ani Bue, French, p. 122 in «History of the Ottoman Empire»,123, Turkey of Europe, p. 156
Ranke, p. 132. «Spska revolucija», Belgrade, 1965
Miloš Milošavljević, , in the Serbian Academy of Sciences, p. 185
Simeon Sarajlia, p. 186
Dušan Bardnin, monograph on Kara Dzhorxhi, p. 189
Batallaka, Serbian historian, p. 178
Buzha Grujević or Filip Todorović, p. 179
Stjepan Marjanović from Zemun, notes in Croatian. Later, some of them were published in »Danica Ilirska» in 1842
Simeon Sarajlia, 186
Mulla Mustafa Besheskia, p. 101
Adria Lajnović: taken from the works “Munitori”, p. 118Pukëvili, p. 122
Stojanćević, p. 136, writes about Deli Ahmeti, he was from the village of Sjariq, Uzhica district, when it was called the territory of Arnautlluk.
Thimi Mitko, p. 233, “Albanian Bee”
M. Qafëzezi, p. 233
Bartolomeo, p. 244
The author writes that he had German, Ottoman, and other documents in his hands, but he does not tell us where they are.
I presented the authors extracted from the text, so that those interested and those who may come to these books can do their research and verify whether Demë Ahmeti was really different from the one we know from the song and from oral tradition to this day.
Who was Demë Ahmeti?
Demë Ahmeti comes from Berat from the Skuraj (Zguraj) family. It is the year 1270 when this family known for its bravery and national stance is mentioned, Savesti Mavri Skura and Pavle Kurti, with Orthodox religion.
This family had continued its existence and comes down to Ahmet Kurt Pasha, who had come to Belgrade as Pasha. Ahmeti’s son was Dema, who continues the tradition of his father, Ahmeti, and he is no longer called by the surname Kurt, but is known by the name of his father, Demë Ahmeti. Ahmeti, Demë’s father, was poisoned by his doctor.
Gazili Mehmret Agë Zguraj was the brother of Demë Ahmeti (on page 182, Mehmet Agë Zguraj is the son of Demë Ahmeti. There is likely some confusion, when it says that he was the brother of Demë Ahmeti), who was killed in 1805 in Karanofc (today’s Kraljevo). According to the author Vesel Jaha and according to the narrator, his descendants are the Ugalrës and Shalës of Sllatina, so he is not considered the son of Demë Ahmeti, but rather his descendant.
dark for Dema’s brother, Mehmet, if it is not a confusion, because in one place it says he was Dema’s brother and then it says he was Dema’s son
Gazili Jahja, son of Dema Ahmeti, killed in Jeni Pazar in 1805.
Another son of Dema Ahmeti, Gazili Sylejman Aga, killed in 1806 in the Belgrade War by the Serbs, but buried in Reçica i Mavriq.
Gazili Salih, also son of Dema Ahmeti, killed in 1813.
Ibrahim, son of Dema Ahmeti, killed .
According to Vesel Jaha, the writings on the tombstones in Reçica were deciphered (read) by Vesel Jaha’s friend, prof. dr. Nehat Krasniqi.
Karagjorgjen (Kara Xhorxhin (makes him Albanian, Kelmendas.
Kara Xhorxhi, Orthodox Albanian. He identified himself as a Slav by religious affiliation. He had many nicknames, p. 26.
Pjetër Novakoviqi, is also a Catholic Albanian
Ali Gushani is the nephew or uncle of Demë Ahmeti
Demë Ahmeti has several pseudonyms, which are: Halil Aga, Karaplisi, Karafejzi, Karafejza, Karafellza, Karafejzi Alibeg Zade. In Serbian writings he is known as Vogja Arnauta (Leader of the Albanians).
It is seen that the weakening of the Albanian national element has also come from their religious affiliation. For many of them, for the time, religion has dominated more than the nation, unfortunately. With this, it can be said that this has come from the division of Albanians into three religions, which have had opposing positions among themselves. As a nation, there have been no inter-war wars, but However, there was a flight from each other, as is being seen.
Why, from the Albanian nation, many Orthodox Albanians were Slavized and a considerable number of Albanians were Turkized. So, they fled from their national identity, and this is very harmful for our nation.
This can also be seen in the large number of the Serbian population, which from a small handful of them, has become a large enough population to dominate the Balkans, while the Albanian population, from murders, alienations and migrations, is in danger of remaining the smallest people in the Balkans.
The Albanians were alienated into Serbs, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Bulgarians, who, apart from the Serbs, there is no Montenegrin people, because they were all Albanians, but were divided on a territorial basis, just like today, when some think of forming the Kosovar nation, with the aim of reducing the Albanian population, perhaps to the point of dissolution.
Meanwhile, in Serbia this is clearly seen that Karadjorgje himself was an Albanian of the Kelmendese and he was not the only one who created Serbia, with the help of Russia, Austria and the Ottoman Empire itself.
Prof. Vesel Jaha
As an example, we are giving this part from the book Demë Ahmeti by Prof. Vesel Jaha:
The desertion of a group of Demë Ahmeti’s soldiers and their transfer to Karadjorgji’s army
After the second half of 1806, the positions of Demë Ahmeti’s army were weakened, due to historical circumstances that many issues came to the fore. They had external enemies Austria and Russia. But, most of all, the Ottoman Empire blackmailed the Serbian side that acted on the instructions they received from both Russia and Austria and only under their instructions was Serbian diplomacy well coordinated.
Demë Ahmeti’s army at this time had hoped that the Serasker of Rumelia, and this was Ibrahim Pasha of Shkodra would support him. But, this was noticed during his march to Niš; precisely when he managed to position himself in the right places, he, under the pressure and dictate of the Sublime Porte, made an agreement with Kara George to create peace for a joint war against what they called the Gërxhalins, which was the army of Demë Ahmeti and Osman Pasvan Ogli of Vidin. So at this time and in these circumstances, the confidants of Russia and Austria, together with that of the Sublime Porte, managed to indoctrinate a group in Demë Ahmeti’s army and make them cross over to the other camp”, p. 184.
In a word, it is good for historians to deal with this and verify what is now the truth of the story of Demë Ahmeti’s family, what we know from the tradition and the song about him from 1811 or this second one, now according to Prof. Vesel Jaha, presented in this book.
I myself would hesitate, but if Veseli relied on the writings he found in the given literature, it means that there is something, perhaps hidden by the Serbian side itself, why Demë Ahmeti appears to us as a worthy fighter for the national cause, as more than others in the creation of the Albanian state in the ethnic lands.
Finally, I invite those interested, historians and scientific workers and other interested parties, to read the book and give their opinions about this major figure, who is given to us here differently from what we are used to knowing.
It should be proven that the family of Demë Ahmeti was a victim of Serbian thugs or Heroes of the war for the formation of the Albanian state in the three ethnic lands, with Demë Ahmeti at the head.
Source
Balkan Academia 