By Dr. Sc. Qazim Namani, Archaeology/Cultural Heritage

The historical processes and experiences of the Albanian population in the last two centuries give a clear message that a general national platform is necessary that preserves the values of national identity, and makes Albanian citizens, regardless of religion or region, equal before the law. [1]

As can be seen from later Serbian and Ottoman publications of the 19th century, a rivalry developed between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, as to which empire would manage to acquire as many Albanian territories and populations as possible, to assimilate them and convert them to believers of their religious cult and to assimilate and merge them into their cultural and religious communities.

The Albanian population, under these circumstances, had no way to protect itself from assimilation programs, as it was divided into religious communities.

With the Tanzimat reforms, P. Osman harmed the Albanians even more, because he continued with even stricter reforms against the Albanians, he did not recognize the Albanian population as a separate ethnicity, with a different language and culture as he recognized other ethnicities, but as a religious community.

The identification of ethnicity with religion, and the compulsory mobilization in the Ottoman army, influenced the Albanians to assimilate in large numbers and to lose much of their territory and influence in the region. Albanians, the largest population in the region, were in danger of being completely assimilated and extinct, fighting on several continents for the interests of the Ottoman Empire.

In urban areas, very few Albanians managed to preserve their traditional language and culture, while in rural areas, Albanians of the Muslim and Catholic rite of Kosovo preserved their language and tradition, while Orthodox Albanians and Vlachs became Slavic and Greek.

See: Facsimile from the book of Orosh Sheshum, who writes that at the beginning of the 19th century, the Christian population, the old Serbs of the Berishe tribe, converted to Islam. In Prishtina in 1845, two Serbs from the village of Llukarë were registered. [2]

From this source we understand that the Albanian population lived under deep pressure and oppression during the 19th century. We also understand that two Albanians from the Berisha tribe, who lived in Pristina in 1845, were registered as Serbs. This evidence clearly explains the program of P. Osman and the program of Russia for the destruction and assimilation of the Albanian population. On the other hand, it makes no logical sense for Serbian authors to write that the Berisha tribe was of Serbian origin and to be allowed to write doctoral dissertations with such historical falsifications.

Facsimile from Todor Stankovic’s book, describing the tribes of the Albanian population living in Drenica and their Christian faith [3]

Albanians in the Ottoman Empire did not enjoy any basic national rights, were divided among themselves, had not managed to form a national platform, but occupied high positions in several Middle Eastern countries and in the Ottoman Empire itself.

Facsimile from the book by Todor Stankovic, who writes that the Brankovics who lived in the territory of present-day Kosovo were Gash tribe, and the Brankovics in Hoqë e Madhe, who are today considered a Serbian population, were also Gash tribe [4]

Based on Serbian literature, we learn that Gjorgj Maksim Brankovici was also born in Albania, and spent his childhood in Italy. The Serbian author writes that he was a great Hungarian who from 1486-1495, became a Serbian despot! As can be seen from Serbian sources, these data do not have scientific arguments to prove that the Brankovic family is Slavic. From the arguments mentioned above, we can affirm that the Brankovic family was an Albanian dynasty of the “Gash” tribe, which, with the consent of the Ottoman Empire, after the conquest of our lands, became a vassal ruler of the Ottoman Empire in the territory of Dardania.

Next, we see, from the sources of literature in the Serbian language, that the Brankovićs, who became a well-known dynasty in the Middle Ages, were Albanians from Albania, but the Serbs, with the aim of denying their Albanian identity, write that they were Hungarians, while some Serbian authors write that they belonged to the “Gash” tribe. In scientific sources, the fact of being Serbian or Hungarian cannot be accepted, when they belonged to the Albanian tribe, and had origins in Albania.

Facsimile from the book by Leontije Pavlović, who writes that Gjorgj Branku was born in Albania in 1461, spent his childhood in Italy, who as a Hungarian is named Serbian despot! [5]

The Ottoman Empire, under pressure from European powers, was forced to grant certain rights to the Christian population, allowing the opening of several private schools in which the younger generation would be educated. [6] Unfortunately, this right was not enjoyed by Albanian Christians, but they began to be educated in schools where Greek, Italian and Slavic languages were taught. In these schools, other peoples were admired, with the aim of assimilation and inciting religious conflict.

In Austria and Italy, Latin-language schools were opened, with the aim of developing ethno-cultural propaganda. [7]

Russia, seeing the weakening of the PO, demanded a review of the Treaty of Bucharest, which granted some additional privileges to the Vlachs and Serbs. [8] Serbia was granted autonomy and was allowed to expand its borders to the detriment of Albanian territories.

After Serbia gained autonomy, Prince Miloš Obrenović requested a population census in 1833. According to the census at the time of the second uprising in 1815, the territory of Serbia, which gained autonomy in 1830, had 473,000 inhabitants. [9]

In 1834, a population census was conducted, and at that time Serbia had a population of 678,192. [10]

The Austrian consul in Shkodra V. Ballarini, in his report in 1844, mentions a head of a family named Dema in Gjilan who openly states that his name is Zef, and that his entire family is Catholic. [11]

 Ami Bue wrote in 1838 that the Serbian population was less than 900,000 inhabitants, while Albanians numbered more than one million and six hundred thousand, at this time there were more Albanians than Serbs and Greeks. [12]

On the other hand, due to poverty and epidemics, in Pristina, in June and August 1837, 80-140 people died from the plague every day. [13]

After the recognition of autonomy, relations between the PO and Serbia were good. In 1835, Miloš visited Istanbul, and was forced to resign (1839), leaving the seat to his son Mihail, who was also brought to Istanbul and was extremely honored and given decorations and diamonds by the sultan himself. [14]

The Serbs had already obtained permission from the Ottoman Empire in 1836 to open two primary schools in Prizren. By 1848, the Serbs had also opened schools in Gjakova, Peja, Vushtrri, and Gracanica. [15]

Under these circumstances, the Albanian population was forced to pursue education in foreign languages such as Greek, Serbian, Latin, and Turkish.

The French scholar, Ami Bue, wrote in 1838 that the Serbian population was less than 900,000 inhabitants, while Albanians numbered more than one million and six hundred thousand, at this time there were more Albanians than Serbs and Greeks. [16]

Despite all the difficulties, at this time we also have the beginning of the organization of the Albanian intelligentsia created in foreign schools in the diaspora. The Albanian community in Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Egypt and later in the Ottoman Empire itself, although educated in foreign languages, began to organize cultural societies, which from the middle of the 19th century, would also become the bearers of Albanian political and national processes.

However, these movements encountered greater obstacles, both from the Ottoman government and from neighbors encouraged and supported by Russia, such as: The Greek bourgeoisie among the Orthodox Albanian population spread the ideas of Panhellenism in our lands, which would later result in the creation of alliances of Greeks, Bulgarians and Serbs, for the creation of their own states, devouring many Albanian territories.

At this time, the national programs of neighboring peoples appeared, as well as the ideas of changing borders to create their own national states, such as: the Greek “Megali idea”, the program was simultaneously political, state and religious, as a Greek national program-platform founded by Jan Kollet, whose mission was the renewal of the Byzantine Empire [17] .

The Pan-Slavic program drafted by AS Homaykov “On the Old and the New” published in 1839, then the project for the establishment of a Pan-Slavic empire drafted by Nikolay Danilevski which envisaged the proclamation of the Patriarch of Moscow as a person representing God on earth aimed to expand to the detriment of Albanian lands. These projects were inspired by the Pan-Slavic ideas of Czartoryski and Franjo Zahu for the concentration of the Balkan Slavs in an empire. Based on these projects and ideas, the “Nacertanya” of Ilia Garashanin, the Greek “Megalo idea” of Jani Kola and the program of the Bulgarian “Otochenstvo” were compiled in 1844. [18]

The Serbian national program, on which the Greater Serbian hegemonic concept will be based, will mostly focus on the Albanian ethnic space, and the known goals of conquest towards Albanian territories. [19]

With the Nacertanja project, the Serbs were promoting the idea that they were not doing anything new, but were simply renewing the lands of their ancestors, and this program was not based on popular or national principles, but on historical rights. [20] With this project, Serbia’s intention to appropriate historical rights in Albanian lands is clearly evident.

Serbia included the northern Albanian territories in its national and propaganda plan after the approval of Garashanin’s “Nacertanje” project in 1844. Archival documents from this time show that after Garashanin’s project, Serbia began to help restore churches, monasteries, and schools in northern Albania.

Ilia Garashanin’s plans envisaged severing Kosovo, Shkodra and Ulcinj from the Ottoman Empire, in order to achieve access to the sea [21] .

Serbia, in order to realize its project, required international support, but also from the peoples of the region. Ilia Garašanin who in 1844 sent Stefan Verković to Albanian territories to collect data, and to establish contacts with Albanian personalities. Garašanin had also established contacts with influential people in other Balkan territories and one of them was Matija Bani from Dubrovnik who soon became one of the most distinguished figures of Serbian political propaganda after Garašanin. [22]

Serbia also established ties with several people from northern Albania. In 1846, contacts were made with the Albanian priest Gasper Krasniqi, Bibe Doda, and Naum Sidon, originally from the Dibra district, who had been put at the service of Russian propaganda. Gasper Krasniqi corresponded with Garashanin in Latin. In 1848, the Pan-Slavic Democratic Club was founded in Belgrade, and in 1849, the constitution of political propaganda was drafted. [23]

Serbia included Kosovo in its national and propaganda plan after the approval of Garašanin’s “Nacertanje” project of 1844. [24]

Archival documents from this time show that Serbia, following Garašanin’s project, began to help restore churches, monasteries, and schools in Kosovo. In 1868, an educational council was formed to assist Serbian schools and teachers in Turkey. [25]

In the first half of July 1844, the Turkish army led by the Serasqer, the governor of Rumelia, and Omer Pasha entered Pristina to suppress the Albanian uprising. The Serasqer’s headquarters became Pristina. The rebels retreated to the mountains of Pristina. Omer Pasha had declared to the English consul that 7,000 Albanian rebels had retreated to the mountains near Pristina.

The Ottomans were registering the Muslims of Pristina who refused to provide recruits for the nizam. On March 8, 1845, the English consul in Thessaloniki announced that the Albanians in the vicinity of Pristina would not provide recruits without force. The Ottoman soldiers became very rich from the loot they took during the suppression of this uprising. [26]

The Austrian consul writes that Albanian rebels captured Pristina in the spring of 1844. Pristina fell to the rebels in March 1844, when Abdyrrahman Pasha of Pristina fled to Prizren to his friend Izet Mehmet Pasha. Izet Pasha had given 6,000 men to return Andyrrahman Pasha to Pristina, but the rebels stopped this attack and kept control of Pristina. [27]

Another difficulty in creating a more favorable position for Albanians within the Ottoman Empire was the geographical position of the Albanians, surrounded by Greeks, Serbs, and Montenegrins, who had aspirations to devour Albanian territories. [28]

In 1839 Sultan Abdülmecid managed to convince the European powers of the strategic importance of the existence of the Ottoman Empire as a barrier to Russian expansion in the south. In 1856 the Ottoman Empire was recognized as a European power, also with the Treaty of Paris guaranteeing that it would supposedly be a true protector of Christians within the empire, but the situation on the ground showed the opposite [29] .

It was not the Albanians but the Austrians who took advantage of the 1839 reforms, sending numerous missionaries throughout Albania, especially to Shkodra.

Even the Ottoman Empire did not implement the reforms, but behaved quite harshly towards Albanian Catholics, an example worth mentioning in this regard is, for example, when in 1846 twenty-five Laraman (crypto-Catholic) families from Stublja and other villages in Kosovo declared themselves universally Catholic. After this, the Muslim governor Maliq Bey arrested the families and sent them to Anatolia to be exterminated, this action he justified by fearing that if these families were allowed to practice their faith, the entire Albanian community of Kosovo would turn towards Catholicism [30] .

This was the situation of Albanians even after the Tanzimat, so the idea that Albanians did not experience various pressures to change their religion and identity is not valid.

In addition to neighboring countries that carried out various anti-Albanian programs, the leaders of the Ottoman Empire were also very harsh towards any initiative, both in education and in culture and religion, towards Albanians.

The Albanians’ ardent desire for freedom was very great after all the movements that had occurred in Europe and among some peoples of the Balkans.

Another dramatic example that we are presenting below: When it comes to Ottoman reforms and their reflection on Albanians, we are giving an example, the commander of the Ottoman army established order in Gjakova in 1845, began recruiting men, he only had to deal with Muslims, this was traditional Ottoman policy, because the new army law of 1843 in principle included Christians in military service [31] .

Problems of this nature also occurred during the years 1849, 1850 in the Ottoman Empire, when it came to reforms. With the interventions of the Western Powers, the position of the Albanian Catholic Church in Kosovo began to improve slightly.

Starting in the 1950s, the National Movement developed considerable activity against Pan-Islamism and Pan-Hellenism.

The Ottoman government denied citizenship to non-Turkish Muslim citizens of the empire, and to increase divisions among the Albanians, they sent Muslim clerics from Anatolia and other eastern countries . [32] To carry out this project, the Ottoman government also found various feudal and bourgeois elements who worked in favor of the Ottoman government, only to preserve their privileges and positions that they had acquired.

The thinkers of the national movement began to elaborate a national platform to combat these pan-Hellenic and pan-Islamic currents. A war was waged against the pan-Hellenic political theses that, supporting Pelasgian goals and theory, propagated that Albanians and Greeks had a common origin and were descendants of the Pelasgians . [33]

Even the Montenegrin stance towards Albanians during the Eastern Crisis was not very realistic, but during the 40s-50s of the 19th century, attempts were made to use Albanians in the war against the Ottoman Empire, looking only at Montenegrin interests.

The goal of the prince of Montenegro was to expand Montenegro towards Albania and Herzegovina through joint uprisings with the Albanians.

The plan was to aid Prenk Bib Doda and recognize him as the ruler of the Mirdita province, while in the south the Greek government had reached an agreement with Gjoleka, that in the event of a new conflict, the Albanians would side with Greece in the south.

This was a time when P. Osmane was asked to make reforms internally, but she only superficially did anything in this direction of reforms.

Russia in the 1852s made attempts to incite Montenegro against the Ottoman Empire, but all this ended very quickly after the intervention of Austria and the Western powers. In the 1853s, some Russian calculations in the war against the Ottoman Empire and its weakening turned out to be wrong, because it apparently forgot that the European states would intervene in the Balkans anyway [34]

During 1852–53, Serbian–Montenegrin relations deteriorated, while on the eve of the Crimean War of 1853–1856, Serbian–Russian relations also deteriorated because of Russia’s violent interference in Serbia’s internal affairs. Russia dismissed Ilia Garašanin from office, and Serbia was forced to accept Russia’s demands. [35]

After the Crimean War in 1856, the Treaty of Paris was signed. Russia expressed its intentions to protect the Christian population in the East. [36]

As for England, it was for maintaining peace and not disrupting the status quo in the Balkans, but Russian pan-Slavic policy was very active at this time [37]

The Pan-Slavic movement that emerged in the 1820s included a broad vision, with the establishment of an empire centered in Istanbul. Russian Pan-Slavists, with the outbreak of the Crimean War (1853–1856), hoped that the day of the establishment of a great Slavic Empire had come. [38]

The great powers had different attitudes towards reforms in the Ottoman Empire. It was not in Russia’s interest to see reforms in the Ottoman Empire, because it did not want to strengthen it. England at the time wanted to strengthen the Ottoman Empire, in order to prevent Russian expansion. Austria-Hungary wanted reforms to be carried out in the spirit of Muslim folk traditions. [39] As can be seen, the great powers looked at their national interests, and they were very little interested in the Albanian issue in the face of the Pan-Slavic movement.

As a result of international pressure, another important reform decree was issued in 1856, declaring full equality between Muslims and non-Muslims, as well as complete freedom of religion. This decree was to include a clause against the spread of hatred through various speeches . [40] According to the 1856 decree, each community had the right to open its own public schools. P. Ottomans allowed these schools to be financed by external powers, but this did not apply to Albanians, who were still denied instruction in the Albanian language, while the Serbs had exercised this right since 1856.

Alongside this Pan-Slavic movement, a broad activity of the states and peoples of the Balkans to liberate themselves from Ottoman rule began to be observed [41] .

There are different opinions regarding the stance of European diplomacy regarding the organization against the Ottomans in the Balkans, as well as their influence in the Balkans and among the Albanians. It is difficult to clearly assess how European diplomacy influenced the Balkan Peninsula during the Crimean War.

But one thing is clear: the influence and intervention of the Great Powers in the relations between the Ottoman Empire and the peoples of the Balkans grew, to the point that any problem that occurred in the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans began to turn into a European crisis, and the diplomacy of the time called this the “Eastern Question” [42]

We can mention here the crises included in the framework of the Eastern Question in which the Great Powers were deeply present, the crisis of the 1830s-1840s, caused by the ambitions of the Pasha of Egypt Mehmet Ali, the Crimean War of 1853-1856 stopped the goals of Russian hegemony in the Balkans, creating changes in the Balkan Peninsula and in Russia’s relations with the Western Powers. [43]

In 1858, the Ottoman Empire passed the Agrarian Law (Erazi Kanun), a land law that ensured private ownership. [44]

The Tanzimat reforms were developed as a result of the reformist movement in the Ottoman Empire, while the “Hatti Humayun” reforms were reforms under the influence of the great powers. With the Hatti Humayun reforms of 1856, the second period of reforms began, which continued until 1876. [45]

Russia had its own plans for the destruction of the Ottoman Empire, and the strengthening of Bulgaria and the Slavs in the Balkans, this foreign policy of its did not fit the Austrian aspirations. And this whole situation pushed Russia to seek to reach some compromise for the Balkans with Austria.

Conclusion:

From all that was said above, we can affirm that the role of Russia, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, North Germans and other Europeans gathered around the polka club in Paris, as well as the spread of ideas to form new national nations in the Illyrian Peninsula, with the aim of removing Ottoman rule in Europe, influenced the suppression of any Albanian aspirations and uprisings to free themselves from the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century.

The merciless oppression of Albanians by the Ottoman Empire, the loyalty of some Albanians to the Sublime Porte, and their successes in the wars that took place in Asia and Africa, the divisions among the Albanian pashas, made the Ottoman Empire stronger in the Albanian lands. During the first half of the 19th century, even in the Russian-Ottoman wars that took place, and the victories that Russia achieved, for the signing of the armistice and peace, the Ottoman Empire donated Albanian lands and granted rights to the Orthodox Christian communities.

Although the Albanians did not agree with Ottoman rule and carried out several uprisings, the main causes of their failure during these years were: the lack of unity of the Albanian pashas, the loyalty of many pashas, who sometimes opposed and sometimes helped the sultan, the lack of diplomacy, the lack of support from European countries, expansion and poorly planned military actions, support for aid from Russia, religious disunity, the late rise of national consciousness, and the dominance of the clan and tribal character of the uprising.

For the Albanian uprisings to be successful, I think they had to rely on several important factors, which for the fate of a people are closely linked: The internal organization of the population, proper national education and training, unity and strengthening of the ideal around a national project, factors that constitute the axis of a success for the independence of a nation, and unfortunately, due to centuries of severe oppression, this was not achieved by the Albanians.

Although the Albanian uprisings were carried out to protect the rights of the Albanian population, opposing oppression, high taxes and violent mobilization, the uprisings did not have any success in liberating themselves from the Ottoman Empire.

Viewed in terms of the historical circumstances of the time, we can say that these movements and armed uprisings against the Ottoman Empire in some form had a character for national liberation, but were delayed in time, and not well coordinated and organized, and did not take on national proportions, due to the deep centuries-old divisions of the Albanian pashaliks, religious divisions and the narrow interests of tribal and regional clans.

It is important to note that the extermination measures against Albanians that the Ottoman Empire used during its five-century rule were continued by the new Slavic invaders under the leadership of Tsarist Russia.

During the Eastern Crisis, the Russian army assisted the Slavic armies of Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and the Greek army to kill and displace Albanians from their ethnic lands, with the aim of denationalizing the Albanians as much as possible and occupying their lands.

A merciless war was waged against language, culture, objects of worship, but also against traditional Albanian national costumes.

During these wars, wherever Albanians were found wearing national costumes, they were killed. Along the Morava, Vardar, and other rivers in present-day Bulgaria, white pelts of killed Albanians could be seen.

Below we offer sources written by Serbian authors about the penetration of the Russian army in March 1878 deep into Albanian lands.

Facsimile from Dragoljub Trajkovic’s book “Iz proslosti Leskovca i Okolina”,  which writes about the penetration of the Russian army into Albanian lands during March 1878 [46]

During this military campaign alone, Russia mobilized three battalions and several detachments in March 1788 to cleanse Rumelia of ethnic Albanians. Albanian enclaves from Niš to Istanbul and Thessaloniki were killed and forcibly assimilated. The Russian army crossed the Morava River and penetrated into Vrajë to assist the Serbian army, which had cleansed it by killing and deporting Albanians from the areas of Aleksinci, Toplica, Prokuplje, Kušumlija, and Leskoc. The Slavic armies occupied the Gallap Mountains, Podujevo, Pristina, and even the Karadak Mountains.

The policies against Albanians, which developed during the 18th and 19th centuries, influenced the assimilation of the Orthodox Albanian and Vlach populations, who were then used to suppress the rest of the population of Islamic and Catholic faiths.

Since the beginning of the 18th century, Russia, through political and religious missionaries, had been working to divide Albanian lands with two projects.

1. The project for the creation of a greater Bulgaria, including as much Albanian land as possible, was supported by the medieval kingdom of Boris and Samuil. Russia gave priority to this project until 1867. I think this is the most dangerous project against Albanians in the future.

2. The project to create a new Slavic nation, by assimilating the Vlachs and Orthodox Albanians of our peninsula. This project was based mainly on medieval historical falsifications by creating the myth of the Battle of Kosovo. This project began to be implemented during the 18th century, among the Catholic population in the territory of Montenegro. After 1867, this project became a priority in Russian geostrategic policies in the region.

The project became feasible after the strengthening of the ideology for the creation of a new Serbian nation and state. The realization of the project was assisted by Russian missionaries and diplomats operating in Albanian lands such as: Jastrebov, Ignjatev and Hilferding who operated in Istanbul. This project was also implemented in practice with administrative, political and military cadres from the community of Vlachs and Orthodox Albanians educated in Russia.

In 1901, the fascist organization “Black Hand” was formed with Albanians and Slavic Orthodox Vlachs, based in the city of Skopje. This organization caused several massacres and killed many Albanians across the Morava and Vardar rivers.

Later, in the city of Vrajë, the movement was founded that would precede all the wars instigated by the Serbian state throughout the 20th century. The Serbian officer of this movement, Živojin Rafajlović, was also appointed to the post of ban of the Vardar Banovina. “On August 29, 1903, at around 01:00 after midnight, in the elementary school building in Vrajë, we swore an oath on the Gospel, a knife and a revolver.

Our oath was blessed by the elderly priest of Vrajë, Dimitrije Protic,” Rafajlović would later recall. This movement would initially focus its armed actions on the Preševo Valley. From the operational center in Vrajë, it operated directly in Kazanë e Preševo, in Macedonia and in Kosovo. While in Pristina and Skopje, the Serbian consuls were very active in the realization of nationalist plans.

The same role was played by the Chetnik committees in present-day Medvedja, from where the Serbian minority in Kosovo and the Sandzak and beyond was supplied with weapons. “Members of these (Chetnik) gangs entered the Vilayet of Kosovo dressed in Albanian national clothing,” one of the reports of the Austro-Hungarian consuls said. [47]

The Russian army, together with its allies, acted in this way in the subsequent wars that took place in Albanian lands.

The same pan-Slavic plans for the extermination of Albanians were also implemented in the Balkan wars, when the Russian army helped the Serbian army to conquer the city of Skopje. The Balkan armies implemented the same platform, these armies killed Albanians wherever they encountered them.

The Bulgarian army, inspired by Russian policy in the 19th century, continued its hunt for the White Plis and Albanians throughout the 20th century. The Albanians of the Morava and Vardar river valleys were forced to wear black hats to protect their heads.

Albanians living in the Rhodope Mountains and up to Thessaloniki, as well as those in Veles, Prilep and Manastir, were forbidden from wearing the white Plis on their heads.

The same measures, where they were controlled by the Bulgarian army, were also implemented during World War II. In a document extracted from the Tirana Archives, we learn that on May 13, 1941, the Bulgarian army in the city of Skopje had beaten and imprisoned all Albanians who had met Plis on the head on the street.

Below we offer a photo of an armed Albanian shepherd, with a Plis on his head somewhere in the mountains of present-day Bulgaria, and a photo of the document that testifies to the beating and imprisonment of Albanians in the city of Skopje.

It is important to note that there were rare Albanian leaders and renaissance people who acted and served the national cause, but also the Ottoman Empire during the 19th and 20th centuries, and who wore national costumes and white plissé on their heads. Many Albanian leaders who represented us in European countries, during the Eastern Crisis of 1878, and after the Balkan Wars, wore the red fez on their heads, a favorite hat for Albanian pashas and feudal lords who loyally served the Ottoman Empire.

Despite the difficulties faced by Albanian leaders after the Eastern Crisis and until the declaration of Albanian independence in 1912, the political and historical figure of Isa Boletini should be singled out, who throughout his political and military activity, never took off the white Plis from his head.

After the Eastern Crisis of 1878, when many Albanian lands were cleared, but with the establishment of the new border, some Albanians from the villages of Medvedja, although they remained within the border of Serbia, with difficulty and fanaticism preserved their language, culture and national costumes.

This region, once the central part of Dardania, inhabited by an indigenous Albanian population, experienced violence and suffering not recorded and known to us, but they never gave up their national identity. In this Albanian ethnographic area, thanks to the tradition of Albanian women today, they preserved the most aristocratic, most beautiful and with the richest symbolism among the civilized peoples of antiquity to this day.

Police and military violence against this population was also recorded in the new century, when in 2017, a group of Serbian hooligans and paramilitaries, organized and incited by Serbian religious and political structures, attacked an old man of about 80 years old, just because he was wearing a white turban on his head in a cafe near the municipality of Medvedja. On December 24, 2017, at around 4 p.m., Azem EMINI from Tupalla, an elderly man of about 80, was attacked in the LIDO Bar in Medvedja with a glass bottle, just because he was wearing a white turban on his head. [48]

As can be seen, violence against Albanians, their costumes, identity and language remained unchanged throughout the period of Ottoman, Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian, Montenegrin, Macedonian rule, therefore Albanians must be educated and unite around their national identity, to create a national platform, for the preservation of our identity and culture.

The legacy of our Grandmothers:

An Albanian, poor and educated, who has written with difficulty, a line in Albanian, by moonlight, is more valuable.

How about a famous leader or academic who has become a leader of foreign nations, abandoning his own nation and mother tongue!

__________________

Sources and Literature

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• Leo Freundlich, Albanian Golgotha, Tirana 1995
• Jusuf Buxhovi. Kosovo, the Ottoman Empire, Faik Konica, Prishtina, 2012
• Vladimir Stojanović, Great Epidemics, Leskovac Collection, XIII, Leskovac 1973
• Leo Freundlich, Albanian Golgotha, Tirana 1995
• Rexhep Qosja “The Albanian Question” Pristina 1994
• Qamil Gexha “Albanian-Montenegrin Relations 1839-1912, Gjakova 2003
• Jagosh K. Gjillas, Serbian Schools in Kosovo from 1856-1912, Prishtina, 1969
• Zadar Archive, Letter dated 22.V.1844 written by the Austrian vice-consul Balarini in Shkodra, sent to Stefano Doimi in Kotor.
• Sabit Uka “Anti-Albanian plans of neighboring states in the 19th century” Albanians in Balkan trends Prishtina 1996
• Gjergj Gj. Gashi. Albanian Martyrs during the Years 1846-1847, “Drita” Ferizaj 1994
• Edwin Jaçques “The Albanians: The History of the Albanian People from Antiquity to the Present Day”

  “Tirana 1995”

• Noel Malcolm “Kosovo a short history” Pristina p. 1998
• Group of authors “History of the Albanian people II” Tirana 2002
• Skender Rizaj “The Albanian League of Prizren 1887-1885” Prizren 1998
• Dragoljub Trajkovic. Iz proslosti Leskovca i Okoline, Leskovac, !977
• Medvegja.net, RadioStar-Gjilan, December 24, 2017
• https://ëëë.zemrashqiptare.net/neës/54046/qazim-namani-kryengritjet-alqiptare-1826-1832-nen-udheheqjen-e-mustafa-pashe-bushatliut.html
• https://ëëë.zemrashqiptare.net/neës/54030/qazim-namani-familja-gjinolli-dhe-sundimi-i-tyre-ne-qytetin-e-vrajes.html
• https://ëëë.zemrashqiptare.net/neës/54046/qazim-namani-kryengritjet-alqiptare-1826-1832-nen-udheheqjen-e-mustafa-pashe-bushatliut.html
• https://ëëëë.koha.net/?id=4&l=73231
• [1] KOHA. Pristina, 30.10.2023
• Muhamet Murati, Master of History, and Dalip Hoxha, from the village of Popovë, family story of

  passed down from generation to generation in their families

• Ibrahim Namani (1909), interviewed in 1993 by Qazim Namani.

[1] Ibrahim Namani (1909), interviewed in 1993 by Qazim Namani

[2] Urosh Sheshum, Serbia and Old Serbia 1804-1839, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy, Doctoral Dissertation, Belgrade 2015

[3] Todor P. Stankovic, Putne beleske po Staroj Serbia, 1871-1898, Belgrade, 1910, p. 125, 126

[4] Ibid., p. 127

[5] Leontije Pavlovic, Kultovi lica kod srba i makedonaca, Smederevo, 1965, p. 146

[6] Georges Castellan “History of the Balkans XIV-XX” Prishtina 1997 p. 289

[7] Shukri Rrahimi “Historical Traces of National Renaissance” Prishtina 1986 p. 55

[8] Sylejman Kylqe, Albania in Ottoman History, Tirana, 2004, p.90

[9] Zhivadin Joviqiq, Serbia Geografska Trvanost i vizia, Belgrade 1992 p.17

[10] Zhivadin Joviqiq, Serbia Geografska Trvanost i vizia, Belgrade 1992 pg.17

[11] Gasper Gjini, The Skopje-Prizren Diocese through the Centuries, Zagreb 1992, p.190

[12] Leo Freundlich, Albanian Golgotha, Tirana 1995, p.32

[13] Vladimir Stojanović, Great Epidemije, Leskovac Collection, XIII, Leskovac 1973, p.16

[14] Sylejman Kylqe, Albania in Ottoman History, Tirana, 2004, p.90

[15] Noel Malcolm, Kosovo a Short History, Prishtina, 1998, p. 195

[16] Leo Freundlich, Albanian Golgotha, Tirana 1995, p.32

[17] Rexhep Qosja “The Albanian Issue” Prishtina 1994 p. 33

[18] Ibid., p.4

[19] Jusuf Buxhovi. Kosovo, the Ottoman Empire, Faik Konica, Prishtina, 2012, pp. 143-144

[20] Sadullah Brestovci, Albanian-Serbian-Montenegrin Relations, 1830-1878, Prishtina 1983, p.78

[21] Qamil Gexha “Albanian-Montenegrin Relations 1839-1912, Gjakova 2003 p.26

[22] Sadullah Brestovci, Albanian-Serbian-Montenegrin Relations, 1830-1878, Prishtina 1983, p.81

[23] Ibid., p. 83

[24] Dr. Jagosh K. Gjillas, Serbian Schools in Kosovo from 1856-1912, Prishtina, 1969, p. 304

[25] Dr. Jagosh K. Gjillas, Serbian Schools in Kosovo from 1856-1912, Prishtina, 1969, p. 304

[26] Aleksander Matkovski, Dervish Cara’s Uprising, Skopje 1985, p.181

[27] Zara Archive, Letter dated 22.V.1844 written by the Austrian vice-consul Balarini in Shkodra, which is

  sends Stefano Doimit to Kotor.

[28] Sabit Uka “Anti-Albanian plans of neighboring states in the 19th century” Albanians in Balkan trends Prishtina 1996, p.155

[29] Gjergj Gj. Gashi. Albanian Martyrs during the Years 1846-1847, “Drita” Ferizaj 1994, pp. 128-177. Edwin Jaçques “Albanians: The History of the Albanian People from Antiquity to the Present Day” Tirana 1995, pp. 283

[30] Ibid. p. 285

[31] Noel Malcolm “Kosovo a Short History” Pristina p.193

[32] Group of authors “History of the Albanian people II” Tirana 2002 p.104

[33] Ibid. p. 105

[34] Ibid. p. 28

[35] Sadullah Brestovci, Albanian-Serbian-Montenegrin Relations, 1830-1878, Prishtina 1983, p. 94

[36] Sylejman Kylqe, Albania in Ottoman History, Tirana, 2004, p.110

[37] Skender Rizaj “The Albanian League of Prizren 1887-1885” Prizren 1998 p.40

[38] Ibid., p. 40

[39] Emin Pllana, Kosovo and reforms in Turkey, 1978, p. 50

[40] Noel Malcolm “Kosovo a Short History” Prishtina p. 195

[41] Sadulla Brestovci Albanological Researches, Historical Sciences Series, “Serbia’s Attitude Towards Albanians and Their National Movement 1862-1868”, Prishtina 1977, p.15

[42] Ibid. p. 15

[43] Ibid., p.15

[44] Emin Pllana, Kosovo and the reforms in Turkey, 1978, p. 69

[45] Ibid., p. 58

[46] Dragoljub Trajkovic. Iz proslosti Leskovca i Okoline, Leskovac, !977, p. 102

[47] KOHA. Pristina, 30.10.2023

[48]  Medvegja.net, RadioStar-Gjilan, December 24, 2017, 4 p.m.