by Dr. Qazim Namani

Transcribed from the program

“The legacy of early civilizations in the traces that time failed to erase. Every stone has a story, every ruin a memory. People have started taking stones from us. This is the show that breaks the silence of centuries, that brings back the voices of antiquity. It’s a castle, but it’s very old. How is it?

What walls are there? I don’t know. in the footsteps of antiquity, because history is not just the past, it is identity. The memory that defines who we Albanians are between history and oblivion.

Who are we today? How much we know about our history and how much we have managed to preserve the memory that connects us to the past. The history of a people also lives on in archaeological traces, in cultural heritage monuments, in old documents, in the memory of families, in the names of places, in the traditions and stories passed down from one generation to the next.

But memory can fade, be interrupted, distorted, or lost altogether if it is not studied and pursued responsibly. For Kosovo, where history is intertwined with major political, social, and demographic changes, scientific research takes on special importance. Knowing the past requires documents, testimonies, field studies, and above all, professional interpretation.

But how much can family memory tell us about our origins? For any family to show its memory, it needs to go back to the ninth generation. What role do archaeology and history play in the recognition of identity?

Or do we protect our heritage from oblivion and what should institutions, schools, and media do to help younger generations better understand the past? Archaeologist Qazim Namani and historian Emin Sallahu speak about these issues, raising concerns about the way historical and cultural heritage is studied, interpreted, and transmitted. In an effort to understand the past, an important source is family memory.

Ancestor names, blood ties, settlements, and inherited stories can help us reconstruct the history of a family and a community. However, this memory has its limits. Generations remember the past up to a certain point, while earlier periods require documents and other evidence.

Archaeologist Qazim Namani, relying on his fieldwork and materials collected from numerous families, highlights the importance of genealogical research, but also the need for family stories to be treated with scientific care.

We, knowing the terrain and considering how important and little researched it is, because of course at the beginning of the 19th century these topics were already mentioned, but at the end of the 19th century there was a rigorous control, that is, on assimilation, identity, genealogy, looking at the vast literature and we had thousands of files that we had linked to it from numerous families for family genealogy.

In fact, we haven’t found anywhere in the ninth generation, rarely any family that shows memory, say, up to the ninth generation.

The seventh generation usually dominates the sixth generation, the eighth generation which is actually in line with historical sources, is in line with the period when the Tanzimat reforms, that is, by force, began to be implemented in Kosovo in 1844, and our goal is to raise awareness among the population that even objects of worship, and I mean someone for example who has not dealt with this problem that goes back to the family until the 10th century.

I would appeal to the entire population for example that there is no ordinary Albanian family, I mean peasant, but also citizen, that goes back with family memory until the 10th century, or could they be quite rare? Of course, for the families of the Beglers that we have had and the Agallars, we remember them through their surnames, such as Gjinollet, Begolliet, Çausholl and these others, but in general Albanian families, assimilation is great.

It means in Orthodoxy, turfullon very large, especially from the 10th century until the last war. We do n’t have, I mean, any family, maybe Albanian, that we can say was Serbian and turned Albanian, because Albanians are very discriminated against. There were no discriminatory measures against those who survived.

A family’s memory is a starting point, a guide that can lead researchers to other sources. Therefore, genealogy should not rely solely on surnames, inherited stories, or beliefs created across generations. It requires comparing oral testimonies with archival documents and historical sources.

Namani also connects this issue to the great changes that Albanians have experienced in past centuries, for example, migrations, assimilation pressures, and the shrinking of territorial spaces. We have a very large shrinkage of territories, we have a very large loss of population, we have migrations, displacements to Turkey, which in our opinion are mainly topics that science and our researchers should focus on to get more.

Not that it’s not being done, that it’s being worked on by some researchers, for example, but the more that is published, the more scientific sources we have and to oppose them, for example, the more Serbian literature is read , there cannot be a researcher, for example, of our region if we do n’t have, in fact, researchers who use the literature, whether Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian, or of neighboring peoples, that we have had, that is, quite a lot of cases where the inabilities of many people, for example, with certain professions, come to light, which then, with faith, do more harm than they do, that is, benefit the country.

We have also had concrete cases where we presented scientific arguments and we actually emerged victorious because there is nothing to hesitate about, as was the case with Rakinica. When we brought up the literature that in the 10th century the village was entirely Albanian and the Albanians preserved it in the church, of course the court also decided based on the sources that we provided or the case of the Artana castle, meaning when we opposed the Serbian archaeologist for violating the main scientific doctrines during the conservation and restoration process, the cases mentioned by Naman raise an issue that goes beyond a single monument or document, how should historical truth be protected and who should bear responsibility for its interpretation. The answer requires functional institutions, trained researchers, and clear professional evaluation mechanisms.

Heritage requires documentation, conservation, restoration based on standards, and transparency in decision-making, says Namani. It is equally important that scientific criticism not be seen as a personal conflict.

When a researcher objects to a project or an interpretation, his arguments should be examined on the basis of facts and professional methodology. Qazim Namani expresses his concern about the projects that, in his opinion, contain incorrect interpretations of the history of Prizren and Gjakova.

For example, he warns that such formulations, if left in official documents, may later be cited as sources by other researchers. Of course, scientific sources, scientific interpretation, must be constantly sought, not as they have continued until now, for example with technical staff, because we have cases where the ministry pays 5-60 architects, but the projects are made by a Russian architect, they are made by a university, I’m thinking Turkish, from Istanbul University, and projects come with very nice descriptions of the country’s history.

I would add, for example, in the projects we have seen when it says, for example, that the first settlement of Turks in the city of Prizren dates back to the third or fourth century with the arrival of the nomads and since that period 35% of the population of Prizren is Turkish, that this is unacceptable.

Absolutely. Of course, another case occurs where we rejected that project, but only the historical part could be removed, but the project still remains, but it could not be removed from Istanbul University, and tomorrow the day after tomorrow they will become scientific sources. When they write, for example, that the Albanianization of Turks in the city of Gjakova has been going on since 1990.

The wave of Albanianization increased after the declaration of Kosovo as an independent state due to the influence of the Albanian language and culture. Let someone who has had it say it means Turovo. These are these are terrible, when they remain as a source, they remain and become scientific sources.

Then you say that they are done intentionally. I think they have a strategy, a vision. They are powerful states that constantly aim to expand their territories and of course through culture, through works in another form, for example, that they carry out their program.

The concern raised by the aman is related to a fundamental principle of scientific work. Documents produced today can influence how history is understood tomorrow. Therefore, the design of heritage projects cannot remain just a matter of architecture or restoration.

It should include historians, archaeologists, and other ethnologists according to the nature of the monument and the period it represents. With discussions about the past of the Albanian people, Dardania occupies an important place. Its name takes us to the ancient history of this space, to the settlements, material cultures, and archaeological evidence that researchers continue to examine.

Archaeologist Qazim Namani sees it as necessary that Dardania be given more attention in historical studies and the educational system. He also talks about his interest in family ancestry and the results of genetic analyses he has personally conducted. Seeing the state of cultural heritage and the impossibility of changing it.

Often times, maybe when I’ve reacted and not been understood. Not that I had any personal interest, but I reacted on scientific principles that it was wrong, I was overlooked and this forced me to do the DNA in 2015. That’s how I did it, thinking that I said if I come across another community, don’t get tired of Albanians at all, but the truth is, this is the truth and fate turned out that the family gene must be 5000 years old, it must be indigenous in Dardania, I did it in America, in America, and then I pushed my brother to do it in Germany and the same one came out, meaning with a 5000- year-old indigenous gene, it must be in the territory of today’s Dardania, and based on these results and traces and research, I think we are Dardanians, I think we are Illyrians, I think we need to pay attention, with dedication, with a more professional approach, insist that I should do research, feel proud of the former Dardania and mention Dardania as much as possible, which in my opinion is mentioned very little.

It means we don’t have studies, you know, how to say that we promote Dardanian culture, or we have the opportunity, for example, by fate, that this very region of Dardania gave rise to very important figures during different historical periods, it is enough to mention Constantine the Great, Saint Helena, Nike Dardani, Justin, Justinian, who we think should do more, Peter Bogdani. Yes, Pjetër Bogdani and many other figures. I think that the younger generation, even in the educational system, needs to be more dedicated to these figures and proud to be their members.

Understanding the past of Dardania requires the combination of archaeology, history, linguistics, anthropology, and other relevant disciplines. Historian Emin Sallahu believes that preserving memory is an institutional responsibility, but also a process that has lived through centuries through the family and community. It draws attention to the impact of technology and the need for young people to have access to information of historical and cultural value.

We have little concern about the continuity of what needs to be preserved, and the obligation to preserve it lies with institutions, with people in the relevant professions, to ensure the continuity of what is institutional, while in popular memory it remains from generation to generation as it has been before, even when there were no institutions and when there was no education.

Yes, it is very important now since we live in a very modern time, of course, modernity for us now is the continuous development of humanity and especially the development of today’s technology. Today’s youth are under pressure, let’s call it, facing technology but also the way the education system works, which perhaps at certain moments has slipped from what it should have been in order to transmit information from the past, although now, fortunately, there are much greater opportunities to be more informed.

Yes, this is an institutional obligation to convey as much useful information to them through textbooks, publications, television programs, print and electronic media, not information that is everyday, ordinary and does not fit into the sufficient information of a person. Folk memory has long been an important way of preserving identity in the family. Stories have been passed down , songs, customs, names and events have been passed down that have not always found a place in official documents.

But oral memory, no matter how important, cannot replace scientific documentation. It must be collected, preserved, and studied so that it is not lost along with the people who carry it. In this process, the school has a special role.

It should not only teach students about events and dates, but also enable them to understand how historical knowledge is constructed, how sources are compared, and how facts are distinguished from interpretations. One of the most sensitive issues of historical memory is the way it is presented in textbooks. Emin Sallahu brings examples from his experience, demanding that textbooks be subject to professional evaluation and that their content be based on verified knowledge.

I have also encountered in the field, I have also encountered in educational institutions, in textbooks incorrectly explaining, for example, the instrument ocarina. Explained incorrectly, they are presented visually incorrectly, and even more so because the new generation that receives that lesson has received it incorrectly. This can be improved.

I believe that according to the information I received, they have improved it in the textbook. It shouldn’t happen because textbooks should be subject to professional filtering, a professional approach that is not emotional or hypothetical. The textbooks, the ones that the new generation should receive, should be concrete in both professional and scientific aspects.

It is understood from earlier school textbooks that some of the historical sources that we can now refer to were not accessible to students. Teachers of the respective subjects, especially those in the field of culture, history, and other fields related to that popular memory, have even managed to say it between the lines, as they say. Today there is no need to say anything between the lines.

Today, it can be said directly through a well-written, well-corrected, and well-placed text by the teacher. While tradition is an important part of cultural identity, its preservation requires recognition and responsibility. Historian Sallahu draws attention to the inaccurate depictions of some elements of folk tradition, especially at weddings and public events in Kosovo.

It is very important to build a well-structured, professionally crafted memory. We have suffered extensive damage in many areas precisely because of the failure to build a scientific research base, while taking breaks or, as you say, making pockets of time that could have consequences. We also make similar mistakes in our daily lives.

For example, in tradition, we’re talking about wedding tradition. Today, in many weddings, we have traditions that do not at all correspond to the culture of our nation. No way.

They are inserted elements. We can no longer be against new elements because we must keep pace with the times. But if you claim to pass something off as a folk tradition, you have to be correct with the folk tradition, you can’t wear a national costume incorrectly, put the parts on incorrectly, you don’t have to complete a folk poem incorrectly and insert elements, for example, from the Medvedja region, and you say incorrectly, where do you address these concerns that you present, Antoni, in these public appearances as an expert?

We usually address our professional concerns to our Ministry of Culture, the institution where we work. Do you hear it? Yes, they are heard from time to time.

Now, if they are listened to completely, we will certainly have a better situation. We hope, of course. We don’t start only from ourselves.

We say that all our colleagues should do their work as ethnologists, as historians, as archaeologists, as all disciplines, because our field is multidisciplinary, it is not just one- dimensional. As a result of this, everyone must be very determined to place the elements of the profession they are committed to correctly in their institution. Archaeologist Qazim Namani calls for more space for researchers and scientific arguments in dealing with the country’s history.

While historian Emin Sallahu emphasizes the importance of institutional responsibility for accuracy in education and the preservation of traditions. We have to be, I mean, very precise in opposing these processes that are we have to be very precise. Are we, should we be in time to react?

I would n’t have said we were late. Anyway, we are late, but I mentioned above that we were not treated well as experts in the field. We actually didn’t have space.

We all know that the field has been politicized, but above all, space must be created for people to express their opinions based on the results of studies. We are not here to destroy any foot, any neighboring country, we are here to clarify scientific arguments and, based on scientific arguments, express our opinion, meaning about our country, our language, our culture. If memory is not protected, it is subject to forgetting.

Oblivion erases a legacy that was very rich. We have been completely robbed and it seems that we have fanatically destroyed our customs and traditions. Regardless of the consequences, it happened that the plis where it was held has consequences, if it held the plis.

The flag with consequences has been raised. They are holding the flag. We don’t have to be ashamed or embarrassed about our tradition, because we are different from other peoples.

The cultural diversity of cultures is the wealth of the world. There’s no need to be ashamed, you have a tradition that Germans don’t have. Germany has its own corner.

There’s no need to be old. We should also brag to the experts, let them crack it. While the people as a whole should implement them, as is usually the case with the people, because many elements have begun to return, perhaps some of them do not return in the proper form and may be bastardized at certain moments, but in any case, they must be insisted on.

So, institutions should support research and protect monuments. Schools should provide accurate knowledge . The media must give space to history and culture, while society must understand that heritage is not only of the past, but also of the future.

Pride in the past makes sense when it is accompanied by knowledge. Identity becomes more stable when it is based on facts, while heritage comes to life when it is carefully preserved, studied, and passed on . A people preserves history only by studying it, documenting it, and passing it on to future generations responsibly.”

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRogLysXml0