In the mid-19th century, significant Albanian populations still lived in what is today southern Serbia. French geographer and ethnographer Guillaume Lejean, in his ethnographic maps and writings, documented the extent of Albanian settlement east of the present-day Kosovo border.

According to the account:

Albanians (referred to as Skipetaren or Arnauts) extended along the left bank of the South Morava River as far as Vranje, a town that at the time had a predominantly Albanian population. South of Vranje, near Prekodolce, Albanian settlements even crossed to the right bank of the Morava.

Particularly notable was the fertile Masurica basin (approx. two hours long and one hour wide), through which flow the Vrela Reka (or Bela Reka) and the Masurica River. The villages in this basin were almost entirely inhabited by Albanians. The main settlements mentioned include:

Surdulica (Sur dulitza)

Masurica

Sakućane (Sakuschany)

Šutovo / Šuterovo (Schüteroje)

Kalabovce (Kalaboze)

Bunovce or similar (Benofre)

Draganić / Dragonitza

Prekodolce

This testimony is important because it shows that in the 1860s, compact Albanian communities existed well east of the modern administrative line between Kosovo and Serbia, particularly in the districts of Vranje and Masurica. These populations were largely displaced or assimilated following the Serbian–Ottoman wars of 1876–1878.

Source

Dr. A. Petermanns Mitteilungen aus Justus Perthes’ geographischer. Anstalt 1869