By Flori Bruqi, Prishtina. Translation Petrit Latifi.
Summary:
This text examines competing historical narratives concerning the origins of Albanians and Serbs, the processes of ethnogenesis in the Balkans, and the political instrumentalization of history from the late Ottoman period to the twentieth century. Drawing on ecclesiastical documents, scholarly studies, and modern historiographical debates, it highlights claims about forced religious assimilation, taxation practices, and the role of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Slavization of Albanian populations. The text also discusses state-driven colonization policies in Kosovo between 1912 and 1941, including agrarian reforms and settlement programs involving Serbian and Montenegrin colonists.
Furthermore, it presents a range of scholarly positions regarding the Illyrian origin of Albanians—citing linguists, historians, and philologists from the 18th to 20th centuries—who argue for continuity between ancient Illyrians and modern Albanians based on linguistic and archaeological evidence. Alongside this, the text contrasts nationalist or pseudo-historical claims that either deny Albanian indigenousness or present Serbs as the oldest Balkan population. Contemporary debates in Serbian educational materials illustrate a gradual shift toward acknowledging Albanians as descendants of pre-Slavic populations.
Finally, the text explores controversial theories regarding the ethnogenesis of the Serbs, including hypotheses proposing Turko-Avar origins. By juxtaposing academic scholarship with nationalist narratives, it underscores how interpretations of history continue to shape identity, political discourse, and interethnic relations in the Balkans.
Flori Bruqi:
The origin of the Serbs in Kosovo individually is difficult to determine. Their settlements in Serbia are not exactly known, but it is assumed that they come from different parts of the Balkans. Some of the Serbs in Kosovo have lived in Kosovo for many generations.
“From the Vatican documents, it is clear that the Serbian Orthodox clergy acted in the Slavization of Albanians and in the usurpation of Catholic churches, especially in Prizren, Mitrovica, Novobërd, Montenegro, etc., for which the Pope has intervened with the Serbian authorities.”
The terror of the Serbian Orthodox Church against Catholic and Orthodox Albanians, in order to assimilate them, has been continuous and great.
Heavy church and state taxes, and other material and spiritual obligations, such as the Serbian clergy’s imposition that even Catholic Albanians baptize their children in the Serbian Orthodox Church with Slavic names, have caused many Albanians to lose their Catholic religious affiliation and Albanian nationality.
However, most of them are members of families that have received Albanian land donated by Serbian government bodies based on the Holy Serbian Doctrine at that time (1927) and that in Kosovo were said to be undergoing “Agrarian Reform”.
In any case, the number of Serbian immigrants from the current 2006 territory of Serbia cannot be known exactly over the years due to political obstacles in Serbian institutions and entities, which have previously collected (as during the last war) all the registers related to immigrants and Kosovo.
In any case, from those few notes, researchers are of the opinion that “The settlement of Serbian and Montenegrin colonists in Kosovo began in 1912, but was implemented intensively during the years 1919 – 1924 as well as those 1934 – 1941. During that period, in Kosovo, more than 39 thousand Serbs and Montenegrins were settled and 374 colonies were created, respectively new Slavic settlements”
In terms of statistics, the work Agrarian Reform and the Colonization of Kosovo provides us with detailed notes regarding the actions of Serbian institutions.
In the General Encyclopedia of the Lexicographic Institute of Yugoslavia, Zagreb, 1977, p.81 it is stated: “Albanians, a people of Indo-European Thracian-Illyrian origin. The oldest inhabitants of Albania were the Illyrians; the very name Albanian derives from the name Ilir- of the Albana tribe”.
In the history of studies on the Balkans during the second half of the 19th century, Jirecek ranks among the first researchers, especially for his studies on the Bulgarians and Serbs. He is considered the author of the first serious historical work of a scientific nature on the Balkan peoples, “a great scoundrel of science”, who made a great contribution to the history of the Balkan peoples.
“History of the Serbs – Original: Geschichte der Serben World History” Author: Kostandin Jirecek (Costantin Jierecek) Albanianized by: Elda Gjana-Boriçi. Publishing house: 55 Year: 2010 p. 330 Weight: 0.42 Kg. ISBN: 978-99943-56-73-7:
“After countless monographic studies published in the “Archive for Slavic Linguistics” and in reports of meetings of the “Vienna Academy”, Constandin Jirecek was the right person, and one could even say the only one, to take on the “History of the Serbs”, of the “History of States” series, and to outline a field of work that requires not only mastery of the language, but to the same extent also knowledge of the methods of historical and linguistic research, as well as taking into account not only the endlessly scattered articles, but also the preparatory bibliographical work and the collection of the most necessary sources.
“Thus, the history of the Serbs became the first truly summarized history in the German language”. – Hermann Onken .
In the history of studies on the Balkans during the second half of the century. XIX Constandin Jirecek is ranked among the first researchers, especially for his studies of the Bulgarians and Serbs.
He is considered the author of the first serious historical work of a scientific nature on the Balkan peoples, “a great scoundrel of science”, who made a great contribution to the history of the Balkan peoples.
During his scientific activity, which spanned almost forty years, Constandin Jirecek dedicated works to almost all the peoples of the Balkans, where, among other things, he also studied the Kanun of Dushan and the Statute of Dubrovnik.
He has written works in the fields of history, literature, philology, ethnography. Overall, his greatest contribution is in the fields of history and the history of geography.
Who are the first in the Balkans – Albanians or Serbs?
Let us always remember the genocide of the Albanian people so that we do not forget the past, because without it there is no future.
Let us not forget the past, let us build the future. Value your “roots”, your nation…
It is important to know where you come from, to keep in mind the history of your nation, that of the country you are in I grew up, always curious about the ancient history of your nation.
George Fred Williams wrote in 1914:
“If we go back to prehistory, before the Homeric rhapsodes sang to the gods and mythological heroes, before the Greek language was written, there lived a people known as the Pelasgians. The Albanians are the only ones who have come down to this day from this powerful prehistoric race. Only in recent years has it been determined that the Pelasgians were the ancient Illyrians…
These Illyrians also passed into Italy under the name of Toskë, as they are still called in Albania, while in Italy they remained as Toskë, Tuscan, Etruscan… Albanian was the true language of Homer, because the Greeks borrowed their famous epic from the Pelasgian rhapsodes… Albanian was the native language of Alexander the Great and of Pyrrhus of Epirus, one of the greatest generals in history…
It is a tragedy beyond imagination that this great and very ancient race should be reduced to this a situation that deserves to be called the scandal of European civilization. It is not surprising that the Ottoman conqueror forbade any excavations on Albanian soil that could remind the people of their former glory… What a wealth of knowledge awaits the archaeologist when Albanian soil opens the treasures of the history of the Pelasgians!”
This is the answer that shocks the Serbs. The Serbs are sometimes even pitiful. A good part of them still believe that they are the oldest people in the Balkans. They even have scientific books by their pseudo-historians that try to “argue” that even “Adam and Eve spoke Serbian”, that “the Serbs are the oldest nation on the globe”, and that “other nations and languages were born from the Serbian nation”.
The attempt of the “divine nation” has begun to descend the stairs, to touch reality. The History book for the 6th grade states: “The ancient Slavs were welcomed in the Balkan Peninsula by the local Illyrians, who later dispersed into several tribes, and one of these tribes survived. In the 20th century, the peoples of Western Europe recognized this tribe as Albanians.”
This book by the author Radeta Mihalčić, for sixth-grade students of primary schools in the Republic of Serbia, continues to be a topic of discussion for Serbian public opinion, as it states that Albanians are natives of this peninsula, and that they came to the Balkans much earlier than the Slavs.
“To be clearer, we are talking about the Illyrians, the Illyrian tribes, with varying degrees of civilization, who populated the Western Balkans and from whom the Albanians also descend, as they were also recognized by the peoples and countries of Western Europe,” writes the Serbian daily Telegraf.
In the lecture “South Slavs and Natives”, among other things, it is stated: “Despite this, the natives who lived together in larger groups were not Slavized. The Albanians preserved their language, customs, customs and other national symbols. A part of the arriving Slovenes accepted the language and customs of the Albanians and assimilated”, the Serbian daily reports the quote from this book.
The editor at the Institute for History Textbooks, Nebojša Jovanović, explains the “dilemma” with which some Serbs cannot accept it at all, since some of them believe that even Adam and Eve spoke Serbian.
“There has been a lot of talk in public, both positively and negatively, about the need to revise history. Some are afraid and condemn any attempt to revise history, while others argue that some things should finally be discussed, written correctly and spoken honestly. There is also a third party that is abusing this situation by presenting it as if ‘history will be turned upside down’”, said Jovanovic.
Jovanovic said that he was referring to the history book, and not some scientific books, with which, according to him, attempts have been made to show with pseudo-history and various theses that “Serbs were the oldest people, that even Adam and Eve were Serbian and spoke Serbian, and that from the Serbian nation and Serbs all other peoples and languages that exist today were born”.
“We are a nation that is proud of its glorious history and we have the opportunity to hear open and very heated discussions about it on the street, in a bar, at gatherings and celebrations. But when this topic is discussed, the only ones who remain silent are historians, because no one asks them anything and no one reads their books. I have witnessed such situations many times, many times I have been convinced that the main literature of these historians is the ‘interpretation’ of history, a subject in which they themselves were once given a B,” said Jovanović.
“When these people take their children’s textbooks in their hands, they really understand that some lessons have changed. However, even those who had an A in history will have such an impression. Because, some lessons from history have really changed.
For example, today in the text “In school history books, we learn much more about the First World War than we did before, when the entire First World War was described, taught, in one lesson,” said Jovanović, adding that there have also been changes in the writing of history when it comes to the Second World War.
But Telegraf.rs finds it difficult to agree and continues to comment on the book, which tells half the truth. “Let’s go back to the Albanians once again. So when the Serbs arrived in the Balkan Peninsula, they found the Illyrians. This people called the Illyrians were divided into tribes and one of them was called ‘Albanians’ by Western Europe in the 20th century.
They call themselves ‘Albanians’, and this is where the name ‘Shiptari’ comes from, when Serbs refer to them,” writes this daily. “It should be noted that the Albanians (supposedly the Albanian tribe) in their long history, unlike the rest of the Illyrians who had their own state and government, and even kings (Queen Teutë, with her capital in Risan, etc.), did not constitute a constitutional nation, and in this regard they were emancipated only in the 20th century,” comments the shocked and disappointed Serbian media of this peninsula, and that they came to the Balkans much earlier than the Slavs.
“To be clearer, we are talking about the Illyrians, the Illyrian tribes, with varying degrees of civilization, who populated the Western Balkans and from whom the Albanians also descend, as they were also recognized by the peoples and countries of Western Europe,” writes the Serbian daily Telegraf, which itself finds it difficult to accept “revision of history”, albeit, again distorted. In this book, in the lecture “South Slavs and the natives”, among other things it is said:
“Nevertheless, the natives who lived together in larger groups were not Slavized. The Albanians preserved their language, customs, customs and other national symbols. A part of the arriving Slovenes accepted the language and customs of the Albanians and assimilated”, the Serbian daily reports the quote from this book. The editor at the Institute for History Textbooks, Nebojša Jovanović, explains the “dilemma” with which a part of Serbs cannot accept it at all, since some of them believe that even Adam and Eve spoke Serbian.
“There has often been public talk, in a positive or negative sense, about the need for the revision of history. Some are afraid and condemn any attempt to revise history, while others emphasize the need to finally discuss some things, write them correctly and speak honestly. There is also a third party that abuses this situation by presenting it as if ‘history will be turned upside down’”, said Jovanovic.
Jovanovic said that he was referring to the history book, and not some scientific books, with which, according to him, an attempt was made to show with pseudo-history and various theses that “Serbs were the oldest people, that even Adam and Eve were Serbs and spoke Serbian, and that from the Serb nation all other peoples and languages that exist today were born”.
“We are a nation that is proud of its glorious history and we have the opportunity to hear open and very heated discussions about this on the street, in a bar, at gatherings and celebrations. But when this topic is discussed, the only ones who remain silent are historians, because no one asks them anything and no one reads their books. I have witnessed such situations many times, many times I have been convinced that the main literature of these historians is the ‘interpretation’ of history, a subject in which they themselves were once rated a B”, said Jovanović.
“It is important to know where you come from, to keep in mind the history of your family, that of the country in which you grew up”, explains Aldo Cazzullo. “I remember everything and I am always curious about the old stories of my parents, but not nostalgic. This is demonstrated by the fact that I did not keep any of the photos taken of me with the characters I interviewed with other objects related to work trips”.
Albanians are a nation mainly located on the Balkan Peninsula: in Albania, where they constitute about 83% of the population, in Kosovo about 93% and in Macedonia about 25%.[14] In smaller numbers, Albanians are found in Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, Italy, Turkey and Croatia, as well as in various countries of the diaspora. They speak the Albanian language, which belongs to the Indo-European language family. According to religion, they are mainly Muslim or Christian (Orthodox or Catholic).
They speak the Albanian language and have their origins in the ancient territories of Illyria and Epirus in the western Balkans (Europe). Albanians number about 13 million, although today more than half of Albanians live outside Albania and Kosovo, while the vast majority of them live in the Balkans. There are historical Albanian communities in Italy (Arbëreshët), Greece (Arvanites), Montenegro, Ukraine, Serbia, Turkey, Egypt, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Croatia, Romania, Slovenia, nia, North Macedonia, and more recently in Europe in Austria, Great Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and in America in Argentina, Brazil, Canada and the United States.
In the state of Macedonia, as well as the states surrounding Albania and Kosovo, such as Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro, have tried to reduce the number of Albanian residents, and many of them have assimilated and identify as Turks, Bosniaks or other nationalities.
The reason for the cessation of education in the Albanian language in the states surrounding Kosovo and Albania. In Macedonia there are at least 927,000 Albanian residents according to one estimate, and this means that the number of about 500,000 residents in Macedonia is a big lie, while in 1981 at least 600,000 residents of Albanian ethnicity were registered.
In some countries the number of Albanians in total has been declared over 15,000,000. At least 1,000,000 Albanians live in Turkey, and in Greece, the Arvanites number over 2,000,000, and there are no primary or secondary schools for the Albanian people (Arvanites) in these two countries. Also in Presheva, Bujanovac and Medvegje, which are part of Eastern Kosovo, there are residents with problems of education and their equal rights, which are human rights.
The origin of the Albanians It is said that in prehistoric times, before the poets of Homer sang about their gods and the heroes of fairy tales, before the Greek language was written, there lived a people called Pelasgians. Herodotus (484 – 425 BC) gave the Pelasgians history and mentions them long before the civilization of the Greeks; the rough work that covers the sides of the Pantheon in Athens is still called Pelasgian.
These built great walls which are called Cyclopean and which Prof. Pokok says were built long before the Greeks of Homer existed. Of this strong prehistoric race only the Albanians remained. Only later was it understood that the Pelasgians were the old Illyrians, the first Indo-European branch, whose empire extended from Asia Minor to the Adriatic and from the North to the Danube.
From the studies of young writers, such as Prof. Max Myller and Prof. Pot, this origin became stable in the Albanian language. These Illyrians, who still live in Albania as Toskë, were also distributed in Italy and are known as Toskë, Toscanë, Etruscanë. It is useless to search for the gods of Greece in the etymology of its language. In the Albanian language these are very clear and their meanings very correct.
When the Albanian language has been well studied and its traditions have been unearthed, then many of Homer’s works will be re-read and some of them will need to be corrected. Herodotus did not know that the names of the heroes of Homer’s work were quite clearly in the Pelasgian language. Even Homer’s own name can be traced back to the Albanian language: I mire, and in the form Imiros it means good poetry. Droilos, Droili(os), the one who fears, the coward.
Many others can be added to this list. It is not surprising if people who have studied the Albanian language say that this is the original language of Homer and that the Greeks took from the Pelasgian poets most of the songs of bravery and heroic ones. How great knowledge awaits the archaeologist when the Albanian land will open the treasury of Pelasgian history!
These and many other consequences prove that the Albanians today are on the land of their ancestors and speak the language of their ancestors. Even before the Hellenic branch was known in the mountains of Thessaly, Shkodra, the main city of Albania, was undoubtedly the capital of the magnificent kingdom of Illyria. Albanian was the mother tongue of Alexander the Great who conquered the world and of Pyrrhus of Epirus, one of the greatest generals that history mentions and the last to confront the invading Roman armies.
A tragedy, beyond the imagination of tragedy, is this that an old and strong race came to such a bad and cruel state, which is seen as a scandal of European civilization. It is not surprising that the Ottomans did not allow any excavations on Albanian soil, because it could bring back to mind this people the first flowering. In Albanian science and by many foreign authors the Illyrian origin and autochthonousness of the Albanians is confirmed.
However, as in the past, today, various authors and anti-Albanian circles are trying to deny the Illyrian origin of Albanians for certain purposes. For example, a few days ago, MP Prof. Dr. Jelisava Kalezić stated at the session of the Parliament of Montenegro: the thesis that Albanians are of Illyrian origin is not true. In the newspaper “Dan”, Podgorica, Montenegro, on July 21, 2016.
Academician Zoran Llakić, from the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Montenegro, published an article in which he denies the Illyrian origin of Albanians and their autochthonousness. Among other things, he says: Albanians came from Romania to Mat, above Tirana in the 10th century AD.
While in the year 548 AD in Durrës the Serbo-Montenegrins have arrived. Further Llakiqi says: Albanians in the entire space where they live, not only are they not an indigenous people, but also not a national minority. In fact, they are a diaspora. Then on July 24, 2016. in the newspaper “Dan” I published a letter where I presented some scientific knowledge from foreign and Albanian authors on the Illyrian origin and the Albanian autochthon, since this newspaper is widely read in Montenegro.
I consider it reasonable that the issue of the Illyrian origin of Albanians and their autochthonousness should be continuously updated and spread in various public opinions. Because more or less we are faced with an anti-Albanian propaganda of denial of the Albanian national history, for hostile purposes.
Due to limited space, I am focusing only on some well-known scientific researchers. The famous philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1717) dealt with the connection of Albanian with other languages. In his letter of December 10, 1709, quoted in 1897 in the Romanian magazine Albania, it is stated that based on his studies he is convinced that “Albanian is the language of the ancient Illyrians”.
The Swedish historian, Hans Erik Tunman (1746-1778), a university professor in Germany, was one of the first scientists to study the origin of the Albanian language and the Albanian people. He researched Greek, Latin and Byzantine sources and studied the trilingual dictionary of Theodosius Kavaljoti (Greek, Slavic and Albanian) published in 1770.
In his work on the history of the peoples of Eastern Europe (1774), he concluded that the Albanians are autochthonous descendants of the ancient Illyrian population. Johann Georg von Hahn (1811-1869), the Austrian theorist, was involved in the study of the Albanian language together with the linguist Konstadin Kristoforidhi. In 1854 he published his three-volume work, Albanian Studies, on Albanian culture, language and history.
He was perhaps the first to study the dictionary of old Illyrian. He proved that many place names of Albanian regions were a direct continuation of former Illyrian names. Based on his studies, he concluded that the Albanian language was a continuation of Illyrian.
The renowned linguist, Franc Bop (1791-1867), professor at the University of Berlin, published his work in 1854, definitively proving that Albanian belongs to the Indo-European language family and is not derived from any other language in Europe. Gustav Mayer (1850-1900), professor at the University of Graz and member of the Vienna Academy of Sciences, published his study On the Position of the Albanian Language in the Indo-European Language Circle, in 1883.
He is particularly known for compiling the Etymological Dictionary of the Albanian Language, in 1891. Thanks to his in-depth scientific studies, he concluded that the Albanian language derived from Illyrian and constituted a separate branch in the Indo-European language family. Maximilian Lamberc (1882-1963), after his visit to Albania as an emissary of the Vienna Academy of Sciences, immediately became known as a researcher of Albanian folklore and mythology.
Then, in Leipzig, he continued his studies in the field of Albanology, gave lectures on it at the university and in the years 1954-59 compiled and published the Work on the Albanian Language, in three volumes. In his studies, he supported the thesis of the origin of Albanians from the Illyrians and of the Albanian language from Illyrian. The scientist, Edwin Jacques, emphasizes:
There is no doubt that today’s Albanians are historically direct descendants of the Illyrians. The scientist, Serge Metais, writes: According to all indications – first of all, because of geography itself – the Illyrians were the ancestors of the Albanians. On the eve of the Roman conquest, they occupied the entire western part of the Balkans, from Istra to Epirus.
In the interior of the peninsula, they were settled, in the north, at least as far as the Sava River and, in the east, as far as the South Morava and the upper reaches of the Vardar. Further, the researcher Metais adds: In the 2nd century AD, when the Illyrians were under the Roman yoke, the geographer Ptolemy spoke of the existence of a tribe of Albanians (Albanoi), whose capital was Albanopolis. Professor Eqrem Çabej (1908-1980), without a doubt, is the most prominent figure in the field of Albanology.
For almost half a century, he conducted studies, published numerous works on the Albanian language and literature, although he also conducted research in the fields of ethnography, folklore and etymology, lexicology, the origin of the Albanian language, its relations with other Indo-European languages and the unification of the literary norm. Based on subtle scientific studies, he concluded that Albanians are the descendants of the Illyrians and the first Indo-European inhabitants of the Balkans.
His linguistic paper at the First Colloquium on Illyrian Studies (September 15-20, 1972) and numerous other writings “convincingly proved the Illyrian origin of the Albanian language and the autochthonous nature of the Albanian people.” Professor Kostallari, former director of the Institute of Linguistics and Literature in Tirana, reached the same conclusion.
m as well as his colleague Çabej. Also, Aleks Buda, former president of the Academy of Sciences of Albania, in a conference he led, on 2-4 July 1982, emphasized “the Illyrian-Albanian continuity and the autochthonousness of Albanians in their territories.” The origin of the Albanian language and the Albanian people has been discussed by well-known professors: Shaban Demiraj, Mahir Domi and others.
The well-known publicist from Gjakova, Eng. Fahri Xharra, writes: Dr. Skender Rizaj asks and answers: “But who are the Serbs”?! “Judging by the historical sources known so far, it can be said that the Serbs by origin “are not Slavs, just as they are not autochthonous in the Balkans, much less in Kosovo.
“Serbs actually have Turkish origins.”
Dr. Skender Rizaj asks and answers: “But who are the Serbs”?! “Judging by the historical sources known so far, it can be said that Serbs by origin “are not Slavs, as they are not autochthonous in the Balkans, much less in Kosovo. Even though almost the world talks about this, especially science does not recognize them”. For the origin of a people, whether they are Slavs, the auxiliary sciences of history have a special role, especially:
Archaeology and pottery and filigree, weapons and burial methods among the Illyrians, Cyrillic paleography among the Slavs, diplomacy (especially documents in Latin and Greek, chronology, seragistry, heraldry, genealogy, bibliography, archival studies, toponymy, phytonomy, etc., in general about peoples, etc.
“Serbs actually have Turkish origins. They are descended from the Turko-Avar tribe”. Around the 7th century, they with many other Turkish tribes crossed the Danube River and settled on the right bank of the Smederevo area. They were like all Turkish tribes nomads and knights. Mr. Rizaj emphasizes: “The name Serbian does not have Slavic origin either”, it is a professional name with Iranian-Turkish etymology”. He then adds:
“The Serbs before settling in the Balkans were mercenaries in the service of the Iranian rulers, and as mercenaries they came here. This status of these Avar knights in the new Balkan environment was also guaranteed by the Byzantine emperors. ”
“ According to the studies of the Russian historians Artamanov and Pletnev as well as the Serbian ones Jovan Deretic, Mihajlo Stanishic; some Albanian tribes, sometime between the 8th and 9th centuries, after pressure from their Caucasian neighbors the Khazars, left their eastern territory to the shores of the Caspian Sea (in Today’s Azerbaijan and Dagestan), with the help of the Arabs they reached the south of Italy. ” These are what the Serbs say about us. We came from those parts.
One thing that I have found out during my studies of the Serbs is that their entire “history” written by them and their friends is nothing more than a story stolen from us, a change of names and an adaptation to cover their historical void with something that was never theirs.
“The Serbs are actually of Turkish origin. They are descended from the Turko-Avar tribes” originating from the lands of Persia, present-day Iran. Modern means of the time make it possible for us to reach spectacular conclusions about the origin of the Serbs, the self-proclaimed “foreign people”.
At the conference called “Pre-Slavic Ethnic Elements in the Balkans and the Ethnogenesis of the South Slavs ” (1968) concludes that “to this day archaeology has not been able to provide us with a document for a massive influx of Slavs into the Balkan Peninsula during the 6th century. But they were simply Turko-Avars.
“Today, Slovenes, Croats, Bosnians and Serbs are definitely only speakers of Slavic languages, but for their ancestors one can ask what they were: Avars, Turks, Bulgarians or something else (Denis Bašić The roots of the religious, Ethnic and National Identity of S.S.B.H)
” The civilization of Persia has left deep traces in the culture and idea of the Serbs. Their tribes lived on horses, while their dwelling was the chariot pulled by oxen. According to their clothing, customs, culture, they were indistinguishable from the nomadic Persian tribes. From their hoods they the origin of the famous Serbian hood – šajkača (šajkaqa)” (Miodrag Milanović: Srpski stari vek- etnogeneza Srba). The difference between today’s Serbs and “former Serbs” is very large, says the Serbian historian Sima Čirković in his book “Serbs in the Middle Ages”.
A similarity or origin of the Serbs with the current Qashqai tribe of Iran.? Who are these Qashqai (Persian: قشقایی)? A nomadic agglomeration that today lives in the provinces of Fars, Khuzestan and Isfahan. They speak two languages, Persian and the Qashqai language, a language belonging to the Turkic language family.
The Qashqai were always and still are a nomadic pastoral people. Every year they move with their herds from the summer mountain pastures in the north of Shiraz and up to 500 km to their winter pastures in the warm lowlands near the Gulf Persian.( Hawley, Walter A. (1913) Oriental Rugs Antique & Modern. Reprint:Dover Publications,New York )
The tribes of Central Asia, driven by wars, Intertribal strife and floods have forced them to leave their steppes in order to seek “new” lands for themselves, as the Huns, the Visigoths, the Pre-Bulgarians conquered India and Europe. The Turkic races, abandoning their places where they had grown for centuries, began to move early between the Altai Mountains and the Caspian Sea.
A Qashqai writes: “We are a Turkic race and of the Turkic language; some say that we are descendants of the Ogur Turkic tribe, known for their fierceness and beastly behavior, and our name Qashqai comes from the Turkic Kashka which means “Horse with a white star on its forehead.” We come from Kashgar. “
They are known for their woolen clothes.
Every historical course, in its own way, is a testimony not only of its own development and destiny, but also of the course of its civilization and the currents through which a people has passed; “The same goes for his clothing.” Likewise, the shajkaca, which has its place in Serbian folk clothing, and for Serbs is valued as something national with a special emphasis on the history it has gone through and at the same time as a reminder of the history and fate of a people and at the same time as a synonym for Serbia (Mile Nedeljković ŠAJKAČA poreklo i značaj srpske kape )”
“When Serbs as volunteers joined the Austrian Christian army in the war against Islam, at the same time dreaming of the liberation of their country from the Turks (Mile Nedeljković, ibid.)’ then the Serbs received the uniform prepared by the Austro-Hungarians for free. In this, of particular importance was the “shajkaca” hood that the Serbian army wore on its head in the wars of 1876-1878.””. Why did Austria, when designing the uniform of the Serbian soldier, also include the shajkaca? To show their origin or something else?
Studies on the Šajkača show a dilemma in the opinions of Serbian historians about Serbian “pride”. Some absolutely do not agree with this pride. “The civilization of Persia has left deep traces in the culture and idea of the Serbs. Their tribes lived on horses, while their dwelling was a cart pulled by oxen.
According to their clothing, customs, culture, they were indistinguishable from the nomadic Persian tribes. The famous Serbian hood also originates from their hood – Šajkača (Šajkaqa)” (Miodrag Milanović: Srpski stari vek- etnogeneza Srba). So, from their desire to show their “autochthonousness” in these lands, they do not agree that someone should point out their past and true origin.
There are many things that provide evidence of their Turkic-Avar origins, but they need to be studied. The nature of my writing today does not allow me to expand too much, but here is an example. The Serbian name “Gospodar” for “Lord” comes from the Altaic people who borrowed the word from the Persian “Gospanddar” which once meant “owner of sheep”.
The Serbs were converted to Orthodox Christianity by order of Heraclius, in order to alleviate the chaos brought by the Avar-Turkic-Slavs to the lands of Illyricum through religion.
Books that show the Turkic-Avar origin of the Serbs:
“Balkan worlds: the first and last Europe”
Traian Stoianovich; “The Cambridge Medieval History Series” volumes 1-5 By J.B. Bury; “The Roots of the Religious, Ethnic, and National Identity of the Bosnian … Denis Bašić; “In Search of the Lost Tribe: The Origins and Making of the Croation Nation” Osman Karatay etc. etc.)
Original article
Balkan Academia 