Table of contents
The Pre-Slavic and Illyrian Dardanian Plaques and Origin of Nish and Constantine The Great
Pre-Slavic archeological excavations in Svinjarička Čuka uncovering 8,000 years old Dardanian, Illyrian and Neolithic settlements
The Bulgarian, Serbian and Macedonian cultural plundering of Albanian Illyrian and Dardanian artefacts
Serbian cultural plundering; The Albanian Illyrian silver belt discovered in Smederevo and kept in the National Museum of Belgrad
Illyrian and Dardanian tribes in the region of Mitrovica and the Roman complex of Municipium Dardanorum 300 years before the Carpathian Slavic migrations
Pre-Slavic and Pre-Serbian Roman Emperors in Dardanian and Illyrian territory (todays southern Serbia)
Fahri Xharra: Stećaks (stećci) are not of Slavic origin but rather Pagan Illyrian – Part One
Stećaks – a critical analysis against the Serbian narrative of historical appropriation – Part Two
The Serbian appropriation of the Illyrian-Albanian cultural heritage
Tracing Illyrian Heritage: Funerary Monuments, Art, and Cultural Continuity in the Western Balkans and Southern Italy
Albanian and Illyrian gravestones, Pre-Christian stechaks and Pagan Sun symbols of Rajačke Pivnice, Negotin of southern Serbia
Pre-slavic and Illyrian tribes of Krici, Macure, Mataruge, Mataguzh, Luzani, Mugoshe, Spani, Latini, Jaudije, Malenze and Bukumiri of modern day Montenegro
The Serbian appropriation of Byzantine Albanian heritage and churches
Anachronism and Historical Appropriation: The Misattribution of Paleo-Balkan and Pre-Slavic Heritage in Serbian National Historiography
Servia, a name for a region in service, not an ethnic name
The Cyrillic and Methodius alphabet was not for Serbs
Introduction
The Pre-Slavic and Illyrian Dardanian Plaques and Origin of Nish and Constantine The Great
In this documentary, Marin Mema visits Nish in southern Serbia, in order to examine Dardanian plaques, of Pre-Slavic and Pre-Serbian heritage.
So what is the history of these monuments, and who lived in Nish (Nissus) in the past during the Roman and Byzantine era? Even though Nish was inhabited by Albanians for centuries, in the 19th century, Serbian powers expelled the indigenous population.
Nish
The plaques contain the words “DARDANUS” referring to the autochthonous culture of the inhabitants. When the Albanians of the region were expelled, Serbia invested economically and politically to dominate the region.
Constantine, a Dardanian Roman emperor, was born in the city.
Luan Përzhita, archeologist, says that Constantine was a famous general.
Archeologist Ilir Culaj says that Constantine was not a Serb or a Slav, but a Dardanian leader, referring to sources by historian Dualenski and French historian Robert Ducan and German historian Diemark.
Përzhita says that Constantine desired a new Rome or Byzantine Empire, and establishing himself in Constantinople (Istanbul). Constantine lived during an era prior to Slavic migrations, meaning that Constantine had very little to do with Slavs or Serbs.
Culaj states that Constantine allowed the development of Christianity in the region.
Nikollë Loka, researcher, says that Constantines reforms were met with difficulties.
Culaj states that Constantine lived 3 km from Nish in the villa called “Villa Medjana”.
Nish was, according to several historians, a Dardanian city. Nish was one of the most important city of the time, and was established by Dardanian tribes during the Bronze age.
Ptolemy in his “Geographica” mentions the 4 cities of Dardania; Aribantiori, Nish, Ulpiana and Scupi (Shkup).
The plaque of “Dardanum” in Nish.
Reseacher Florent Hasani says that these plaques verifies the autochthonous Dardanian population of the region.
Serbian authorities however do not allow the full display of all available plaques, due to political reasons. The plaques of Nish resemble the ones found in other regions of Dardania (Kosovo).
“Cohors I Aurelia Dardanorum equitata (349)
(A) Before its deployment in Moesia Superior, it was stationed in Dalmatia, as an inscription from Salona seems to indicate. Under these circumstances we must also include in this unit’s index the soldier Surus Victoris f., attested in the above-mentioned inscription. He was recruited around 169–170, along with its “sister” cohors II Aurelia Dardanorum, among those latrones Dalmatiae atque Dardaniae, attested by the Historia Augusta.
Cohors II Aurelia Dardanorum milliaria equitata (350–351)
(A) From the index are missing: T. Flavius Maximus, veteranus ex decurione, T. Iulius Saturninus, veteranus ex decurione, and L. Egnatius Aristi[a]nus Superus, serving…”
“Cohort I Aurelia Dardanorum (milliaria equitata)
The cohort, together with II Aurelia Dardanorum and the two cohorts I et II Delmatarum milliariae quartered in Dalmatia, were raised around 169, as suggested by a paragraph in Historia Augusta (Vita Marci, 21, 6–7: latrones etiam Dalmatiae atque Dardaniae milites fecit).
Cohort I Aurelia Dardanorum was most likely encamped at Naissus or somewhere nearby. Two inscriptions record it at Praesidium Pompei; its presence at Naissus is confirmed in the 3rd century by tile material stamped with COH I AVR DARD ANT.
At the command of this unit stood prefect T. Porcius Quir. Cornelianus, sometime by early 3rd century, as mentioned by an inscription discovered at Massilia, Gallia Narbonensis. Previously, he was praefectus exploratorum Germaniae at Divitia in Germania Inferior. After finishing the command of the unit in Moesia Superior, he went on to be prefect of cohorts II Gallorum, II Ulpia (Thracum) Syriaca from Syria and tribune of cohort IX Batavorum in Raetia.
He then became tribune of legion XV Apollinaris in Cappadocia, followed by a procuratorial career. This career is explained by the important position held by his father, Porcius Aelianus, eminentissimus vir, praefectus vigilum and likely praefectus praetorio. Obviously, everything must relate to the still troubled first years of Septimius Severus’s reign.
Near Gradisca (municipium Aelium?) at Retimna, a cornicularius (cohortis) primae Dardanorum, Sita (filius) Sumi (?) is recorded. Both names are plausibly of Thracian origin.”
Nish (Nissus) and Lezhë (Lissus) were connected via the “Egnatia” road which were an important highway of trade.
These discoveries was a problem for the Serbian historiography, thus began a plan to deform and hide pre-Slavic and pre-Serbian and Dardanian heritage.
Christianity was spread by Constantine in Nish. There were 5 basilicas of Paleo-Christian origin.
Nike Dardania (Niceta of Remesiana) one of the most important Christian figures of Dardania. He wrote many religious texts and also Christian church songs. He himself wrote that he was a “Dardanian”.
The Serbian tribes accepted the Christian faith first in the 10th and 11th century, 600 years before the first Dardanian religious centrums were built. This means that the heritage of Nish is not of Serbian or even Slavic origin. Serbian authorities then began a plan to slavicize and rebuild Dardanian monuments and churches, in order to hide their true origin.
The theory of historical relativism
Serbian authors began to claim that the region of Nish was inhabited by many kinds of tribes, this is in order to move focus away from the Albanian origin of the regions. This in order to push the agenda of a Serbo-Macedonian “Slavic” thesis.
Here the Serbian official at the Museum of Nish was interviewed:
Interviewer: “Who lived the first population here in Nish?”
Answer: “The Celts, Romans, Slavs…”
Interviewer: “And the Dardanians?”
“Yes. They all lived here”.
“They lived here together?”
“They migrated”.
“Who built the city? What tribe?”
“In the 4th century, Constantine built it”
“Who built it before the Romans?”
“The Slavs…”
“And before the Christian era?”
“I don’t know… i am sorry, but i am busy”.
Full documentary
References
RMD 149 CIL XVI 90 = IDR I 14 P. Hügel, Ziridava (1996), 73–8 Petolescu, Corches, Drobeta (2002), 120–126 CIL 8074.14c CIL III 1163 = IDR III/5, 409 RMD 226 RMD 247 Eck, MacDonald, Pangerl, Chiron 32 (2002), 420; 417–422, no. 6
Pre-Slavic archeological excavations in Svinjarička Čuka uncovering 8,000 years old Dardanian, Illyrian and Neolithic settlements
Abstract
Recent archaeological excavations at the Neolithic site of Svinjarička Čuka in southern Serbia have revealed the remains of a well-preserved prehistoric house dating to approximately 6000 BCE. This discovery contributes to a broader understanding of early agricultural societies in the Balkans and their role in the spread of Neolithic innovations across Europe. The structure, built with woven wicker reinforced by wooden posts, suggests permanent settlement patterns rather than temporary habitation. The site’s proximity to the later Byzantine city of Justiniana Prima highlights long-term human occupation of the region, underscoring its importance in both prehistoric and historical contexts.
These regions were inhabited by Paleo-Balkan natives thousands of years before Serbian or Slavic tribes had yet to arrive in the Balkans
Recent archaeological research has uncovered the remains of a well-preserved prehistoric house dating to approximately 8,000 years ago before Slavic migration. These territories were inhabited by the indigenous Illyrian and Dardanian population.
The structure was discovered at the Neolithic site of Svinjarička Čuka in southern Serbia and provides important insight into early European and Pre-Slavic societies. According to reports cited by Interesting Engineering, the find contributes to a better understanding of early agricultural communities in the Balkans and the spread of Neolithic innovations across Europe.
Researchers suggest that the construction techniques—woven wicker reinforced with wooden poles—indicate that early Neolithic populations in the region practiced permanent settlement rather than temporary or nomadic habitation. The presence of storage facilities for supplies and grain further supports the interpretation of a stable, agrarian lifestyle. The site has also been discussed in relation to the emergence and development of the Linear Pottery culture in Central Europe.
Excavations at Svinjarička Čuka began in 2018. The site is located on a raised terrace near the Svinjarička River in the municipality of Lebane, close to the archaeological remains of Justiniana Prima, an important Byzantine city founded in the 6th century CE. Justiniana Prima served as a major ecclesiastical and administrative center of the Eastern Roman Empire between 535 and 615 CE.
The city was established by Emperor Justinian I (527–565 CE), who was born in Tauresium in the Roman province of Dardania.
Justiniana Prima functioned as the metropolitan seat of the Archbishopric of the same name, with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over large parts of the central Balkans, including territories from Praevalitana to Dacia Ripensis.
The broader region, including areas such as Lebane, Toplica, and Nish, has historically been part of Dardania and has experienced significant demographic and political changes over time. These territories reflect a complex history of settlement, migration, and cultural transformation from prehistory through antiquity and into the medieval and modern periods.
The Bulgarian, Serbian and Macedonian cultural plundering of Albanian Illyrian and Dardanian artefacts
This documentary by Marin Mema uncovers many hidden truths about Albanian Dardanian artefacts taken by Serbian and Bulgarian authorities. Today these Illyrian and Pre-Slavic artefacts are kept at the National Museum of Belgrad and at the Museum of Sofia.
Golden masks discovered in 1918 and 1930.
Slavic personel uncovering Albanian artefacts.
The Macedonian currency use the Albanian Dardanian artefacts as a symbol.
Two Bulgarian archeologists found the Golden Masks and had them transported to Sofia.
Six graves were discovered containing 2 masks.
An other interesting discovery was a golden hand with a ring.
Another golden mask was discovered in 1876 in Miken of modern day Greece called “Mask of Agamemnon”.
The Illyrian tribe of Encheleans
These masks were part of the Illyrian tirbes of Enchelean and Dassaretii.
The Serbian archeologists, led by Nikola Vulic, began searching for archeological remains in Albanian territories in the 1930s, trying to pick up where the Bulgarians stopped.
Illyrian artefacts and findings.
Mixhait Pollozhani, Albanian archeologist, commenting on the discoveries.
Neritan Ceka, archeologist, says that the Macedonian authorities built the Castle of Boris and Samuel above the Golden Mask temple in order to hide the Illyrian and Albanian (non-slabic) origin of Lychnid (modern day Ohër).
Source
Serbian cultural plundering; The Albanian Illyrian silver belt discovered in Smederevo and kept in the National Museum of Belgrad
This article is dedicated to the illyrian belt made with silver, with a stylized motif of a double-headed eagle, 6th – 5th century BC. Iron Age, discovered near Smederevo, today Serbia, located in the National Museum of Belgrade.
This artefact is not Slavic nor Serbian, nor does it belong in a Slavic or Serbian museum. It is an Illyrian, Dardanian and aboriginal artefact which belongs to the people that lived in Smederevo before there even were any Serbs or Slavs; that is say, the Albanians and Dardanians.
Hundreds of Dardanian and Illyrian artefacts have been stolen by Serbia, and many others have been destroyed or hidden.
Illyrian and Dardanian tribes in the region of Mitrovica and the Roman complex of Municipium Dardanorum 300 years before the Carpathian Slavic migrations
In the region of Mitrovica (from Saint Demetrius, or Shen Mitri) during the Roman era, prior to the Slavic migrations, there lived a number of Illyrian and Dardanian tribes; the Dardani, Galabri, and Enchelei. The Romans created the Municipium Dardanorum, a mining complex, around 27 km nort of Mitrovica, in the Municipality of Soqanicë, close to Albaniku. This structure was the central part of Municipium Dardanorum. This was centuries before the Slavic migrations and 800 years before the founding of the Serbian empire.
History
Episode I: Establishing Roman Rule over Dardania
The successful campaign of Sribonus Curio (75-73 B.C.E.) against Dardania was not followed by the immediate annexation of this region from the Roman Republic. The Dardanians continued the resistance against the Romans. It can be stated that, after Curio’s campaign, their territory was turned into a semi-independent state (foedus iniquum).
The Dardanians resisted the Roman invasion and were even able to destroy the military force of the Roman proconsul Gaius Antonius Hibrida around 63 B.C.E. Later, the Dardanians are involved in the battle of the triumvirs (49-46 B.C.E.) supporting Pompey against Julius Caesar. Notably, a contingent of Dardanian cavalry is mentioned as part of the ranks of the Pompey’s army.
Some scholars have taken this participation of the Dardanians as evidence that Dardania was put under Roman rule by this time. It follows that they must have had the obligation to supply the Roman army with troops. However, this evidence is not enough in itself to make such a claim. The Dardanian support towards Pompey could have well been of a voluntary nature.
Therefore, the status of Dardania remains unclear during this time. It can be suggested that Dardania continued to remain unconquered in a large scale. This Dardanian resistance would explain the other campaigns that were undertaken by Romans against them in the following years. Marc Antonius himself conducted one such campaign in 38 B.C.E, when he sent his troops in Dardanian lands. Later, in 29 B.C.E., Marcus Crassus led another Roman campaign that involved Dardania.
This time the main enemies of Rome were the Dacians and the Bastarnae. Cassius Dio, while writing on the causes of this campaign, reveals the following:
“Bastarni [Bastarnae], having then crossed the Ister [Danube], conquered Moesia which was opposite their land, and then also the Triballi who were her neighbours, and the Dardani [Dardanians] living in their [Triballian] land. And all the time they did that, they had nothing to do with the Romans, but when they crossed Mount Haemus… [modern Stara-Planina]” (Cass. Dio, Historia Romana, LI 23, 2)
Petrović suggests that the Dardanians of the Triballian land refer to the area of South Morava and Nišava rivers. It follows that this territory was not of primary concern to the Romans prior to the campaign of Crassus. These struggles clearly show that the Romans were trying to establish their authority upon an otherwise unconquered region. Regarding the Dardanians themselves, there is no report on whether the troops of Crassus fought against them directly.
The Roman rule over Dardania must have officially been established around 28 B.C.E. through the Moesian War. This war would link the administrative status of Dardania with the soon to be created Roman province of Moesia and then with that of Moesia Superior. It was the Roman emperor Octavian Augustus who can be granted with the establishment of Roman rule over Dardania. On the celebrated triumph of Augustus in August of 29 B.C.E. Appian writes the following:
“Augustus subdued the whole Illyrian country, not only the parts that had revolted from the Romans, but those that had never before been under their rule. Wherefore the Senate awarded him an Illyrian triumph, which he enjoyed later, together with one for his victory over Antony.” (Appian, Historia Romana, Illyrike, 28)
The fragment presented above apparently also refers to Dardania either as an entity that had revolted against the Romans or as one that had resisted the Roman rule. In fact during 28-15 B.C.E., Dardania may have temporarily been included within the administrative boundaries of the Macedonian province. It can be assumed that no permanent Roman garrison was stationed in Dardania prior to 16 B.C.E.
This assumption is made based on the fact that in 16 B.C.E., the assault of the Scordisci against the province of Macedonia was not met with an organised resistance in Dardanian territory. It was only one year later (15 B.C.E.), that the large province of Moesia was created including within it the Dardanian territory.
Artistic depiction of an Illyrian soldier equipped with an Illyrian helmet and shield with a mountain on his back suggesting the roughness of the terrain.
Episode II: Roman Administration
The inclusion within the province of Moesia put the Dardanians under an unnatural administrative and legal framework. The traditional relations of Dardania with the southern territories of the Mediterranean were ignored in favor of an administrative unit that was oriented towards the northern regions of the Danube. The general population apparently did not support this administration.
Their dissatisfaction was expressed in continuous raids against Roman cargos and merchants, carried out by Dardanian rebels (latrones Dardanianicii). In 86, the administrative reform of emperor Domitian resulted in the division of the Roman province of Moesia into two parts: Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior.
This main purpose for this division was the Roman aim to better protect the Danube front line. This division did not change the northern orientation of Dardania, now part of Moesia Superior. However, it may have increased the importance and the weight of the Dardanian territory as a land rich in ores within a province that was roughly twice as small as the previous province of Moesia. Also, a Romanization process helped in establishing a more efficient Roman rule over the territory.
Dardania and Upper Moesia was considered of crucial mining importance for the Roman Empire in the same manner the Africa proconsularis was considered of crucial agricultural importance. Within the province of Moesia Superior (Upper Moesia), apart from the military/legionary territories, municipal territories, and private estates, Dardania represented one of the four major divisions each named after local tribes, alongside the lands of the Pincenses/Picenses, Tricornienses/Tricornenses, and Moesi up north.
The rich mining lands across Dardania, as in all Upper Moesia, belonged to the imperial treasury (fircus). The remaining territories were occupied by native tribal settlements (civitates peregrinae). The native inhabitants had the obligation to work into the mines or in other estates of the imperial treasury.
An important administrative centre was established in Ulpiana. Meanwhile, the whole Dardanian territory was composed of several centres grouped together into some few areas (civitates Dardanicae). These areas were developed in accordance with the economic interests of the fiscus and especially based on the mining centres that constituted the Metalli Dardanici complex.
There were at least five such areas established across Dardania and their centres were notably: I) Municipium Dardanorum (Socanica), II) Ulpiana, III) Remesiana (Bela Palanka), IV) Timacum Minus (Ravna) and an additional centre located somewhere near Lamudum (Lopate), Vizianum (Konjuh), or Kratiskara (Kratovo).
The Roman military administration was responsible for the unity of fiscal organisations and peregrine. The Roman troops protected the mining areas while also being involved in the ore mining process itself and mining administration. The road network, along which precious monetary cargos were transported, also required the protection of the armed troops (especially after 250).
Thus, along the territory of the Dardanians, the order was maintained by the cohorts or local militias such as cohorts I Aurelia Dardanorum and II Aurelia Dardanorum. These cohorts were presumably established by emperor Marcus Aurelius around 169, during the wars of the Marchomani. The I Aurelia Dardanorum must have been based somewhere at Timacum Minus (Ravna) and/or Timacum Maius (Knazhevc).
The II Aurelia Dardanorum was based at Naissus but the epigraphic evidence suggests that it also served in other forts, notably at Timacum Minus (Ravna), and Praesidium Pompei (near Aleksinac). Both these cohorts, each with 600 soldiers, were apparently created out of Dardanian latrons. By distributing them at the northern border of Dardania, the emperor Aurelius decreased the danger of cargo raids from latrons across Dardania.
Regarding the protection of the mine districts, other local units were established to carry out this function during the I-II centuries. This was the case of the Ala Vespaziana Dardanorum, that consisted of 500 Dardanian knights and that protected the mine region of Artanë/Novobërdë-Kopaonik.
Ptolemy mentions Naissus as being one of the four main towns in Dardania. The epigraphic text Naisso Dardaniae discovered in Rome and pertaining to the Early Principate period supports the statement of Ptolemy.
In 279, the province of Dardania was created as part of the prefecture of Illyricum (praefectura praetorio per Illyricum). This reform by emperor Diocletian reestablished the traditional relations of Dardania with the Mediterranean realm. The borders of the Dardanian province were almost the same as the ones of the ancient Dardanian kingdom, apart from the northeastern part which was awarded to the already established province of Dacia Ripensis.
Map of Upper Moesian Dardania published by Vladimir P. Petrović. The borders of ancient Dardania and modern Kosova are also shown. The land route Lissus-Naissus-Ratiaria (Lezhë-Nish/Nis-Ratiaria), that passed mostly through Dardania, provided the shortest land route that linked the Adriatic Sea with the Danube River and Danubian frontier.
Bibliography
Appiani, Historia Romana, Illyrike, 28.
Dionis Cassii Cocceiani, Historia Romana, LI.
Petrović, V.P. (2007). Pre-Roman and Roman Dardania. Historical and Geographical Considerations. Balcanica, 27, 7-22.
Shukriu, E. (2008). Prehistory and Antique History of Kosovo. Thesis Kosova.
Reference
Pre-Slavic and Pre-Serbian Roman Emperors in Dardanian and Illyrian territory (todays southern Serbia)
Even though the Slavs had not yet emerged, and the Serbian ethnos did not yet exist, in the land of Illyria and Dardania, which later became Serbia, there were Illyrian and Dardanian tribes. Out of these pre-Slavic and autochtonous tribes, 18 Roman Emperors emerged. After Italy, that is most in the world.
It should however be noted that these emperors did not identify as Serbs or Slavs, as these tribes had not yet formed. What constituts modern day Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro was inhabited by Dacians, Thracians, Illyrians and Dardanians.
Emperors
Trajan Decius (249–251)
Hostilian (251)
Claudius Gothicus (268–270)
Quintillus (270)
Aurelian (270–275)
Probus (276–282)
Maximian (286–305)
Constantius II (337–361)
Gratian (375–383)
Iovian (363–364)
Maximinus Daia (308–313)
Gaius Galerius (305–311)
Licinius (308–324)
Flavius Severus (305–307)
Constantine I (312–337)
Vetranio (350)
Constantius III (421)
Justinian I (527–565)
Roman cities
Sirmium – S. Mitrovica
Singidunum – Belgrade
Sarkamen
Felix Romuliana – Gamzigrad
Naissus – Niš
Iustiniana Prima – Caričin Grad – Radanovac
Sources
Encyclopaedia Britannica, entry on Sirmium
Encyclopaedia Britannica, article “Illyrian emperors”
Encyclopaedia Britannica, entries on Singidunum, Naissus, and Felix Romuliana
Oxford Classical Dictionary, entries on Illyricum and individual emperors (e.g. Decius, Aurelian, Probus, Constantine I, Justinian I)
Cambridge Ancient History, volumes covering the 3rd–6th centuries AD
The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE), edited by A. H. M. Jones et al.
UNESCO World Heritage documentation for Felix Romuliana (Gamzigrad)
Roman Imperial Biographies in the Loeb Classical Library (e.g. Lactantius, Aurelius Victor)
Fahri Xharra: Stećaks (stećci) are not of Slavic origin but rather Pagan Illyrian – Part One
Medieval funerary monuments of the Illyrian-Catharo-Thracian tradition in Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia. The funerary monuments of this tradition were not simply grave markers, but Illyrian-Catharo-Thracian identity and spiritual statements.
The medieval funerary monuments known today under the Slavic term stećak represent one of the most significant phenomena of funerary culture in the Western Balkans during the 12th–15th centuries. However, despite later ideological appropriations, these monuments are not a Slavic creation, nor a direct product of the Orthodox or Catholic churches. They are an expression of an autochthonous Balkan tradition, with deep pre-Slavic roots, closely linked to heterodox Cathar-Bogomil Christianity.
The geographical spread of these monuments – mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also in Montenegro, Serbia and inland Dalmatia – coincides with areas where the strong presence of non-canonical communities and of the local population that preserved elements of the Thracian-Illyrian heritage is documented.
Here the word “Thracian” is not used as a pure medieval ethnicity, but as a cultural and symbolic substrate, inherited from antiquity and transformed in the Middle Ages.
The iconography of these monuments is essential for their meaning. The solar, lunar symbols, spirals, rosettes, knights, hunting, ritual dancing and the frequent absence of the canonical cross indicate a worldview that does not correspond to Orthodox or Catholic doctrine. This symbolism clearly coincides with the religious dualism of the Cathars and Bogomils, who saw the material world as temporary and emphasized spiritual salvation beyond ecclesiastical institutions.
Medieval Bosnia is known from historical sources as one of the main centers of this heterodox Christianity. The Bosnian Church, considered heretical by Rome and Constantinople, created an environment where a special funerary culture developed, independent of the official canons. The funerary monuments of this tradition were not simply grave markers, but statements of identity and spirituality.
The claim that these monuments are “Serbian” or “Slavic” is late and unfounded in historical reality. The early Slavs did not have a tradition of monumental stone tombs with such iconography, while most of these tombs date back to before the consolidation of Slavic church structures in the region. Their appropriation occurred much later, in the context of the nationalisms of the 19th–20th centuries.
Therefore, in Albanian and scientific terminology, these monuments should be called: Medieval funerary monuments of the Cathar-Illyrian-Thracian tradition or Medieval funerary monuments of dualistic Balkan Christianity.
This designation more accurately reflects their historical, cultural and religious reality, freeing them from ideological labels and returning them to their true Balkan and pre-Slavic context.
References
Marian Wenzel, Studies in Bosnian and Herzegovinian Tombstones (Stećci), National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, 1965–1982.
The most authoritative study on iconography and dating; links the phenomenon to local non-canonical culture, not to Slavic tradition.
Noel Malcolm, Bosnia: A Short History, Pan Macmillan, London, 1994.
– Chapters on medieval Bosnia and the Bosnian Church; confirms the heterodox character and the pre-national context.
John V. A. Fine Jr., The Bosnian Church: A New Interpretation, East European Quarterly, Boulder, 1975.
– A seminal work on the Bogomils/Cathars and the religious structure that explains the symbolism of the monuments.
Dimitri Obolensky, The Bogomils: A Study in Balkan Neo-Manichaeism, Cambridge University Press, 1948.
– A classic study of Balkan dualism, with direct relevance to medieval Bosnia.
Šefik Bešlagić, Stećci – kultura i umjetnost, Veselin Masleša, Sarajevo, 1982.
– Documents the distribution and typology; acknowledges that the phenomenon is not an ethnic Slavic creation.
Aleksandar Solovjev, Bogomilstvo i stećci, Belgrade, 1954.
– Although a Slavic author, he connects the stećaks with Bogomilism, not with the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Franjo Rački, Bogomili i Patareni, Zagreb, 1870.
– Classic source on the connection between the Western Cathars and the Balkan Bogomils.
UNESCO, Stećci – Medieval Tombstone Graveyards (World Heritage Site, 2016).
– Accepts the multi-confessional and non-ethnic character, avoiding the Slavic definition.
Florin Curta, Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, 2006.
– Analyses the pre-Slavic continuity and local structures in the Balkans.
Stećaks – a critical analysis against the Serbian narrative of historical appropriation – Part Two
by Fahri Xharra. Translation Petrit Latifi
Summary
Stećaks – monumental medieval tombstones widespread in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and western Serbia – constitute one of the most enigmatic complexes of the material culture of the medieval Balkans. The dominant Serbian narrative of the 19th–20th centuries presents these monuments as part of the Serbian cultural heritage. This study aims to show that this claim is not based on archaeological, iconographic, epigraphic or historical data, and that stećaks should be understood as an expression of an autochthonous Thracian–Illyrian and Arberian heritage, crystallized in the context of the late Balkan Middle Ages.
Geographical extent and chronology
According to the UNESCO inventory (2016), over 70,000 stećaks are known, of which about 60,000 are located in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the rest are in Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia[1]. Their dating mainly belongs to the period. 12th–15th centuries, i.e. an era in which:
Serbian state structures did not have a stable extension in most of these territories; the jurisdiction of the Serbian Orthodox Church was limited and clearly documented only in specific areas[2]. This fact constitutes a fundamental problem for any attempt to interpret stećaks as “Serbian” monuments.
Lack of features of Serbian identity
3.1. Ecclesiastical iconography
Studies by Marian Wenzel have shown that stećaks almost completely lack canonical Orthodox symbols, such as: the Byzantine-Serbian cross, iconography of saints, liturgical motifs[3].
In contrast, medieval Serbian cemeteries are closely associated with monasteries, churches, and standardized epigraphic formulas[4].
3.2. Epigraphy
The inscriptions on stećaks: are few, use simple funerary formulas, do not mention Saint Sava, the Serbian Orthodox Church, or Slavic church titles[5]. If these stones were a product of medieval Serbian culture, the absence of these elements would be inexplicable.
The argument of autochthonous continuity (Thracian–Illyrian and Arbër)
4.1. The building population
A significant part of contemporary historiography accepts that the stećaks are associated with indigenous local populations, who:
were not fully Slavized, preserved pre-Christian tribal structures and traditions[6].
These populations correspond geographically and historically to the areas where medieval sources attest to Arbëro and Arbëro-Vlach presence (Hum, Zahumlje, western Bosnia, inner Dalmatia)[7].
4.2. Pre-Christian iconography
The frequent motifs on stećaks – sun, moon, rosettes, round dance, knights – are well-known elements of the Illyrian-Thracian heritage and do not form part of the medieval Serbian artistic repertoire[8].
Dualism (Bogomils and Cathars) and the role of the Arbëro
The Serbian narrative often identifies the stećaks with Bogomilism as a “Slavic heresy”. This approach is reductive. Balkan dualism:
has earlier roots, linked to Eastern and Anatolian traditions,
spread among the autochthonous populations, including the Arbans and Vlachs[9].
The stećaks clearly reflect this worldview:
lack of church hierarchy, rejection of official iconography,
emphasis on spirituality and eternity, not on the institution[10].
Modern Serbian appropriation: an ideological construct
The fact that stećaks are not mentioned in medieval Serbian sources and enter the “Serbian” discourse only in the 19th century clearly indicates that we are dealing with a late ideological appropriation, similar to other processes of Balkan nationalism[^11]. This process is not critical historiography, but retrospective colonization of cultural heritage.
Conclusion
The analysis of archaeological, iconographic, epigraphic and historical data shows that stećaks: are not Serbian monuments,
do not belong to the Slavic Orthodox tradition, represent an autochthonous Thracian-Illyrian and Arbër heritage of the medieval Balkans. The Serbian narrative on stećaks should be seen as a product of modern identity politics, not as a result of scientific research.
Footnote / References
[1]: UNESCO, Stećci – Medieval Tombstone Graveyards, Paris, 2016.
[2]: J. V. A. Fine, The Late Medieval Balkans, Ann Arbor, 1987.
[3]: Marian Wenzel, Bosnian and Herzegovinian Tombstones, London, 1965.
[4]: Dimitrije Bogdanović, Istorija stare srpske književnosti, Belgrade, 1980.
[5]: Ćiro Truhelka, “Srednjovjekovni nadgrobni spomenici Bosne”, Sarajevo, 1941.
[6]: Noel Malcolm, Bosnia: A Short History, London, 1994.
[7]: Milan Šufflay, Srbi i Arbanasi, Zagreb, 1925.
[8]: Aleksandar Solovjev, Srednjovekovna simbolika Balkana, Belgrade, 1958.
[9]: Malcolm Lambert, Medieval Heresy, Oxford, 1992.
[10]: John V. A. Fine, ibid.
[11]: Ivo Banac, The National Question in Yugoslavia, Ithaca, 1984.
The Serbian appropriation of the Illyrian-Albanian cultural heritage
by Fadil Kajtazi and Valon Qorri. Translated by Petrit Latifi
Despite the fact that the Serbian historian Vladimir Qorović (1885-1941) tries to overshadow the Illyrian-Dardan presence before the Slavs invaded Illyricum, he is forced to refer to toponyms, starting with Illyria, Dardania, and Rizonium(1). What is important in all this neglect and omission is the fact that this historian is forced to accept the statement of the Serbian ethnographer Jovan Erdelanović (1874-1944), who says:
“The natives, who many centuries before the arrival of the Serbs lived in this land and adapted it to their needs, had such a cultural heritage that the Serbs had to accept, because they were among the most suitable for the existence of the new life, or they marked notions and objects that the Serbs had not known before” (2).
Among these natives, in the same place, this author mentions “the old Vlachs and the Arbanasi”. Although Cvijici tries to leave this issue open, with a small guess, saying, “but mostly it is very difficult to prove”, however, from his statement, we understand that his subconscious as a scientist forces him to conclude that: “there is no doubt that the Serbs took from the old inhabitants a form and way of livestock life (the name of the village), then something from domestic life and costumes” (3).
However, the difficulties of proof are facilitated by the situation on the ground: The fact that the Slavs came to the Illyrian-Dardan areas, where they found them there and that they “had such a cultural heritage, which the Serbs had to accept”, and “…took from the old inhabitants…”, can be explained and proven by ethnography, among other things, through the name of the wind musical instrument fife. Strabo, when describing the Dardanians, says: “…nevertheless, they do not leave music aside, but, on the contrary, they always use flutes and stringed instruments (harks, F. K.)”(4).
Before Strabo wrote about the musical spirit of the Dardanians, archaeological excavations show that the tradition of music was cultivated in the Illyrian-Dardan territory since the Neolithic era. During archaeological excavations at the Runik site, in central Dardania (Kosovo), an exhibit was found that, upon examination, turned out to be a wind musical instrument, made of clay (photo 1), which belongs to the early Neolithic period – the 7th – 6th millennium BC(5)1 and, compared with the new studies of Paul Heggarty (Max Planck Institute)(6), this instrument corresponds to the time when the Albanian language separated as a branch from the Indo-European language group, about 6000 years ago.
Also, the fact that the Illyrians played the flute before the arrival of the Slavs and danced to its rhythm is confirmed by another archaeological data (photo 2), which, according to a relief from Zaostrog in Makarska (Croatia), studied by archaeologist Duje Rendic – Miočević, states that it “represents a special variant of the classical type, certainly the type of the Illyrian flute”(7).
Strabo’s description of the musical and fun-loving spirit of the Dardanians is also confirmed by a discovery in 2007, in Vrellë of Istog – in central Dardania (photo 3), which is a relief that “provides data on the worship of the cult of Dionysus by the Dardanians, the cultivation of grape vines and the production of wine. The relief dates back to the end of the 2nd century or the beginning of the 3rd century AD”.
On this monument, mythological figures and symbols are carved, representing a fragment of the feast of the wine deities, certainly on the occasion of the festival of the vine, where another detail stands out: “Pani, from which the word panic derives, appeared half-naked, with a frightening appearance, a long beard, horns on his head, goat’s legs, sitting on a rock playing the shepherd’s flute – the syringa” (9).
These are sufficient data to prove that the etymology of the name for The musical instrument “fiddle” (Latin “fistula”), belonging to the Illyrian language family, derives from the verb “fryj” based on the word “air”, and the Serbs have adopted this instrument as an instrument of their folk tradition under the name “frulla”, because the vowel “y” in Serbian is not trilled (in Buzuku “frym”, “fryjnė”; Frang Bardhi, Latin “Anhelitus” – “breath” (10).
Also, the fact that “the consonant ‘f’ is not inherited from the (old F.K) Slavic language” (11), and they, until they came to the Illyrian-Dardan areas, did not have it in use, in itself shows that the Slavs took this instrument from the old inhabitants of, whom Strabo describes.
The word “breath” in Serbian is “vazduh” (Croatian “zrak”, Latin “aer”) and the verb “fryj” is “duvam” (Latin. “inflare”), and the flute as a wind musical instrument, if it had been a Slavic product, according to their phonetic rule, would have been called “duvalka”.
And, if the name flute (fyll – Ghegish) is inherited by the Serbs from the “old natives” (Erdelanović), how is it possible that they got it from “Albanians who came from the Caucasus”, when, according to the Serbs, their arrival is so late (“1043”)? Or, according to Marković (Mihajllo), since “the Albanian language has nothing in common with Illyrian”, (which according to him “Albanians are not Illyrian, they came from the Caucasus”), it follows that the Caucasian Albanians got this instrument from the Serbs and the transformation took place from the flute to the fiddle: ru = y, which is a paradox.
Taking into account the fact that in the Serbian language there is not a single word that begins with the consonant “f”, which is inherited from the Old Slavonic, the explanation that Serbian ethnomusicologists give regarding this issue – with the aim of denying the etymology of the name fyle from Illyrian, shifts it in another direction, giving it the character of a beautiful fairy tale, according to which they, during On the way, they met Hungarians playing a musical instrument.
They liked the sound of the instrument and asked the Hungarians what they were doing? They answered that we were blowing (fúj); but what do they call this instrument? They told them that they call it “favola” and, after buying several specimens, on the way, until they landed in Illyria – Dardania, they transformed the name into frulla.
The logical explanation of this overcoming – phonetic transformation, would be easier to do from the initial Illyrian name which must have been frylli to frulla; fry = fru, and not from fúj to fru, nor from favola to frulla, but not even from the Latin fistula. Or the monochord bowed instrument, the lute, which UNESCO in 2018, unjustly inventoried as part of the Serbian cultural heritage, while according to Strabo and authentic Serbian sources it is an authentic heritage instrument of the Illyrian culture, which is proven that the Dardanians they used it at least from the end of the old era and the beginning of the new era.
Eminent experts in the field have concluded that “the singing of epic songs with the lute – so characteristic of the present-day peoples of the Balkans – also has its deep roots in the singing of Illyrian rhapsodes about the heroic deeds of their ancestors” (12). For the continuity of singing with this instrument by the Albanians, we have the testimony of a Serbian officer, Dimitrije Mita Petrovic, who participated in the ethnic cleansing of Albanians in the region of Toplica (northern Dardania) during the years 1877-1878.
He, without reading Strabo, writes in his diary: “In almost every house we found lutes and their bows, which the fled Albanians had left. It is also a tradition among them that, after finishing work, the lute player sings, while the others around listen. With the lute, the desire for revenge and glory arose” (13).
Literature
Dimitrije Mita Petrovic, “The Battles in Toplica 1877 – 1878”, Erik Has, 2017, p. 134.
Excerpted from “File: Serbian Ideology of Genocide – Serbian and International Sources
“Horreum Margi (Çuperlia), was the largest city in the depths of Moesia, before the border of Dardania”, or “Dardania, the northernmost province of Macedonia, the so-called Macedonia salutaris, and a part of Pannonia”, Vladimir Ćorović, “Istorija srpskog naroda” p. 31.
Vladimir Ćorović, “Istorija srpskog naroda”, p. 36.
Jovan Cvijić, “Balkan Peninsula and South Slavic Countries”, p. 87.
Strabo “Geographica”, L. VII, 7, “Illyrians and Illyria in Ancient Authors”, p. 155.
Group of authors (Adem Bunguri), “Archaeological Map of Kosovo I”, p. 28.
https://akad.gov.al/tryeza-shkencore-nderkombetare…/. Updated 04.04.2025
Aleksandër Stipçević, “Illyrians – history – life – culture – symbols of the cult”, p. 268.
Haxhi Mehmetaj, “Archaeological heritage of the municipality of Istog”, Prishtina, 2016, p. 60.
Ibid., p. 61, fig. 54.
Frang Bardhi, “Latin – Albanian Dictionary 1635”, p. 87.
Citation: F. Croatian Encyclopedia, online edition. Miroslav Krleža Lexicon Institute, 2021. Accessed 15. 7. 2021;
http://www.enciklopedija.hr/Natuknica.aspx?ID=18787
Aleksandër Stipçević, “Illyrians – history – life – culture – symbols of the cult”, p. 268..
Tracing Illyrian Heritage: Funerary Monuments, Art, and Cultural Continuity in the Western Balkans and Southern Italy
Abstract: This study explores the rich material culture and funerary traditions of the Illyrian and related ancient populations across the western Balkans, southern Serbia, Kosovo, and southern Italy. Evidence from tombstones, chariots, gold and silver ornaments, and sculptural reliefs demonstrates shared motifs such as swastikas, spirals, duel scenes, and solar symbols, linking the Dauni, Iapygian, and Dardanian populations to Illyrian heritage. Many of these artifacts, preserved in museums and local collections, have historically been misattributed to Slavic or medieval Serbian contexts, obscuring their true origins. Analyses of cemeteries, monumental tombstones, and settlement sites—including Rascia (Arsia) and other fortified locations—reveal long-standing traditions of ritualized burial, artistic representation, and religious symbolism, including sun and snake motifs. This research emphasizes the continuity of Illyrian cultural identity, highlighting its influence on subsequent regional populations and stressing the importance of recognizing these sites within their authentic historical and ethnic context.
Authors and publicists mentioned: Lulzim Osmanaj – The Illyrian Necropolis of Novipazar
Vullnet Lulo – Comments on Novi Pazar and archaeology
Marco Popovic – Serbian researcher mentioned regarding Novi Pazar
Joan Kalic – Research team member in Novi Pazar
Muamer Zukorlic – Grand Mufti of Sandzak, academician
Preveza Abrashi – On Illyrian chariots and artifacts
Shqipe Hoxha – On Illyrian Dacia and funerary monuments
Xhafer Leci – On Illyrian-Dardanian cemeteries in Sandzak
Husein Habibovič – Historian-geographer, on the Smaluča Cave
Nexho Laqi – On Illyrian tombs in Laçi, Kosovo
Eglantin Leshi – On Illyrian graves in southern Serbia
Lulzim Osmanaj writes:
The Dauni had some elements in common with the Illyrians and, in a broader context, with the Pelasgians and Illyrian art. The Dauni were an ancient people who lived in southern Italy, mainly in Apulia. They were part of the Iapygian tribal group (along with the Peucates and the Messapians). Many scholars believe that the Iapygians were related to the Illyrians, because their names, language, and elements of culture show similarities to the peoples of the Balkans. Like the Illyrians, the Dauni used tombs marked with stone monuments and had rich funerary practices.
The Illyrians had a rich tradition in carving motifs in stone, especially on tombs and funerary monuments, just like the Dauni. The duel scene in relief is a recurring theme in Illyrian art, where warriors were often depicted with shields and helmets.The geometric ornaments in relief, especially those in the form of swastikas, are similar to symbols found in Illyrian art and that of neighboring cultures.
This funerary statue (Photo of two soldiers) represents the most significant genre of Daunian art. Only a fragment has survived – the rectangular tombstone symbolizing the body was originally supplemented by a plastically modeled head.The main side shows the figure of the deceased with incised details of clothing such as long triangular ornaments hanging from the belt. The other sides of the monument are also decorated; the back shows a duel. The lower, plain part of the tombstone was lowered to the ground.
Similar monuments were created between 650 and 500 BC to mark the graves of people of high position. Material analyses have shown that the funerary statue was made of Apulian limestone.
Lulzim Osmanaj: The Illyrian Necropolis of Novipazar
Illyrian necropolis in the former Novi Pazar with Illyrian population. Even today, a large number of Slavized Albanians still live there. Our history is being distorted and our Academy has no hand in this and does not even want to know. In order to distort the truth, Serbian media denotes these ancient graves as “Medieval Serbian necropolis at the archaeological site of the Greek cemetery in the village of Ljuljac, near Novi Pazar, southwestern Serbia.”
The Bird God on a Charlot
All these Illyrian artifacts found around the Danube in Serbia, which are variously known as the Danube culture, are Illyrian. The Serbs did not write a single word that they are Illyrian, but only that they date back to around 1500 BC, leaving a confusion that no one can understand.
The Albanian Academy of Sciences should look for these artifacts because the world knows them as Illyrian and we are their descendants.
Another bell-shaped ceramic figure from the Danube River. Accidentally discovered in Dupljaja near Vršac, Serbia, it dates back to around 1500 BC. A bird goddess standing on a chariot pulled by waterfowl. She is not connected to the rest of the composition and can be removed. Lavishly decorated with spirals, sun circles and other ornaments. Collection of the National Museum of Serbia in Belgrade.
Vullnet Lulo writes:
What are the Serbs hiding in Sandzak? Do Albanians know? Marco Popovic is a Serb but one of those who tell the truth.
Both teams rarely come to Novi Pazar: Marko Popovic says that his work has ended, while Joan Kalic’s team lacks money for further research in Gradina. As for the existence of the Serbian Stari Ras, the Grand Mufti of the Islamic Community in Serbia, Muamer Zukorlic, at an important conference, declared: “We Bosnians are of Illyrian origin. If someone asks you where this is from now, answer freely,” the Mufti told us.
And that fortress above Novi Pazar, which they claim was the seat and cradle of the Serbian state, is actually Arsa, the old Illyrian capital and has no connection with any Rasi, and with the old Serbian state “. writes the Belgrade daily “Politika”. Much can be written about this ancient city, but one thing is certain: Ras-Arsa (Arza) is a city of the Illyrian kingdom.
Preveza Abrashi:
Gilded Illyrian Chariot of the Auteriat Tribe
Gilded Illyrian Chariot of the Autariat Tribe, of the Iron Age, Called the Glasnac Culture, Today Bosnia.
Pelasgian Illyrian Chariot Discovered in Serbia.
The known Glasinac culture was an Iron Age prehistoric archaeological culture named after Glasinac locality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The culture is associated with population that was later known as Autariatae, one of the most powerful Illyrian tribes In the second photo is the chariot discovered in Vršac today Serbia and belongs to the Bronze Age – New Iron Age.
About 100,000 hanging stones scattered in Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia, with different sizes from a few tons to the largest 32 tons.
A large number of them with carvings with motifs of the Bronze and Iron Ages, motifs found in Illyrian stone carvings (flower of life, spirals, swastika, zoomorphic carvings, etc.) After many attempts by Slavic scientists to present them as their medieval culture, although there is no writing or record of their construction in the early or late Middle Ages. in recent research by foreign and local archaeologists and historians, they agree that these are only Illyrian heritage.
Shqipe Hoxha writes:
“Illyrian Dacia of Alburnus Maior. In the time of Trajan, Illyrian inhabitants from the mining districts of Dalmatia were colonized. Inscriptions and wax tablets found inside the mine tunnels attest to them. They preserved their tribal organization from Dalmatia. The Pirustae, Baridustae, Sardeates and Maniatae tribes are documented in Dacia.
They preserved their institutions, led by principes and founded settlements called castella (kastellum Ansum, kastellum Baridustarum mentioned in the inscriptions). Unfortunately, none of these types of settlements have yet been identified in the field. Another, specific type of settlement is mentioned in a wax tablet: vicus Pirustarum, which seems to refer in this case to a district of Alburnus Maior.
Furthermore, three tombstones with portraits of the dead and Latin inscriptions were found in the cemetery from Brad-Muncelul.
Their images are typical of the representation of Illyrians on Dalmatian monuments. The inscriptions contain Roman, Illyrian and Thracian names.
In funerary monuments, Illyrians can be easily recognized thanks to a particular way of representation, specific to the area inhabited by them.
In Dacia, these iconographic features appear on the monuments discovered at Brad–Muncelul and Alburnus Maior.
They belong to the so-called “Illyrian art”, where men are depicted with hat-shaped hair and long pierced ears, while women have a turban or a similar hairstyle. There are monuments dedicated under the formula sub ascia at Alburnus Maior, a type of monument that originated in Dalmatia and was brought to Dacia by colonists from the mining districts.
For burial rites, the Illyrian colonists brought to Dacia for gold mining were in varying degrees of Romanization. The mapping of the latter type of graves has shown that they are mainly attributed to Illyrians. Numerous Illyrian cemeteries were found in the goldfields of the Western Carpathian Mountains, such as from Boteş-Corabia, near Ampelum (today Zlatna, Alba County), with groups of graves surrounded at the base by stone circles; several cemeteries were excavated in the neighborhood of Alburnus Maior (today Roşia Montană, Alba County).
The best known are those from Ţarina, Găuri, Tăul Secuilor, Tăul Cornii.
At the Găuri “Hop” site 171 graves were discovered in 2001 through a rescue excavation. A new cremation cemetery with ritually burned pits was excavated in Tăul Cornii, while another is known from Brad-Muncelul, with 126 cremation graves. Funerary monuments from Ţarina, representation of “Illyrian art” (R. Slotta, V. Wollmann, I. Dordea_Silber und Salz in Siebenbürgen, Bochum.
Preveza writes:
The Illyrian fort of Arsia (today Rascia, Serbia)
Originally Arsia, a well-known Illyrian settlement and fortress, the Romans called it Rascia, it is believed that the linguistic phenomenon of changing the places of the first two letters of the name occurred, or the name was taken from the rocky terrain with rasa. Later the center of the Serbian bishopric, Stari Ras
Illyrian royal tombs in Lower Selca, Mokër, Korça.
Preveza: Illyrian Jewelry from Gold and Silver, in Serbian Museums.
Novi Pazar Pair of gold belts 6-5th cent BC Serbia. Silver belt from Umcari near Belgrade 6 – 5thC BC Serbia. Novi Pazar Gold belt 6-5th cent. Gilded silver vessel, Novi Pazar 5th – 6th century.
Shqipe Hoxha:
Snake on a cross in the Catholic cemetery of Tuzi near Titograd, Montenegro.
In some graves we find Illyrian depictions of snakes on stone tombstones and wooden crosses. An extremely interesting and rare custom in some villages in southern Montenegro speaks of this.
The snake, as a symbol in Christianity, was given a function inherited from ancient times in these monuments, so these depictions from Montenegro should be interpreted as an example of an Illyrian heritage.
Snake on a cross in the Catholic cemetery of Tuzi near Titograd, Montenegro.
Abrashi writes:
Illyrian artefacts taken to Serbian museum of Vrsac. These are not Serbian or Slavic artefacts.
Xhafer Leci writes:
View of the Illyrian-Dardan cemetery, in the village of Glluhavicë, Tutin, Sandzak, the place called Çukara. This ancient place is known for its iron mine during the time of the Duke of Dubrovnik, and also during the Ottoman period.
In the Slavic Orthodox states, traces of our ancient history are being destroyed, erased, or hidden. One of the locals of this area told me, there are no records: “It could be a Byzantine, Roman cemetery. We absolutely cannot believe that in the territory of Serbia, research of cemeteries is allowed, Byzantine, Roman, Ottoman but certainly not Illyrian-Dardan.
I have read and heard, the Mufti of Sandzak, Academician Muamer Zukorlič, who said: We are not Serbs, Bosnians, nor Turks, but we are Illyrians. Years ago I visited the Sopočne Cathedral, the Illyrian Castle, Pazarište, where Stefan Nemanjič-Nimani lived, which the Serbs call: The Capital of the Middle Ages. Academician Muamer Zukorlič calls this castle the Illyrian Capital over 3 000 years old.
I also visited the Illyrian Cave in the village of Smaluča, which the historian-geographer, Husein Habibovič of Albanian origin, in his book “Gluhavica kroz vekove” calls Very ancient thousand-year-old cave of freedom…That’s it for this time. Thank you very much for the company, dear friend, my new name, Adem Semsovic .
Thank you for your work Ademe.
Glluhavica, 01.09.2023
Nexho Laqi writes:
“These Illyrian Tombs are located in the village of Laçi, municipality of Hani-Elezit, State of Kosovo. From these Tombs we can learn that ten centuries ago we lived here, and we are descendants of these Tombs. I ask Archaeology to deal with the discovery of these Tombs, because they are needed for Illyrian Albanian History.”
Eglantin Leshi:
Illyrian graves in southern Serbia
Swastikas (detail from stechak, 19th century, Rajačke Pivnice, Negotin, Serbia).
Albanian and Illyrian gravestones, Pre-Christian stechaks and Pagan Sun symbols of Rajačke Pivnice, Negotin of southern Serbia
Even though these ancient monuments are located in modern day southern Serbia, they are not of Slavic or Serbian heritage. These gravestones and symbols were part of the Illyrian, Dardanian and pagan Albanian population that inhabited large parts of modern day southern Serbia.
Swastika in the Sun (stećak/stechak, 19th century, Rajačke Pivnice, Negotin, Serbia).
Pre-Slavic and Pre-Serbian medieval tombstones, so-called “stećak” with solar symbols from the pre-Christian faith of Sun worshippers.
Pre-slavic and Illyrian tribes of Krici, Macure, Mataruge, Mataguzh, Luzani, Mugoshe, Spani, Latini, Jaudije, Malenze and Bukumiri of modern day Montenegro
Summary: This section from Stevo Vučinić’s “PRILOZI PROUČAVANJU LJETOPISA POPA DUKLJANINA I RANOSREDNJOVJEKOVNE DUKLJE” (2017) explores pre-Slavic and early medieval tribes in what is today Montenegro. Drawing from The Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja and regional folklore, Vučinić examines how ancient names, clans, and toponyms—such as Kriči, Macure, Mataruge, Španji, and Lužani—reflect Illyrian and Albanian roots in the area. The study highlights how folk traditions preserved memories of these populations, often referred to as “Greeks,” not ethnically but as a symbol of ancient, Orthodox, or pastoral peoples. It also traces their gradual disappearance due to migrations, wars, and Slavic expansion between the 12th and 15th centuries.
Terminology and culture
Vučinić begins by examining key terms that appear in both the Chronicle and local folk traditions from the Dinaric region. Expressions such as “Greek” (Grk) and “Latin” (Latini) survive in popular memory and reflect more than simple ethnic labels. Rather than denoting ethnic Greeks, the term “Greek” referred broadly to members of the Eastern Orthodox faith, associated with Byzantine culture and liturgy. As ethnographer Filipović noted, Orthodox Christians were called “Greeks” in contrast to “Latins,” who represented the Roman Catholic sphere. Vuk Karadžić also observed that “Greek” lived in the popular consciousness as something ancient, distant, and mysterious, reflecting a perception of antiquity rather than national identity.
These linguistic remnants suggest that the collective memory of Montenegro preserved echoes of an ancient population more closely tied to historical reality than in other regions. The persistence of archaic elements in Montenegrin oral tradition underscores the strength of cultural continuity within the Dinaric mountains.
Pre-Slavic tribes and toponyms
In the Dinaric area—particularly in Montenegro—oral traditions preserve names of ancient tribes such as the Kriči, Macure, Mataruge, Mataguži, Lužani, Mugoše, Španji, Latini, Jaudije, Malenze, and Bukumiri. Their remembered territories correspond closely to known archaeological and historical regions, many retaining Albanian and Illyrian toponyms. These traces offer a window into the pre-Slavic world of the Western Balkans.
The Kriči, for instance, are first mentioned in a charter of Stefan Uroš I around 1260, associated with the Tara River region. Scholars like K. Jireček believe that the Kriči were gradually displaced or absorbed by neighboring tribes such as the Drobnjaci during the late medieval period. Folk traditions record their migration from Durmitor and Sinjavina after major conflicts in the 15th and 16th centuries. Even in later centuries, traces of their name persisted in family surnames and place names across Montenegro, Bosnia, and Dalmatia, indicating a prolonged cultural survival.
The Španji are remembered across a wide area encompassing Bjelopavlići, Lješkopolje, Zeta, Pješivci, Cuca, and northern Albania. Their ethnonym is often linked to the ancient Illyrian population, though some scholars, such as Palavestra, interpret the term through the Greek spanos (“beardless”), possibly reflecting perceived anthropological differences from incoming Slavs. Historian Šobajić proposed that the Španji, Mataruge, and related clans descended from the same Illyrian substratum.
Religious labels
The term “Latini,” appearing mainly in northern Montenegro under Raška’s influence, denotes Roman Catholics rather than ethnic Latins. Similarly, terms like “Greek” or “Roman” in folk speech represent religious affiliation more than ethnicity. This reflects the layered cultural and confessional landscape of the medieval Balkans, where faith and language often defined identity more than ancestry.
In modern dialects, echoes of these distinctions persist: for instance, coastal and urban Montenegrins sometimes use pejorative terms for highlanders or rural newcomers, while Albanian-speaking populations distinguish between mâlacák (mountain people) and fushalí (plainsmen). Such vocabulary illustrates how medieval confessional divisions evolved into social and regional identities.
Historical background and population changes
The study also contextualizes these traditions within the broader history of invasions and migrations. According to Procopius and other Byzantine sources, Avar, Slavic, and Hun incursions during the 6th century devastated the provinces of Illyricum. Cities such as Risan and Lješ were destroyed, as confirmed by a letter from Pope Gregory the Great in 591. These invasions likely initiated the first major displacements of the Illyrian-Albanian populations and laid the foundation for later Slavic settlement.
Conclusion
Vučinić’s analysis demonstrates how folklore and toponyms preserve deep historical memory. In Montenegro, oral tradition retained fragments of the pre-Slavic, Illyrian, and early Christian heritage of the region, revealing continuity beneath centuries of cultural transformation. By reading these traditions alongside medieval documents and Byzantine chronicles, one can trace how the collapse of Duklja in the 12th century and the ensuing migrations reshaped the ethnic and religious map of the western Balkans.
Source
Stevo Vučinić “PRILOZI PROUČAVANJU LJETOPISA POPA DUKLJANINA I RANOSREDNJOVJEKOVNE DUKLJE”. 2017. Cetinje. FCJK. Biblioteka POSEBNA IZDANJA KNJIGA 25 Izdavač FAKULTET ZA CRNOGORSKI JEZIK I KNJIŽEVNOST CETINJE Urednik ADNAN ČIRGIĆ Recenzenti ĐORĐE BOROZAN ALEKSANDAR RADOMAN.
The Serbian appropriation of Byzantine Albanian heritage and churches
Petrit Latifi
Summary
The medieval history of Kosovo reflects layers of Byzantine, Roman, and later Slavic influence. Before the rise of the Serbian state, the region formed part of the Byzantine world, where fortresses such as Zvečan Fortress and early Christian institutions were established. When rulers like Stefan Nemanja expanded Serbian power in the 12th century, they adopted and adapted many existing Byzantine traditions, including Orthodox Christianity and architectural styles. Monasteries such as Gračanica Monastery illustrate this synthesis. The region’s heritage therefore reflects a broader Byzantine cultural legacy that was later incorporated into medieval Serbian political and religious identity.
The history of Kosovo and the wider central Balkans is often framed within modern national narratives, particularly Serbian and Albanian ones.
However, the medieval reality of the region was far more complex. Before the consolidation of the medieval Serbian state, the area formed part of the cultural, political, and religious sphere of the Byzantine Empire and earlier Roman institutions.
Many of the structures, place names, and religious traditions later associated with medieval Serbia have deeper roots in Byzantine and local Balkan traditions, including those connected with early Albanian populations.
Understanding this layered past requires looking beyond later national reinterpretations and examining how medieval rulers adopted, transformed, and sometimes appropriated existing cultural and religious institutions.
The Byzantine Context of the Central Balkans
For centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Balkans remained within the orbit of the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly known as Byzantium. Cities, fortresses, and ecclesiastical structures across present-day Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania, and Serbia were built under Roman and Byzantine administration.
This region functioned as a frontier zone where Latin, Greek, and local Balkan populations interacted. Archaeological and textual evidence indicates the persistence of Romanized and proto-Albanian populations throughout the early medieval period. These communities maintained ties to Byzantine political authority and ecclesiastical structures.
When Slavic groups began settling in the Balkans from the 6th and 7th centuries onward, they entered an already organized landscape of forts, churches, and administrative centers.
Zvečan Fortress and the Byzantine Defensive Network
One example of this earlier infrastructure is the fortress of Zvečan Fortress.
Located near modern Mitrovica, the fortress occupies a strategic volcanic hill overlooking important trade routes. Archaeological research suggests that its earliest fortifications date back to the Byzantine period, when it functioned as part of the empire’s defensive system in the central Balkans.
These fortresses were intended to monitor and defend against incursions and migrations during the early medieval period. Later medieval Serbian rulers, including the Nemanjić dynasty, expanded and used the fortress as part of their state structure, integrating earlier Byzantine defensive architecture into their own political system.
This pattern—reusing and adapting existing Byzantine infrastructure—was common throughout the Balkans.
Transformation of Churches in the Medieval Serbian State
The rise of the medieval Serbian state in the 12th and 13th centuries brought significant religious and architectural transformation.
Under rulers such as Stefan Nemanja and later Stefan Dušan, many churches were built or reconstructed across the region.
However, architectural historians note that the style of many medieval Serbian monasteries reflects a strong Byzantine influence. Elements such as domes, cross-in-square layouts, and fresco traditions originated within Byzantine ecclesiastical architecture.
In some cases, older Romanesque or Byzantine structures were modified, expanded, or re-dedicated under the Serbian Orthodox Church. This was not unusual for the medieval world; new rulers frequently adapted existing religious structures to their own ecclesiastical institutions.
Examples of churches that display strong Byzantine architectural heritage include:
Visoki Dečani Monastery
Gračanica Monastery
Patriarchate of Peja
These monasteries represent a blend of Byzantine artistic traditions, local Balkan craftsmanship, and the political ambitions of the medieval Serbian state.
The Adoption of Orthodoxy by Slavic States
Orthodox Christianity itself emerged within the Greek-speaking Byzantine world rather than among the Slavic peoples.
The Christianization of Slavic populations occurred largely through Byzantine missionary work. A major milestone was the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the 9th century, who helped spread Christianity and liturgical literacy among Slavic populations.
Through these processes, Slavic societies adopted religious traditions that had already developed within Byzantine Greek culture. The Serbian Orthodox Church itself received autocephalous status in 1219 under Saint Sava, with approval from Byzantine ecclesiastical authorities.
Thus, Orthodox Christianity in the Balkans reflects a shared Byzantine religious heritage rather than a purely national or ethnic origin.
The Name “Kosovo” and Historical Linguistic Debates
The origin of the name Kosovo is debated among linguists and historians.
The commonly accepted interpretation connects the name to the Slavic word kos (blackbird), meaning “field of blackbirds.” However, alternative theories have suggested earlier linguistic influences, including possible connections to Greek or pre-Slavic Balkan place names.
The Old Athenians used the name “Kossyphopeidion”, suggesting that it was of Byzantine Albanian-Greek origin (Memli Krasniqi, 2014)
Quote
“[…] Indeed, the ancient inhabitants of Attica, the old Athenians, with Kossyphos or “Kotyphos” called a black bird, which in Albanian language is known as “Mëllenjë”. The field of Blackbirds in the ancient Greek langauge was called “Kossyphopeidion”, which in translation means Field of Blackbirds, better known as Kosovo Field. The same meaning has the word Kos-Kosovi also in the Serbian language. Therefore, this toponym is not of Slavic origin, but derives from the ancient Greek language, and during the Middle Ages, the Serbs borrowed it from the local population, Roman-Byzantine culture and other religious institutions.”
Because the region has been inhabited and governed by multiple civilizations—Roman, Byzantine, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Ottoman—many place names evolved through layers of linguistic adaptation.
As a result, determining a single origin is often difficult, and scholarly interpretations remain diverse.
Medieval Identity Versus Modern National Narratives
One of the major challenges in interpreting Balkan history is the tendency to project modern national identities onto medieval societies.
In the Middle Ages, political authority, religious affiliation, and cultural identity were far more fluid than modern ethnic categories suggest. Byzantine, Slavic, Albanian, and other local communities interacted continuously through trade, intermarriage, religious institutions, and political alliances.
Many structures and traditions later associated with particular nations were originally part of broader Byzantine or regional cultural systems.
Conclusion
The history of Kosovo and the central Balkans reflects centuries of cultural layering. Byzantine administrative structures, Roman fortifications, local Balkan populations, and later Slavic states all contributed to shaping the region’s historical landscape.
Rather than belonging exclusively to one national tradition, many of the architectural, religious, and cultural elements of the region emerged from shared Byzantine foundations that were later adapted by different political powers.
Recognizing this complexity allows for a more nuanced understanding of Balkan history—one that acknowledges both continuity and transformation across centuries.
References
Fine, John V. A. The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1991.
Fine, John V. A. The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1987.
Curta, Florin. Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Obolensky, Dimitri. The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500–1453. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1971.
Stephenson, Paul. Byzantium’s Balkan Frontier: A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900–1204. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Ćirković, Sima M. The Serbs. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2004.
Malcolm, Noel. Kosovo: A Short History. New York: New York University Press, 1998.
Vickers, Miranda. Between Serb and Albanian: A History of Kosovo. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
Wilkes, John. The Illyrians. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1992.
Elsie, Robert. Historical Dictionary of Kosovo. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2010.
Anachronism and Historical Appropriation: The Misattribution of Paleo-Balkan and Pre-Slavic Heritage in Serbian National Historiography
Petrit Latifi
Abstract
This article examines the anachronistic appropriation of Paleo-Balkan, Neolithic, and Illyrian–Dardanian cultural heritage within Serbian historiography. Focusing on the Vinča culture and classical Illyrian and Dardanian societies, it critiques nationalist narratives that retroactively claim these prehistoric populations as proto-Serbs. Such practices ignore chronological discontinuities, migration, and cultural transformation, conflating modern territorial boundaries with ancient ethnic identities. By situating archaeological reinterpretation within frameworks of cultural colonization and ideological instrumentalization, the study highlights both methodological and ethical concerns. It argues that acknowledging historical discontinuity and plurality is essential for responsible Balkan historiography and for resisting the politicization of deep prehistory.
Introduction
In modern Balkan historiography, the relationship between ancient material culture and contemporary national identities remains a deeply contested field. A recurring methodological problem emerges when prehistoric and pre-Slavic archaeological cultures are retrospectively attributed to medieval or modern nations. This article critically examines the tendency within certain strands of Serbian historiography and popular discourse to appropriate Paleo-Balkan, Neolithic, and Illyrian–Dardanian cultural heritage—most notably the Vinča culture—into a Serbian national historical framework. Such practices raise significant concerns regarding anachronism, historical continuity, and the politicization of archaeology.
Chronological Discontinuity and the Problem of Anachronism
Archaeological and historical scholarship broadly agrees that Slavic populations entered the Balkan Peninsula during the late 6th and early 7th centuries CE. The emergence of identifiable Serbian political and cultural formations occurred even later, primarily between the 9th and 12th centuries. Consequently, Serbian culture, as a distinct ethno-political phenomenon, is at most approximately 1,200–1,500 years old.
By contrast, cultures such as Vinča (c. 5500–3500 BCE), along with Illyrian and Dardanian societies of antiquity, predate Slavic arrival by several millennia. The attribution of these prehistoric and protohistoric cultures to a medieval Slavic nation constitutes a clear case of anachronism: the projection of modern or medieval identities onto populations that existed long before such identities were conceivable.
The Vinča Culture and National Reframing
The Vinča culture represents one of the most significant Neolithic civilizations of southeastern Europe, characterized by early metallurgy, complex settlement patterns, symbolic systems, and extensive trade networks. Mainstream archaeology treats Vinča as a prehistoric cultural phenomenon without ethnic attribution in the modern sense.
However, in nationalist reinterpretations, Vinča artifacts and sites located within present-day Serbia are sometimes reframed as evidence of “ancient Serbian civilization.” This approach relies on territorial continuity rather than demographic, linguistic, or cultural continuity, conflating modern state boundaries with prehistoric human presence. Such reasoning ignores population replacement, migration, and cultural transformation—central processes in Balkan history.
Illyrian and Dardanian Heritage: From Archaeology to Appropriation
Similar patterns of appropriation appear in the treatment of Illyrian and Dardanian material culture. These Paleo-Balkan populations are well attested in classical sources as inhabiting much of the western and central Balkans prior to Roman and Slavic expansions. Their languages, social structures, and cultural practices were distinct from those of early Slavs.
The reclassification of Illyrian and Dardanian artifacts as part of an early Serbian heritage not only lacks scholarly support but also obscures the historical realities of colonization and cultural displacement that accompanied Slavic settlement. Rather than acknowledging these dynamics, nationalist narratives often collapse deep time into a single, uninterrupted national storyline.
Archaeology, Power, and Cultural Colonization
The appropriation of pre-Slavic heritage can be understood within a broader framework of cultural colonization, whereby later populations symbolically claim the past of earlier inhabitants to legitimize territorial or political claims. Control over archaeological narratives—through museums, textbooks, and public monuments—becomes a mechanism of historical authority.
In this context, the removal, reclassification, or reinterpretation of Illyrian and Dardanian artifacts may be viewed as a form of intellectual plundering, whereby indigenous histories are absorbed into dominant national frameworks. Such practices marginalize alternative narratives and reduce complex multicultural pasts to mono-ethnic histories.
Methodological and Ethical Implications
From a methodological standpoint, responsible historiography requires a strict separation between archaeological cultures and later ethnic identities unless clear evidence of continuity exists. The failure to maintain this distinction undermines academic credibility and transforms history into a tool of ideological affirmation.
Ethically, the instrumentalization of ancient heritage risks erasing the historical experiences of populations who were displaced, assimilated, or marginalized. It also distorts public understanding of the Balkans as a region defined not by singular national lineages but by successive layers of migration, interaction, and transformation.
Conclusion
The incorporation of Paleo-Balkan, Vinča, Illyrian, and Dardanian heritage into Serbian national history represents a textbook example of anachronistic historiography. While modern Serbia is geographically situated atop layers of deep antiquity, territorial coincidence does not equate to cultural or ethnic descent. Recognizing the relative historical youth of Serbian culture—approximately 1,500 years—does not diminish its legitimacy; rather, it aligns it with the broader European pattern of medieval ethnogenesis.
A rigorous and ethical engagement with the past demands acknowledgment of discontinuity, colonization, and plurality. Only by resisting nationalist appropriation can Balkan historiography accurately reflect the region’s complex and multi-layered historical reality.
Sources and references
Curta, Florin. The Making of the Slavs: History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, c. 500–700. Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Popović, Aleksandar. “The Vinča Culture: Neolithic Society in the Central Balkans.” Balcanica 44 (2013): 47–68.
Wilkes, John. The Illyrians. Wiley-Blackwell, 1992.
Pavlović, Srdjan. “Nationalism and Archaeology in Serbia: Politics of Prehistoric Heritage.” Journal of Balkan Studies 12, no. 2 (2018): 75–98.
Kristiansen, Kristian, and Thomas B. Larsson. The Rise of Bronze Age Society: Travels, Transmissions and Transformations. Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Gould, Roger V. “Historical Anachronism in Nationalist Narratives.” History and Theory 55, no. 1 (2016): 32–50.
Servia, a name for a region in service, not an ethnic name
Authored by Qazim Namani, Doctor in Archeology and Cultural Heritage. Translated by Petrit Latifi.
Neither the Serbian nation nor the ethnic group existed in the Middle Ages! Serbia was created as a political entity in the 19th century by assimilating the Albanian and Vlach populations.
Today’s Serbs have never had a state or an ethnic identity before the 19th century – Servia, a name for a region in service, not an ethnic name. During the 19th century, according to Pan-Slavic projects in the central part of the peninsula centered in Smederevo, a political group of Orthodox Christians who called themselves Serbs was first created, who had strong support from Russia and the Patriarchate of Istanbul.
From this political platform, by assimilating the Albanian and Vlach populations of the Orthodox faith and to the detriment of Albanian lands, the Serbian nation and political state were formed. Below we offer some scientific arguments about the name Servia:
Photo 1. The discovered find is located in the archaeological site of the old city of Doklea, near the road leading to Podgorica
The name Servnia is an old Romanesque name that means servant, we also find this in an inscription carved on stones, where the Roman historian and jurist Priscus dedicates it to the homeland when he says: SERVNIA MARCELAT MATRI OPTIMAE FLC.FIL PRISCA = IN OPTIMAL MILITARY SERVICE FOR THE HOMELAND, FAITHFUL SON.
This find was discovered in the old city of the Illyrian-Roman period Doklea near today’s Podgorica in Montenegro. From this inscription “Serveniae”, which I think is in Latin and means service (Servant-Serv). I think the writing belongs to the early period of the Roman occupation, in the first or second century of the new era, and has nothing to do with today’s Serbs.
This tablet with an inscription in Latin discovered in Doclea, is today preserved as a find of very high archaeological value
Photos 2 and 3. The name “Serveniae” discovered on a commemorative tablet in the town of Doclea near Podgorica
The meaning of this name is also explained by the Bulgarian academic Ivan Duridanov, who claims that Servus is an old Balkan Roman name, from this name came the names Sarban, Serban, Serbu, and in the feminine gender Serba. The medieval name Serviu, Serva, and from RUM Serb (farmer).
The Latin word “Servi” which means, bowed, submissive, served to serve the slave-owning society of that time. Even in the official Byzantine language, “Serv” is a word that means “slave” “tzerboulianous” means those who wear poor clothes. Servants are called the lowest social category because they were slaves (servants) of the Byzantine Empire.
Servants are called all those who were slaves of the Byzantine Empire, so as you can see Servant means slave, servant, slave, serf. Their name itself shows that they are not a national ethnicity, but a low social category even throughout the medieval period.
We can also find the meaning of the word Servi in many dictionaries published in different languages of the world. In the old Latin-Albanian dictionary, written in 1635 by Frank Bardhi, we note that the word Feruaqë can also be read as Serva, translated into Albanian it means Servant, Feruire-Servire with servants, Feruitus-Servitus servant, Feruitum-Servtum Servant.
Also in the Latin-Albanian dictionary, by the authors Henrik Lacaj and Filip Fishta, the word Serva, has the meaning of slave, slave, Servio I am a slave, I am in slavery, Servitium, slavery, slavery, Servitus, slavery, submission, obedience. In the dictionary of foreign words and expressions, written by Mikel Ndreca, we find the meaning of the word Servil (lat. Servilis), which refers to slaves without character who bow down like a slave, Servis-servit, Servitut (Service, submission, slavery).
In the French-Albanian dictionary, published by Murat Bejta, we find the word Servante to mean servant, servant, Servitude (slavery, slavery), Serf-Serve (slave of a slave, state of a slave, peasant slave, slave of the land). In the French-Albanian dictionary published by Vedat Kokona, we find the word Servage to mean peasant slave, slavery. In the English-Albanian dictionary by Stuart E. Mann, we find the word Serve with the meaning serve, Servility which means humility itself, excessive servant, Servitude with the meaning slave, slavery.
Also in the English-Albanian dictionary written by Ramazan Hysa the word Servant means servant, servant, Serve, serve, work. In the Serbo-Croatian-Albanian dictionary we find the word Servilan (Servilni) with the meaning slave, from slave, low, dallkauk, Servilnost, Servilitet , dallkauk, Servis, to serve.
From the data on the meaning of the word Servi, we can affirm that in the 18th and 19th centuries, a political group of Orthodox people was created with this name in the region previously called Servi, who were in the service of Russian pan-Slavic projects and politics.
From these sources we understand that the name “Servia” itself shows that we are not dealing with a civic ethnicity that is separated by language and culture from another ethnicity, but it is a territory, where the population, accepting foreign rule, remains a low social category in the service of the ruler.
During the 15th century, a similar region was created in the territories of Upper Mysia when Gergj Branku betrayed all the leaders of the Christian uprising against the Ottoman Empire, betraying Hunyadi as well, and agreed to become a vassal of the Ottomans and live in Smederevo.
It is known that until these territories fell under the Ottoman occupation, they were under the rule of the Byzantine Empire, but at some stages of time they were occasionally owned by local princes. In the Middle Ages, during the 13th-15th centuries, the region of Novi Pazar, including some of the Arbër territories in the region of present-day Kosovo, was called Rasi.
The region populated by the Arbër population in the sandjak of Niš was not included within the territory of Rasi. Prof. Vojislav Nikcevic, at the international symposium on the topic “Bosniakism and Sandzak”, held in Novi Pazar, in 1995, speaking about the name Serbian, pointed out that after Profirogenti, the word Serbian in the Romani language means slave, Serbian means dependent person, so this name until recently had a social and not ethnic meaning.
In this symposium, among other things, Nikcevic also explains the etymology of the name Rasha-Rasa-Rashka, which according to him derives from the Albanian word skram- rasë guri.
Analyzing the data mentioned above, I think that the ethnicity of the Nemanjids should be sought among other indigenous peoples of the Peninsula and not among the Slavs for two reasons: At the beginning of his career, Nemanja was not Orthodox under the Byzantine Church, but of the Catholic faith, and secondly, the name Neman, Niman, Numan, Naman is an ancient biblical name that we often find among ancient Mediterranean peoples such as: the Arbëror, Jews, Greeks, Bosnians, Germans, Italians, etc.
In this specific case, how does it make logical sense to think that we are dealing with a medieval state, a medieval Serbian kingdom, or a Serbian Orthodox Church when the Slavs did not carry a tradition of Christianity, but were unorganized and pagan until this period of time.
King Constantine Porphyrogenitus in his work “De Administrando Imperio” around the year 950, regarding the origin of the name Serv writes:
“Servët is a word in the Byzantine language that means slaves, and in the Byzantine language usually the word “Serbula” means slave shoes, and the word “Serboulianous” means those who wear cheap, peasant clothes.”
In a similar way, Archbishop Guilelmo Tirski (1139-1186) described them, in his document called “Monumenta Montenegrina” he wrote: “all these people originate from a region, condemned to cut marble and dig ores, and from this comes the word slavery – “Servitutis”. It is understood that we are dealing with the name of the region and not an ethnicity.
In the 17th century, Pjetër Bogdani in his writings expresses his interest in educating the poor Arbëror and Servite people, for whom he says that for the most part they speak the Albanian language. Some historians have also written about the name Serb during the formation of nations in Europe during the 19th century.
The Czech historian Josef Holecek (1853 – 1929) writes that:
“The name Serb has no connection with the Serbian ethnicity, which formed the present-day Serbian ethnicity by uniting the Orthodox of the Balkans”.
So, the name Serb was a special name only for the Orthodox and not for defining an ethnicity.
Holecek, a researcher of the issue of the South and North Slavs, when talking about the Montenegrins, writes that these are “some of the denials of today’s Montenegrins that they are Serbian and that “Serbian” was only an Orthodox term.”
The Russian diplomat Aleksandar Giljferding who stayed in the Balkans wrote that:
“Until the middle of the 19th century, all nations that had the Orthodox religion were called Serbs.”
Lubomir Nenadovic writes that:
“Vuk Karadžić in 1834 forced Njegoš to invent a Serbian ethnicity including all Orthodox Christians living in the central Balkans.”
From what can be seen above, Serbia as a state and nation is a Pan-Slavic project that was realized in 1878, assimilating the Orthodox Christians of the north and adopting the medieval Christian tradition, art and culture of this region.
In the territory of western Macedonia in present-day Greece, one of the main cities in the regional unit of Kozani is called Servia. In Greece, there is a region called “Servia”, whose name derives from the Latin verb servi, which means dependent place (supervised by the king). This is one of the most historical places in that region, with a 6th-century Byzantine fortress rebuilt during the time of Justinian. As can be seen, even before the arrival of the Slavs in the Illyrian Peninsula, there was a name for a region of a castle called Servia.
Fig 4 and 5, Region, Servia in present-day Greece
Fig 6 and 7: Servia Castle in western Macedonia of present-day Greece
The numerous sources of foreign travel writers who visited the central regions of the Illyrian Peninsula, where medieval maps of Servia after the conquest by the Ottoman Empire are found, testified that the majority of the inhabitants who populated these o regions were the Arbërorët (Arnautët) and the Vlachs, this is evidenced in many publications and maps of researchers from several European countries.
Fig. 8. Map of 1885, made according to the literature of the Eastern Pan-Slavic bloc in which the name Servi is clearly visible; Fig. 9. Map made in 1861, made according to the literature of the Western bloc, in which it is noticeable that these regions were known by the researchers of that time as the Albanian region – Illyrian.
The Illyrian Peninsula occupies an important geographical and geostrategic position as a Mediterranean area between three continents. Many land and sea routes have passed through these regions that connected these three continents since ancient historical periods.
Being a region of particular importance, many intercontinental and local wars have been fought in these lands to maintain the military and political superiority of the most powerful world empires, therefore in this region historically different interests and cultures have been intertwined, continuously maintaining it as an area of intercultural borders and geostrategic conflicts.
The geographical extension between the four seas in the most important historical periods was also an ethnocultural and religious division where numerous civilizations were confronted. Historical sources prove that on the western and central side of this peninsula lived the Illyrian tribes and it was precisely these cultures of civilizations that created the boundaries of interests in the Illyrian lands, forcing the indigenous Illyrian population to embrace different cultures and beliefs.
This situation created numerous conflicts and wars to create nations and political states to the detriment of the language, culture and identity of the indigenous Illyrian population. These political states created on the Dardano-Illyrian culture, during the last three centuries that relied on projects and political platforms to assimilate the autochthonous Illyrian-Dardan population by changing their native language, religion, through the creation of myths, falsification of history, appropriation of cult objects, torture and mass murder, burning and colonization of settlements and the displacement of this population to other continents.
Due to the numerous pressures, the Albanian lands were divided into several states, the Albanian people remained divided into territories, in religion and in constant pressures to assimilate and merge into other cultures. In such circumstances of political developments, the Albanian people undoubtedly remained among the most damaged peoples on the European continent.
During the 19th century, according to Pan-Slavic projects in the central part of the peninsula centered in Smederevo, a political group of Orthodox who called themselves Serbs was first created, and had strong support from Russia and the Patriarchate of Istanbul. From this political platform, by assimilating the Arbër and Vlach population of the Orthodox faith and to the detriment of the Albanian lands, the Serbian nation and political state were formed.
Since the core of this political state was founded in the region previously called Servia, a region that had accepted vassalage and had been in the service of the sultan since the 15th century, this new state was unjustly called Serbia. In the first half of the 19th century, the political and autonomous region called Servia did not include the Albanian territories in present-day Kosovo, Novi Pazar and the Sandžak of Niš.
The inclusion of most of the Sandžak of Niš in the new Serbian political state was achieved during the Eastern Crisis of 1877/78, while present-day Kosovo after World War I.
Fig. 10. Map of 1830, Roman Province of Dardania, part of Mysia and; Fig. 11. Map of 1865, Roman Province of Dardania, part of Mysia.
These territories, including the most famous medieval cities such as Artana, Niš, Skopje, Prizren, New Bazaar until the second half of the 19th century, were known by Western scholars as territories of Illyria, Dardania or even Mysia.
The idea that Artana (Novobrdo) was a Serbian cultural center, just because it lies in the central territory of the Illyrian Peninsula, is contrary to the historical reality of the time and the history of Novobrdo itself. This contradicts the logic of understanding the historical circumstances of that time because the city of Artana was formed as a city that had flourished long before the 14th-15th century, so it was an important economic center continuously subordinated since late antiquity was in the service of Constantinople and after the Ottoman conquest it was put in the service of this empire.
As is known, after the Ottoman conquest all the mines of Artana and other mines of the region, together with all the properties, and the local population were put in the service of the Ottoman Empire. In this period, not completely subordinated, but with obligations to pay a certain annual tax, there were only a few villages deep in the mountains of today’s Albania, which divided the Albanian territories in the middle.
The Ottoman chronicler Evliya Çelebi, during his travels through the Albanian territories in the middle of the 17th century, left some interesting data res about the Albanian settlements and population in Kosovo. When Çlebiu describes the flow of the Gnalab (Lab) River, he says that it flowed from Albania (Albania), and through the city of Mitrovica it flowed into the Morava River (see fig.12).
Fig.12. About the Llap River, Çelebiu writes that in the Ottoman documents in the original it is called Gnalab (see fig.13).
Fig. 13
About the structure of the population of the city of Vushtrri, Çelebiu writes that they did not know how to speak Slavic languages, but they spoke Albanian and Turkish (See fig. 14).
Fig.14
About the flow of the Lim River, Evlija Çelebiu writes that it flowed from Albania, from the city of Plav, passed the town of Rudo and joined the Drin River near Višegrad (see fig.15).
Fig.15
From the description of Evlija Çelebi we note that in the region of the Llap River, the cities of Artana, Vushtrri, Mitrovica, Plav, even during the 17th century, the autochthonous Arbëro population lived and these areas were known as the Albanian territory (Albani).
Regarding the spread of Albanians in the central part of Serbia, we find written sources for Kralevo in the book by Tatomir Vukanović “Naselja u Serbiji”, which writes that Kralevo in 1784 had 11 Serbian houses and 89 Turkish and Albanian houses. At this time, the number of inhabitants in Kralevo was 664, of which 592 were Turks and Albanians, while about 72 Serbs. Knowing that in this period there was no Turkish population living in the cities of the Balkans, we can affirm that the vast majority of the inhabitants of Kralevo were Albanians (see fig.16).
Fig.16
A Serbian missionary, Mita Rakić, who also visited these areas after the war of 1877/1878, writes in his book “Iz Nove Serbije” that Kušumli was a nest of Albanians, that ethnically pure Albanians lived and ruled in Kušumli (see fig.17).
Fig.17
He also claims that on the right side of Toplica up to “Petrovo Gora” and in Llap only ethnically pure Albanians lived (see fig.18).
Fig.18
Mita Rakić, when visiting the Albanian areas of Toplica during 1880-1881, writes that he could not find a companion to visit these settlements, because the Serbian soldiers did not know them, while of the Albanians who were the only ones who knew the settlements and roads of these areas, there was not a single one left in these parts (see fig.19).
Fig.19
From the data provided above, we understand that throughout the Middle Ages in the region of Toplica and the entire Sandzak of Niš until the wars of the Eastern Crisis of 1879, the autochthonous Albanian population lived.
Jefo Dedjer (1880-1918) in his book “Stara Serbija Geografska i Etnografska Slika”, among other things, writes that the name “Old Serbia” as a geographical name began to be mentioned in the 19th century. As a new geographical name since the 19th century, which begins to cover such an area, there is no Old Serbia. There was a long discussion about determining how far the
border of Old Serbia extended.
In the end, the prevailing opinion, supported by Jovan Cvijici, was that Old Serbia should call those old areas to the south and southeast of the city of Skopje.
In these regions, the population recorded at the end of the 19th century and during the 20th century, as a Slavic population, are the Orthodox Albanians and Vlachs who were assimilated by the influences of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the political programs that were applied especially after the expulsion in 1896 of the Albanian and Vlach clergy from the Orthodox churches in the Albanian territories and their replacement with Serbian and Russian clergy.
Jagosh Gjillas writes that during the 19th century the Patriarchate of Istanbul enjoyed great privileges in the Ottoman Empire. In the Albanian territories, the center of this propaganda had become the Metropolis of Prizren, therefore, through the monks and the Vlach population, they kept the churches in Prizren, Ferizaj, Lipjan and other cities of the northern Albanian territories under supervision. The Serbian Orthodox churches in these regions from 1830 to 1896 were in the hands of the Greeks and the liturgy in them was held in the Greek language (see fig.20).
Fig 20
As can be seen in this case, for the Albanian territories of the north, we are dealing with a misunderstanding of the name that appeared on some medieval maps of Servia in Serbia, because the data of the time prove that an Albanian population lived in these regions. Many of these maps with this name were made in the 19th century, even during the influence of Pan-Slavic projects and Slavic historiography.
From these data, we understand that the Serbs should be sought for their ethnic formation parallel to the beginnings of the falsification of the Balkan historiography under the influence of Russian Pan-Slavism, and of Serbian literature that begins with the dictionary of Vuk Karadžić in the 19th century.
From the field data, even in the present-day territory of Kosovo, it is clearly observed that the present-day Serbian population that had lived in these parts during the 19th centuries was an Albanian Christian population, which was assimilated at the end of this century and in the first decades of the 20th century.
In conclusion, we can say that world historiography, and in particular Albanian historiography, should not support the idea of the formation of in the Serbian Kingdom and the Serbian Orthodox Church in the 13th-14th centuries, when it is known that the 19th century is considered the century of the formation of nations in Europe.
Fig. 21. Map of 1844, on the spread of Albanians in the northern and western parts of the peninsula, where it is noted that the Serbian region that had gained autonomy from the Ottoman Empire, extended north of Novi Pazar and Kruševci.
Reference
Footnotes
1 Ivan Duridanov, KAM, Etymology of the Old Names of Places, Investigations of the
Dimiter Decev, Sofia, 1958, p. 164
2 Ibid., p. 164
3 Frank Bardhi; “Latin-Albanian Dictionary 1635”, Editorial Office, Rilindja, Prishtina, 1983, p. 232
4 Henrik Lacaj & Filip Fishta; “Latin-Albanian Dictionary”, Editorial Office, Rilindja, Prishtina, 1980, p. 481
5 Mikel Ndreca; “Dictionary of Foreign Words and Expressions”, Editorial Office, Rilindja, Prishtina, 1986, p. 631
6 Murat Bejta; “French-Albanian Dictionary”, Publishers of Textbooks and Teaching Aids of the Autonomous Socialist Province of Kosovo, Prishtina, 1986, pp. 543, 544
7 Vedat Kokona; “French-Albanian Dictionary”, Rilindja, 1990, pp. 1005
8 Stuart E. Mann; “English-Albanian Dictionary”, Rilindja, Prishtina 1957, pp. 337
9 Ramazan Hysa; “English-Albanian Dictionary”, Tirana, 2000, pp. 694
10 Albanological Institute of Prishtina; “Serbo-Croatian-Albanian Dictionary, Prishtina 1974, p. 777
11 International Symposium on the topic “Bosniakization and Sandzak” held in Novi Pazar on March 1 and 2,
1996, The article was published by the newspaper “Bujku” on March 4, 1996, Prishtina.
12https://www.scribd.com/…/Constantine-VII-Porphyrogenitus-De-Administrando-Impe…:
https://books.google.com › History › Ancient › Rome
13https://bogbosnaibosnjastvo.webs.com/znacenjerijecisrbin.htm;ttp://srpskaistorija.livejournal.com/3260.html
14Gaspër Gjini, Ipeškvia Shkup-Prizren sekretve šečevje, Zagreb 1992, page 181
15www.academia.edu/…/Odnosi_čeških_zemalja_s_Crnom_Gorom_R…, Jozef Holecek; “Serbska narodna.”
epic”, Prag, 1909
16 http://montenegrina.net/pages/pages1/is … o_u_cg.htm.
17https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servia,_Greece
18 http://www.kastra.eu/castleen.php? castro=servia
19 Evlija Celebija; “Putopis II”, Sarajevo 1957, p. 24
20 Ibid., p. 24
21 Ibid., p. 25
22 Ibid., p. 10
23 Tatomir Vukanovic; “Naselja u Srbiju u doba prvogo srpskog ustanka 1804-1813”, Vranja, 1975, p. 113
24 Mita Rakic; “ From New Serbia”, Leskovac, 1987, p. 16
25 Ibid., p. 17
26 Ibid., p. 27
27Jefto Dedijer; “Stara Serbia Geografska i Etnografska Slika”, Belgrade, 1912, p. 3
28 Ibid., p. 3
29Jagosh Gjilas;” Serbian Schools in Kosovo from 1856 to 1912”, Prishtina 1969, p. 303
The Cyrillic and Methodius alphabet was not for Serbs
Authored by Fahri Xharra. Translated by Petrit Latifi.
Where did the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet come from?
The Serbs are also latecomers when it comes to literacy. Without going into their self-deceiving and falsifying writings and publications, let us show that their script, called Vuk’s Cyrillic (Вукова ћирилица), is a variant of the Russian Cyrillic script developed by the Serbian linguist (of Albanian origin) Vuk Karadžiqi in the first half of the 19th century, which has 30 letters.
Until the end of the 18th century, the Serbs wrote in an archaic Slavonic script, which was known only to the church class, and little understood by their own people (славеносербски, архаични језик свештенства и виших слојева, теско разумлјив очином народу.) It was written in Serbian Cyrillic, which did not contain all the letters of the Serbian language.
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić created the Serbian alphabet in 1818. From the Russian alphabet, he removed those letters that did not find expression in the Serbian language: и, ю, й, ъ, ь, щ, я and introduced 6 other letters (also borrowed): ћ, ђ, љ, њ, ј and џ, taking the letter j from Latin and the letter џ from the Romanian Cyrillic (ecclesiastical) script.
So their claims that Cyrillic was created by Cyril and Methodius fall flat because when Cyril wrote the “Glagolic” script, the Serbs were a conglomerate of impoverished immigrants in the service of Byzantium.
Who were Cyril and Methodius?
They are said to have been Greeks from Thessaloniki (Cyril and Methodius), but as is usual in literature and history, what was Byzantine was necessarily Greek, which is not true. They are said to have “spread” literacy among the illiterate Slavs in the Principality of Moravia (Cyril was born in 827 or 828, and Methodius in 815 or 820) [1] brothers from Thessaloniki, who spread literacy and Christianity among the illiterate Slavs in the Great Moravian Principality and Pannonia. With their work, they helped to advance the cultural progress of the Slavs, which is why they are remembered as “Slavic apostles”. They created the Glagolitic alphabet, the first script of the Slavs.
So the Glagolitic alphabet was made for the Moravian Slavs. They were still pagans and the goal of spreading Orthodoxy was to bring them literacy. Cyril spoke many languages, including Arabic and Hebrew. According to what is written in the “Žitiju Ćirilovom” and “Žitiju Metodijevom”, the Moravian prince Rastislav (842 – 871) requested that Byzantium send missionaries to preach the faith to his people in order to turn them away from paganism; and in a language that is understandable to the people. So Cyril and Methodius got involved and made the “Glagolic” alphabet for that Slavic part. Let me remind you, century 9; the Serbs were still torn between their paganism and Orthodoxy.
Glagolith and Chryllic with 42 letters
Glagolitic had 42 letters, why? Today and then only the Czech language has 41 letters (The Czech alphabet consists of 41 letters. Russian alphabet consists of 33 letters. Bulgarian number of letters to 30. Slovak It includes all 26 letters Serbian It includes all 30letters Croatian alphabet consists of 30 letters. It is interesting to note that only the Croats preserved the Glagolitic from the 12th century. liturgical script.
12th century Glagolitic plaque found on the island of Krk (Croatia)
But where did Cyril get the “idea” for the so-called Glagolitic letters? Good studies have been done in this field (by Albanian historians, nothing)
Illyrian alphabet “Alpha[betum] Illyricum Divi Hieronymi”
In the Middle Ages, “Glagolic” was known as the script of St. Jerome (342–429), which was propagated by the Croats. Until the 18th century, the Croats proclaimed that the Glagolitic script, which they also used in Dalmatia, was the Holy Scripture, owing their existence to the famous church father St. Jerome.
The Illyrian alphabet of Saint Jerome
But without further ado, the writing of Saint Jerome and that of Cyril were of Pelasgian-Phrygian origin.
(There’s many theories on the appearance of the Glagolic script, from the presumed Pelasgo-Phrygian origin, Linear A-B/Etruscan scripts, ‘Syriac’ hypothesis, through that of the renowned doctor and scholar St. Jerome (lat. Hyeronimus) of the 4-5th century, to the authentic narrative of the two learned brothers from Macedonia, SS. Cyril & Methodius and the modern claims of the national-politicized 20th century scholars. )
References
“Handbook of Old Church Slavonic” by R. Auty, 1977.”Hrvatsko-Glagoljska Knjiga o Esteri” by Vesna Badurina-Stipčević.”Origin And Development Of Writing” by Petar Hr. Ilievski,
