# Çështja kombëtare > Çështja kombëtare >  The Albanians in Yugoslavia in light of historical documents - Some argumented Facts

## mitrovicalia_81

[B]K O S O V A 
The Albanians in Yugoslavia in light of historical documents 
By Dr. S.S. Juka edited in New York in 1984 *FAKTET E ARGUMENTUARA NGA HISTORIAN TONE DHE TE HUAJ*

1. The initiators of the Illyrian movement were G. Krizanic (1618-1683) and P. Ritter Vitesovic (1652-17 13). The latter identified the ancient Illyrians with the Slays and wanted to create Croatia rediviva, Croatia resuscitated, which was to comprise territories once inhabited by the Illyrians. But he acted in the interest of Austria who, following her victory over the Turks in 1699, had claims over the Balkans. Illyrism was revived in the 19th century by L. Gaj, 1809-1872 (see E.M. Despalatovi~,Ljudevit Gaj and the Illyrian Movement, East European Monographs, Boulder, 1975, dif. Columbia U.P.). In 1935 the 100th anniversary of "lIlyrism" was celebrated (see M. Radojkovic, [and others] "Le centenaire de lIllyrisme," Le Monde Slave,June, 1935, pp. 32 1-457 and F. Sisic, "Genese et caractere general du mouvement illyrien," Le Monde Slave, Feb. 1936, pp. 266-288). 

P. Ritter-Vitezovic was not the first to identify the Slavs with the Illyrians; this had already been the opinion of L. Chalkokondylis. 

Although Emperor Ferdinand prohibited, in 1843, the use of the terms "Illyrism" and "Illyria," these continued, nonetheless, to be employed. 

Noteworthy is the fact that the descendants of those Serbs who settled in Hungary following the Austro-Turkish wars were, later, also called "Illyrians" (see P. Adler, "Nations and Nationalism among the Serbs of Hungary in 1790-1870," East European Quarterly, 1979, no. 3, pp. 272; 273). 

2. "Friends of the Slays have derived the word from a root signifying glorious, enemies, from the roots or terms indicating slavery. Schafarik has proved that the original form of the word was Slovene derived from a locality" (H.W.V. Temperley, History of Serbia, London, 1917, p. 17). 

3. See Sisic, art. cit. p. 281.  "Illyrism", as a political movement, should not be confused with the language and literary movement by the same name although links exist between the two. 

4. The plan to realize "Great Serbia" goes at least as far back as 1773. In this regard mention should he made of a document published by Vladan Djordjevic in 1913 inExtractsfrom the Vienna Archives about Montenegro: "The following which was told me by a Montenegrin monk is worthy of further consideration: A little after the Russian war was ended in 1773, a plan was made to reconstruct the Old Serbian Kingdom and to include in it, besides Bulgaria, Serbia, Upper Albania, Dalmatia, and Bosnia, also the Banat of Karlstadt and Slavonia. The Turks in all the provinces were to befallen upon at a given moment by the schismatics, and it was resolved that foreign officers should be cleared out of the lands within the Imperial frontier. The late Orthodox Bishop, Jakshitch of Karlstadt, is said to have agreed, and to have carried on a correspondence with the Metropolitan of Montenegro by means of priests. Though the carrying out of such plan is very difficult, yet the project should not be left out of consideration" (Letter of the Austrian Envoy in Montenegro, cited by ME. Durham in The Serajevo Crime, London, 1925, p. 15). 

5. A. Bouc, La Turquie dEurope, 1840, IV, p. 130. 

6. According to A. Boue, the "battles" that took place were not fought on the plain, but on its "plates-formes" at Gasimestan, "one and a half hours north of Pristina;" the name of Kossovo, he explained, was applied later to the Plain of Sitnica and the surrounding territory (A. Boue, op. cit., I, p. 142). 

7. An Albanian patriot of broad culture (1839-1894). His younger brother, Sami, wrote in Turkish as well as in Albanian. Greatly admired for his Universal Dictionary of History and Geography (a six-volume encyclopedia) and for other writings, he is considered in Turkey as one of its most prominent poets. Having fought for Albanias rights, he spent five years in prison. The sec.ond of the three brothers, Naim, is the most popular South Albanian poet. 

8. "Public Record Office," London, FO., 78/2784; The British Museum, "Accounts and Papers" (38) 1878, LXXXIII 83, 298-30 1; reproduced by S. Rizaj in The Albanian League of Prizren in English Documents, Prishtina, 1978, pp. 189-192. Other English documents are published by Rizaj in "Three English Diplomats on the Albanian Question (1879-1880)," GjurmimeAlbanologjike IX, 1979, Prishtina 1980, pp. 337-353. English documents relating to the League of Prizren are quite numerous. They are available in the Foreign Office Archives (Public Record Office), London and in the British Museum (Accounts and Papers), London. Most documents used in this essay are reproduced either by S. Rizaj in op. or art. cit., or by L. Skendo in Albanais et Slaves, Lausanne, 1919. 

9. Later, Bismarck is said to have admitted his error. 

10. EM., Accounts and Papers (38); 1878-9; LXXIX 79, 574-575. Letter reproduced by Rizaj in op. cit. pp. 24 1-242. 

11. For the data concerning the Albanians of these territories, see E. PlIana, "Les raisons et Ia maniere de Ia migration des refugies albanais du territoire du Sandjak de Nish a Kosova (1877-1878)," Gjurmime Albanologjike IX 1979, Prishtine, 1980, pp. 129-156. Cf. also R. MarmullakuAlbania and the Albanians , London, 1975, p. 24 (does not contain details). 

12. Dulcigno (Lat. Olcinium, Gr. Oulkinion, AIb. Ulqin) is made up of the preposition "de" and the Albanian ujk-ulk wolf, as noted byJ.G. von Hahn (Albanesische Studien I, pp. 239, 242). Ulcisa Castra goes back to the same Illyro-Albanian etymology. 

13. Archeological finds indicate that the present territory of Montenegro was inhabited by Illyrians. In the Middle Ages, the rulers of the debatable Zeta, the Crnojevics, were Skanderbegs allies and connected to him by marriage. Venetian sources suggest that their name is the Slav translation of the Albanian Gurazi. Sometimes, they are referred to merely as Juras. Noteworthy is a passage in Marino Sanudo (4.325): "13 June, 1774. Drivasto e Alessio tolse Zuan Zernovitch, alhanese.. ." (cited by F. Miklosic, Die Serbischen Dynasten Crnojevic, Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte von Montenegro, Vienna, 1886, p. 42). Cf. also: "1435 Jurasevitsch 

....wollte sich weder den Serbischen Despoten noch den Venetianern unterwerfen" "1435 Jurasevic did not want to surrender to the Serbian Despot nor to the Venetians" (GIasnik XIV 14, cited by F. Miklosic, op. cit., p.152). As for the Balshas (Balsics), the predecessors of the Crnojevics, the concensus among scholars is not to connect their name with the locality of Les Baux, near Marseilles, France, as had been suggested by Du Cange, but to agree with von Hahn who had pointed Out (op. cit. I p. 324) that Balsha is without any doubt an Albanian name (Hahn rightly indicated that it is a first name, not a family name). The Balshas were Catholic and they fought the Serbs. Cf. also M. von Suff1ay, "Ungarisch-alhanische Berubrungen im Mittelalter," in L. von Thall6czy, Illyrisch-Atbanische Forschungen, Munchen und Leipzig, 1916, 1, p. 298: "Der Herr von Nordalbanien, der Katholische Albaner Georg II Balsha 

According to F. Miklosic, the name Zeta, employed to designate ancient Doclea (part of present-day Montenegro), is most probably of Albanian origin (F. Miklosic, op. cit., p. 29). As for Montenegro, which may not be strictly equated with the Zeta, it is a geographical name used for the first time in the 15th century, after the Turkish conquest. It is not included in maps until the 17th century. 

M.E. Durham (1863-1944), who travelled widely in Albania and Montenegro and devoted much time to the study of Montenegrin and Albanian tribes, came to the conclusion that the Montenegrin is not so much a Slav as a Slavized descendant of the older inhabitants, i.e., of Vlachs, and Albanians (see Some Tribal Origins, Laws, and Customs in the Balkans, London, 1928, PP. 13-59). 

That the Montenegrin tribes were originally Albanian tribes was already indicated by K. Jirecek, "Albanien in der Vergangenheit," Illyrisch-Albanische Forschungen, (Munchen und Leipzig 1916, p. 69). 

The marked distinction between the Serbs and the Montenegrins was pointed out by Prof. Savo Birkovic in a recent work: 0 postanku i rasvoju Crnogorske nacje, Graficki Zavod, Titograd, 1980. 

14. Relating to the Catholics, the French envoy in Shkodra, L.H. (Louis Hecquart?) wrote to his government on 24 July, 1880: "M. Corti a cru de boone foi que les catholiques Albanais accepteraient Ia domination montenegrine plus facilement que les musulmas, et cest le contraire qui est vrai"  Mr. Corti sincerely believed that it would be easier for the Catholic Albanians than for the Moslems to accept the Montenegrin domination; but it has been the opposite (Letter contained in "Inventaire sommaire des archives de Ia guerre," serie N. 1872-1919, Archives de Ia defense, Chateau de Vincennes. Unpublished document, hand written). 


15. The West erroneously believed that the battle was between the Crescent and the Cross which meant between barbarism and civilization. Cf. E. Noel-Buxton: "We are in the field of a great battle between East and West, between barbarism and civilization," (Europe and the Turks, London, 1907, p. 19). Westerners seemed to be completely ignorant of the fact that the fights had purely material causes. M.E. Durham has repeatedly pointed out the barbarism of the acts committed under the cover of Christianity against the Albanians be they Moslems or Christians. 

16. As many as 30 Albanian newspapers and magazines were published abroad. This epoch produced a great variety of excellent writers and poets. 

17. Reproduced by L. Skendo, op. cit., pp. 42-43. 

18. "It seemed sheer folly to make a large and costly Serb theological school in a Moslem Albanian town and to import masters and students, when funds are so urgently needed to develop free Serb land" (ME. Durham,High Albania, London, 
1909, p. 275). Even E. Noel-Buxton, of the Balkan Committee, whose attitude was pro-Slav, had to admit that "The spirit of chauvinism is but thinly veiled under the garb of churchmanship. Religion is degraded to the level of pretext for exciting national zeal" (Noel-Buxton, op. cit. p. 50). 

19. V. Djordjevic,Les Albanais et les Grandes Puissances, 1913 p. 8. No information of this kind is contained in von Hahns work. 

20. According to Felix Adler, "The vice of vices is when we are held cheap by others sod then in our innermost soul start to think cheaply of ourselves." Protic, Gopcevic, Zupanic, Tomic, Djordjevic are some of the Slav authors who criticized the Albanians in a particularly uncivil way. Many others may be cited. 

21. 5. Protic,Das Albanesische Problem und die Beziehungen zwischen Oestereich- Ungarn, Leipzig, 1913, p. 19. 

22. "Le journal parisien Le Temps avait mis ses colonnes a Ia disposition de ces detracteurs comme il les avait ouvertes pour les Grecs.. .,"  "The Parisian daily Le Temps was at the disposal of these calumniators [i.e., of the Slays] as it was also at the disposal of the Greeks (Lumo Skendo, Albanais et Slaves, Lausanne, 1919, p. 3). 

23. SeeR. Marmullaku Albania and the Albanians, Hurst and Co., London, 1975, pp. 23-24. 

24. Cited by R. Marmullaku, op. cit., p. 137. 

25. Cf. also Aubrey Herbert, M.P.: "Very little was known about Albania. The general opinion was that the Albanians were another branch of the Armenian family, and indeed, as far as massacres were concerned, this was most understandable . . ." (A. Herbert, Ben Kenilim, 
London, 1924, P. 24). According to ME. Durham, the slaughters of the Armenians were nothing compared to those of the Albanians: "The massacres of Adana and the resultant misery pale before the scarlet horrors committed wholesale in cold blood by the so-called followers of Christ" (Durham, Struggle for Scutari, London, 1914, p. 303). 
About these slaughters see 1. Albaniens Golgotha, Anklageacten gegen die Vernichter des Albanervolkes, gesammelt und herausgegeben von L. Freundlich, Vienna, 1913.  2. Enquete dans les Balkans, Rapport de Ia Commission denquete de Ia Dotation Carnegie pour Ia Paix internationale, Paris, 1914. 

26. What surprised ME. Durham quite specially was the religious fanaticism of the Serbs: 
"It was not astonishing that the Serbs hated Islam, but that they should fiercely hate every other Christian church, I had not expected. The Catholic was hated the most." According to Durham, the Moslem was to the Serbs "a lesser evil than the Catholic," (Twenty Years of Balkan Tangle, London, 1920, p. 52). "The hatred of the Serb Orthodox for the Catholics was shown in 1913 in the Balkan war, when the Montenegrin troops, whose object was said to be to liberate Christians, fell upon the little church of Mazreku, trampled the Host underfoot, dressed up in the priestly vestments, danced about, and amused themselves by cutting noses from images of the saints and firing bullets into the crufix" (Some Tribal Origins ... p. 28). 
In 1913, a number of soldiers led by a bandit clad as an Orthodox priest stripped and bayonetted to death Luigj Palici, an Albanian Franciscan from Gjakova, because he refused to cross himself in the Orthodox manner. "Austria intervened sharply. Had she not done so, in the words of a Catholic refugee, there would not have been a Catholic left" (E.C. Helmreich, The Diplomacy of the Balkan Wars, Harvard U.P., 1938, p. 317). 
In 1919, a treaty concerning minorities was signed at Saint-Germain-en- Laye whereby the Yugoslav Government pledged to protect all citizens without discrimination as to race, nationality, and creed. Yet the persecutions against the Catholic Kosovars continued. Mother Teresas father, a native of Shkup (Skopje), and a noted Albanian patriot, was poisoned by the Serbs, as reported by his son Lazer Bojaxhiu in an interview published in Gente (Dec. 1979 andJan. 1980). Mother Teresas family was obliged to move to Tirana, where her mother and sister died (the former in 1974; the latter in 1976). 
In 1929, was executed Father Shtjefen Gjecovi, a Franciscan, greatly respected by all the Albanians for his erudition and his righteousness. As a result, on May 5, 1930, three Catholic priests, obliged to leave the region, addressed the "League of Nations" a memorandum concerning the tragic plight of the Albanians in Yugoslavia (see H. Kokalari, Kosova, Rome, 1962, p. 165). 

27. Cf. E. Noel-Buxton: "Mr. Gladstone said, the Christian, who retained his faith at the price of slavery, when by recanting he could obtain every favour, is entitled to the name of martyr and to him Europe owes the gratitude" (op. cit., p. 27). That the conversions of the Albanians would be taken as a pretext to expand territory was already pointed out by A. Boue who was for the freedom of all nations and had little respect for those who "for sheer purposes of invasion consider themselves chosen by God to exterminate the Moslems and make people happy." (". . . chez ceux, qui sintitulent, par pure politique denvahissement, les elus du Tres-Haut pour lextermination des Musulmans et le bonheur du genre humain," Boue, Recueil ditineraires dans Ia Torquie dEurope, 1854, I, "Avant-Propos." 

28. No study is available on ME. Durham, except for that of Sh. Shaqiri, "ME. Durham dhe Shqiptar&,"Nentori, Oct. 1981, pp. 149-164. A talented painter and writer,a good historian and an excellent anthropologist (her diaries and other papers are available at the "Royal Anthropological Institute of Gr. Br. and Ireland," London, of which she was a member and to whose journal, Man, she contributed many articles), she also worked as a volunteer in Montenegrin hospitals as well as for the "Macedonia Relief Fund." Her first book was devoted to the Serbs (Through the Land of the Serbs, London, 1904). But, as pointed out by Aubrey Herbert, it was only their revolting cruelty that turned her affection into dislike" (A. Herbert, Ben Kendim , p. 220). Her later attitude toward the Serbo-Montenegrins is conveyed by a passage contained in Twenty Years of Balkan Tangle: "On arriving in London I packed up the Gold Medal given me by King Nikola and returned it to him stating that I had often expressed surprise at persons, who accepted decorations from Abdul Hamid, and that now I knew that he and his subjects were even more cruel than the Turk, I would not keep his blood-stained medal any longer. I communicated this to the English and Austrian press. The order of Saint Sava given me by King Petar of Serbia, I decided to keep a little longer till some pecularly flagrant case" (p. 25). 

29. H. Hauser, "Le principe des nationalites," (30-page pamphlet, reprint fromRevuepolitique internationale, March-April, 1916). See also A. van Gennep,Traite des nationalites, 1922, p. 24. 

30. A. Herbert, op. cit., p. 216 and M.E. Durham, Twenty-Years p. 83. 

31. The tragic fate of many of these Albanians, who remained outside the borders assigned to the state of Albania, was to populate Asia Minor. As indicated (p. 10), the guarantees stipulated by the Treaty of Berlin were not honored by Serbia. Likewise, over 300,000 Albanians inhabiting the regions ceded to Greece were expelled by the Greek Government and obliged to settle in Turkey as a result of an exchange treaty of the Turkish and the Greek Governments (see, among others, A.A. Pallis, "The exchange of populations in the Balkans," Nineteenth Century, March, 1925, pp. 376-387). Pallis begins his article by saying that the exchanges of populations, as a method of settling the problems of minorities, has been condemned in many quarters as a barbarous and dangerous innovation in internal politics." The Greek delegate at the Lausanne Conference had, in fact, declared that Greece agrees that the compulsory exchanges shall not be applicable to her Moslem subjects of Albanian origin." However, the Greeks declared the Moslems of Tchameria as being "merely Albanophones," but in reality Greeks, and on this basis forced them to emigrate (Pallis art. cit.). Pallis argued that they emigrated of their own accord and that they were pleased in Turkey. This, however, is not the opinion of Ruth Pennington who returned to England in 1927 after ten months of work with the immigrants, In Turkey the are 300,000 Albanian-speaking immigrants. Of these at least 10% would willingly shift their quarters and move again seeking for better land, to rejoin cousins and friends, who have already moved. Turkey does not wish for any further depopulation, but in spite of official prohibition, for the next 10 to 20 years there will be a constant leakage . . ." (Near East and India, Sept. 15, 1927, p. 333). 
Although in 1913, the population of the south Albanian region ceded to Greece was over 90% Albanian, no Albanian schools or newspapers were ever allowed. This population has been almost extirpated on account of the harsh treatment to which it was subjected. 

32. Austria supported the Slavs against the Italians. Cf. M.E. Durham: "The Slavizing process in Dalmatia visibly progressed until the German-Austrians began to realize that they were warming a viper and feel nervous" (Twenty Years p. 13); cC. also U. Biscottini, Sull italianita della Dalmazia, 1930, p. 55. 

33. MR. Vesnic, Les aspirations nationales de Ia Serbie (no date) p. 16. 

34. In 1880, the French consul in Scutari, when describing Macedonia in an "Aperiu geographique" of Albania, prepared by him for the French Government, did not even mention the Serbs: La Macedonie est en effet partagee entre les Albanais, les Grecs, les KutzoValaques et les Bulgares,"  Macedonia is divided between Albanians, Greeks, Vlachs, and Bulgarians," (unpublished document contained in Albanie, Dossier I, "Archives de la Defense," Chateau de Vincennes, Paris). Cf. also M.E. Durham, The Serajevo Crime (London, 1925): "When I was living in Ochrida in the winter of 1903-4, a Serb schoolmaster had but just arrived. The largest school in town was the Bulgar one. The Greeks made a bad second. In spite of all his efforts, the Serb only succeeded in scraping up about 50 persons including his own family, the Greek priest and myself, to celebrate Saint Savas day. The majority were poor school children picked up in the town. In those days anyone who said that the Serbs would one day own Ochrida would have been thought insane" (p. 27). II Dr. Milovanovich admitted in 1898 that the Serbs did not begin to think about Macedonia till 1885" (E. Noel-Buxton, Balkan Problems and European Peace, London, 1919, P. 27). /1 In regard to Macedonia, A. van Gennep, citing the Carnegie Report, criticized the Serb scholars Belic and Cvijic, attributing no scientific value to their research, because their sole purpose, according to the Carnegie report, was "to support the political claims of Serbia" (Van Gennep, Traitet· &s nationalites, Paris, ed. Payot, 1922, P. 202). 

35. Goethe, Faust I. 

36. On account of the paucity of documents, the problem concerning the origin of the Albanians has long been debated. This problem is closely related to that regarding the place of origin of the Rumanians. 
J. Thunmann maintained that the Albanians must be indigenous to the areas inhabited by them since there are no historical sources mentioning an Albanian immigration ("Ich habe in ihrer Geschichte keine Spur von einer spaten Finwanderung gefunden," Untersuchungen iiber die Geschichte der iistlichen europaischen Volker, 1774, p. 244). Because these areas were formerly inhabited by Illyrians, Thunmann came to the conclusion that the Albanians must be their descendants. His opinion was shared by Malte-Brun (1809), W. M. Leake (1814), Ami Boue (1 840),J. G. von Hahn (1853),J. Ph. Fallmerayer (1857-1860) and later by P. Kretschmer, H. Pedersen, F. Nopcza, F. Miklosic, G. Meyer, M. E. Durham, among others. 
Hahn, who studied the Illyrians from the point of view of various disciplines, regarded the Albanians as aborigines in Kosova, Epirus and Macedonia ("Wir sind zum Schlusse gekommen, dass die unter sich verwandten Epiroten und Makedoner einen selbstandigen Zweig des grossen Illyrischen Volkstammes zu bilden scheinen,"  "I have come to the conclusion that the Epirotes and the Macedonians. . . form an independent branch of the Illyrian family." (AIb. St., I, p. 219). 
Hahn underscored the Illyro-Albanian linguistic analogies with regard to onomastics and toponomy. 
Others  especially M. E. Durham and F. Nopcza  stressed, later, ethnographical elements. They considered the survival among the Albanians of Illyrian beliefs, customs, art motifs, and other traditions, as evidence of the Illyro-Albanian continuity. F. Nopeza linked to prehistoric times some shapes and motifs relating to Albanian costumes, etc., denoting the Illyro-Albanian affiliation (Nopcza, Albanien; Bauten, Trachten und Gerate Nordalbanien.s, Berlin und Leipzig, 1925. 
In her turn, M.E. Durham pointed out that the serpent and the dove used as embroidery motifs for certain costumes worn by Shkodra women, were symbols of the mother goddess worshipped at Knossos (M.E. Durham, Some Tribal Origins ... p. 127). She also remarked the use made by North Albanian mountaneers of the rayed sun for decorative purposes (jewelry, grave stones, tatooing, etc.-), indicating that the sun, a special God to the military, was sacred to the Illyrians (Durham, ibidem) 
Hahn seemed to have definitely solved the problem concerning the origin of the Albanians. As already indicated, he was seconded by ethnologists. Yet the question was raised again at the turn of the century: 
Since the Illyrians are referred to for the last time as an ethnic group in Miracula Sancti Demetri (7th century AD.), some scholars maintain that after the arrival of the Slays the Illyrians were extinct. 
N. Iorga had no doubts that the Albanians are the descendants of the Illyrians (lorga, Breve histoire de lAlbanie et du peuple albanais, 1919, p. 3), but the Rumanian archeologist Vasile Parvan contended in 1910 that the Albanians emigrated from Transylvania and the Carpathian mountains between the 3rd and the 6th centuries AD. According to Philippide (1859-1933), the Albanians came from Panonnia, i.e., present-day Hungary. In short, some Serbian and some Rumanian scholars regard the Albanians as an adventitious population. 
Yet there are no historical documents mentioning an immigration of Albanians into the areas where they presently live. The Illyrian tribe of the Albanoi, from which the Albanians 
derive their name, was already mentioned by the geographer Ptolemy of Alexandria as living in the city of Albanopolis (central Albania) in the second century A.D. When the Albanoi are mentioned again in the 11th century (by Anna Comnena, Joban Skylitzes, and Attaleiates), they are referred to as living in the same locality previously mentioned by Ptolemy. They also appear in Byzantine sources, in contrast to the Vlachs, as a sedentary population with high standing and not as a nomadic people (see A. Ducellier, "LArbanon et les Albanais au XIC siecle," Centre de Ia Recherche dHistoire et de Ia Civilisation Byzantines, Travaux et Memoires, III, 1968, pp. 354-368; see esp. pp. 356-7; see also A.D. "Les Albanais du XIe au XIIIe siecle: nomades ou sedentaires," Byzantinische Forschungen, 1979, pp. 23-36). 
The stability of the Albanians is also attested by Western documents: It has been the merit of H. Gregoire to point out that in La Chanson de Roland (11th cent.), Albeigne, Albanie, designate the coastal areas of present-day Albania (H. Gregoire, "La Chanson de Roland de lan 1085," BARB, 1939, pp. 211-273 and H. Gregoire et R. De Keyser, "La Chanson de Roland et Byzance.. ." Byzantion, Bruxelles 1939, vol. 14, pp. 265-351. See also Kole Luka, "Le nom dAlbeigne-Albanie et lextension de lArbanon du lie au 12e sihcles," Deuxieme Conference des Etudes Albanologiques, II, Tirana, 1970 pp. 199-207 and K.L., "La toponomie albanaise dansLa Chan.son deRoland concernant quelques evenements de 1081-1085,"Stu-dime Historike, I, 1967. pp. 127-144. 
Until the 14th century  an epoch which marks the height of the Serbian state  when they started to be encountered as shepherds, the Albanians strike as a sedentary, urban population. K.Jirecek describes them as "ein altebristliches Volk von mehr stadtischer kultur" "an old Christian people of urban culture" (Jirecek, "Albanien in der Vergangenheit", Illyrisch-Albanische Forschungen, 1916, I p. 70). About Albanian cities see also M. Sufflay, Stadte und Burgen Albaniens hauptsachlich wahrend des Mittelalters, Vienna, 1924. 
The urban organization was also important among the Illyrians. The pre-Roman cities of Scodra, Lissius, Dimalium, Bylis, Amanthia, etc. were of high standing (see Frano Prendi, "Urbanisation en Illyrie du Sud ~ Ia lumiere des donnees archhologiques,"  "Urbanisation in South Illyria in the light of archeological data," Studime historike, 1972 III, pp. 29-69). According to N.G.L. Hammond, Albania was wealthy and refined even during the neolithic epoch, as attested by archeological finds (See N.G.L. Hammond, "Sepulture ~ tumuli en Albanie et problemes de lethnogenese" (Studime Historike, 1972 IV pp. 117-124). 

37. E. Cabej, "Das Albanische und seine Nachbarsprachen," Die Sprache XIII, 1976, pp. 39-5 1. 
"Albanian, although on the basis of its structure and some of its most common words it is called an independent branch of the Indo-European family, has borrowed so much Latin that it has to be included in comparative grammars of the Romance Languages." "It is usual to reckon Albanian as an independent member of the Indo-European family, but its Romance element is far more important than the Romance element in English" (E.H. Sturtevant, Linguistic change, G.E. Stechert Co., N.Y. 1942 p. 123, 154 or 194). Although Latin plays an important role, linguists in the past 60 years have been realizing more and more the importance in the Albanian language of the pre-Latin substratum. 

38. E. Cabej, Die Sprache XIII 1967, art. cit. N. JokI pointed out (in art. cit. in Indogerm. Forsch, p<4l) that when the Serbs arrived in the Balkans the Albanians were already considered as an old Christian population. He remarked that the terminology of the church is derived from Dalmatian Latin, the church center being Salono. See also M. von Sufflay, "Die Kirchenzustande im vorturkischen Albanien ..." Illyr-Aib. Forsch., pp. 188-293. 

39. Z. Mirditas most recent book isAntraponimia e Dardanise nekohen romake (Die Anthroponymie Dardaniens zur Romerzeit); illustr. with introduct: in Albanian and German, Prishtine, 1981. 

40. By reason of the analogies between Rumanian and Albanian, G. Weigand maintained that the cradle of the Albanians is actually Dardania, the region of Nis, north of which, according to him, lived as close neighbors, the ancestors of the Rumanians (see G. Weigand,  
"Sind die Albaner die Nachkommen der Illyrier oder der Thraker," Balkan Archiv, 3, 1927 pp. 227-251). To this theory subscribed N.Jokl. These scholars considered the Dardanians as Thracians. They contended that the Dardanians had subsequently moved to the coastal areas where they found an Illyrian population. In their opinion, the Albanians are Thracians mixed with Illyrians. As to when the Dardanians moved to the coastal regions, the opinions differ: according to Weigand, in the Middle Ages; according to Jokl, before the Slav invasions, for the Slays found them there when they reached the Buna (Bojana) river. Jokl argues that the name of the river, Buna, is Albanian. In his opinion, the fact that later its name was transmitted to the Venetians in its Slavic form, Bojana, is due to political circumstances of that particular era. In his later years, JokI was convinced that the Albanians have been living in the Scutari (Shkoder) area at least since the late Roman epoch (see N. JokI, "Zur Geschichte des alb. Diphtongs  ua-ue ," Indogerm Forsch., vol. 50, 1932, pp. 4 1-42). According to V. Georgiev, they started moving to the region in the 2nd mill. B.C. (V.G., "The earliest ethnolog. situation of the Balkan Pen, as evidenced by linguistic and onomastic data" H. Birobaum  S. Vryonis Aspects of the Balkans, p. 64). 
The striking analogies between Albanian and Rumanian were already pointed out by Thunmann without prompting him to attribute the Albanians a Thracian origin. Special attention was accorded to these analogies by E. Cabej (see in particular "Rumanischalbanische Lehnbeziehungen," Revue Internationale des Etudes Balkaniques, II 1936, pp. 172-184 and "Betrachtungen uber die rumanisch  albanisehen Sprachbeziehungen," Revue de linguistique, 1965 X pp. 101-115). 
These links do not concern merely various linguistic aspects; they also pertain to ethnology. Noticeably numerous, they leave no doubt that these two peoples must have lived, in fact, for a long time as neighhors. 
Aside from the Albano-Rumanian analogies, Kosovas toponomy is another indication that the ancestors of the Albanians must have inhabited Dardania: 
Whether Shkiptar, the name of the Albanians in their own language, comes from Shkype (eagle), as it has been claimed by many; may be traced back to other etymologies, as various savants have suggested; or is derived from the city of Shkup (Skopje) in Macedonia as other scholars are inclined to believe (see I. Popovic, Geschichte der Serbo-Crostisclien Sprache, Wiesbaden, 1960, pp. 84-84) has not been as yet convincingly evidenced. A possible connection between Shkype, Shkup, Shkop, Skepter was suggested by von Hahn (AIb. St., I, p. 229). 
There seems to be, however, no doubt that the ancient name of Kosova, namely Dardania, is Albanian. A Boue and von Hahn have indicated that it comes from the word Dardhe = pear. And it has been remarked that in the area pear-trees abound. M.E. Durham pointed out that Bertius, mapmaker of Louis XIII of France, who marked the region "Pirustae" added to it "albanese". She also remarked that the name Dardania was used as late as 1770, as attested by a map published in Nuremberg (see Durham, Some Tribal Origins... pp. 
236-237). She indicated, furthermore, that Krusevac, which is situated in the very heart of Dardania, may well be the translation of the Illyro-Albanian Dardhe. Dardhe  used also in compounds  is a toponym frequently encountered in present-day Albania. 
Relating to place names in Kosova, ME. Durham was struck by the derivation of a large number of them from plants and trees which seems to have been an Illyro-Albanian tradition on account of the fact that such names are quite common in Albania. 
That toponyms which strike one as being Slav, might, in reality, be traced back to an Albanian origin, was also the opinion of A. Boue. Impressed by the frequency of toponyms similar to that of Lioubetan, near Kacanik, he contended that their etymology might lead to the Albanian lope, rather than to the Slav Ljuba = love or lub bark, for the cow, he remarked, is in this region of great importance (A. Bouh, Recuejl.. ., pp. 205-206; 245,248). 
Various sources (historical documents, chrysobulls, cadastral registers, etc.) point out that in the 14th and 15th centuries many toponyms in Montenegro, Hercegovina, the Dukagjini Plateau, and Kosova in general, were Albanian. Thejuridical sources of the Medieval Serbian state (S. Novakovk, Zakonshi Spomenici . 1912) contain Albanian toponyms. Of late, the toponymy of Kosova has been the object of various studies, especially by Profs. I. Ajeti and A. Hadri of the University of Pristina. 
At present, on account of various data pertaining to history, linguistics, and ethnology, the concensus among scholars, with a few exceptions, seems to be: a. to consider the Albanians as the descendants of the Illyrians and not of the Thracians. b. to admit that the Dardanians were considered also by ancient authors as Illyrians, linked ethnically, linguistically and culturally to the Illyrian tribes of the coast. c. to recognize, however, that the Thracians and the Illyrians were populations akin to each other, having started to be differentiated from each other perhaps around 1500 B.C. 

41. Slavic place names are encountered in Rumania, in present-day Albania, and in Greece. Konitza (Korca), the name of the south Albanian town, which is unjustly regarded as being Greek, is actually Slavonic; so is Konitza in northern Greece; so was Morea, employed for a long time to designate the Peloponnesus. How easily place names may change is evidenced by the enormous proportions assumed by the Grecianization of Slavic, Albanian, and Turkish toponyms in Greece. 

42. Non-Slavic and pre-Roman are the most important rivers in Yugoslavia: the Danube, Sava, Drava, Mura, Tisza, Kupla, Una, Vrbas, Bosna, Drina, Neretva, Zeta, Ibar, Iskur, Maritsa (see Edgar Hosch, The Balkans, EngI. transl. publ. 1968, p. 23). 

43. G. Stadtmuller, Forschungen zur Albanzschen Friihgeschichte, 2nd ed., "Albanische Forschungen," Wiesbaden, Harrassovitz, 1966, pp. 95-96. 

44. Among numerous other publications on the Illyrians, see also the three volumes containing the publications of the three Sarajevo Symposia on the Illyrians, held in 1964 and in 1966 (see Sympozpum .. . Akademija Nauka i Umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo, 1964 Knj. 4 and 1967 Knj. 5). Of interest for French readers isArcheologia,Jan. 1975, a special number issued on the occasion of the Albanian exhibit in the "Petit Palais" in Paris that same year (Dec. 1974-Feb 1975) as well as the illustrated catalogue of the exhibit (Presses artistiques, Paris). For English speaking readers, aside from the works of Prof. F. Papazoglu, already mentioned, an interesting book is The Illyrians, History and Culture by A. Stipcevic (EngI. trans. Park Ridge, N.J. Noyes Press, 1977); a scholarly work, yet easy to read, it contains an excellent bibliography. Stipcevic has also publishedArte degli Iliri (Ed. del Milione, Milan, 1963) and two Bibliographia Illyrica (the second one being a Suplementum of the years 1973-1977; both were publ. in Sarajevo. Akademija nauka umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine (1967 Knj. 6; 1978, Knj. 42). 

45. The evidence of this continuity is having a great impact on various disciplines: music, dance, folklore. 
E.g., the guzla, formerly considered a Slavonic instrument, is now being regarded as Illyrian and merely borrowed by the Slavs. The Bosnian ethnologist, Cvjetko Rihtman, having done considerable research relating to Balkan musical instruments, attributes them to the Illyrians (see C. Rihtman, "0 ilirskom porijeklu polifonik oblika narodne muzike Bosne Hercegovine."Rad kongresafolkloristaJugoslavije na Bjelafnici 1955 inPuli 1952, Zagreb, 1958, pp. 99-105). The Illyrian origin of the guzla was already pointed out by M.E. Durham (Durham, Man, March 1923 p. 41 and Some Tribal ... p. 236). 
ME. Durham held that of Illyrian origin is the Montenegrin dance which consists of jumping over fire. At present, there seems to be no doubt that the dance performed to the sound of rattling swords without any musical accompaniement, is of Illyrian origin (see F. Sako, "De Ia genese de Ia danse pyrrihique," StudiaAlbanica, 1972 pp. 307-10. Of interest is also R. Sokolis book Dances and Music of our Ancestors, Tirana 1971  in Albanian ). 
Various tales, folksongs, cults and superstitions, previously regarded as vaguely Balkan, are now said to be Illyro-Albanian. ME. Durham had already suggested the Illyrian origin of some traditional songs and tales of the South Slays (Durham, "A Bird Tradition in the West of the Balkan Peninsula," Man, April 1923 pp. 55-58). She also believed that the cult for Marco Kraljevic may be traced back to the Illyrian God Medaurus (Some Tribal . . . p. 108). 
With respect to folklore, Ciro Truhelka (1865-1942) noticed among the South Slavs many Illyrian elements (C. Truhelka, Les restes illyriens en Basnie, Paris 1900) 
In his turn, E. Cabej pointed out, citing A. Meyer (Die Sprache derAlten Illyrier, 1116), that the Illyrian name Thana, found in four votive inscriptions at Topusko, may be the older form of the Albanian folkore character Zana  Diana (Serb. Majka Jana). E. Cabej also remarked that Vila, of the South Slav folklore, which has common traits with the Albanian Zana, is hardly known among the Slavic populations outside the Balkans (see F. Cabej, "Disa figura te besimere popullore shqiptare," Studime Gjuhisore, V, Prishtine, 1975 P. 160. About ZanaDiana, see also E. Cabej, "Kult und Fortleben der Gottin Diana auf dem Balkan," Leipziger Vierteljahrschrtft fiir Sudeurapa, V, 1941 pp. 229-240; the AIb. version of this article was published in Hylli i Dritis, Shkoder 1942, pp. 1-2; 3-4, 5-10). 
Also, Cabej attributes an Illyrian origin to the two brothers, Muji and Halili, the two main characters of the Albanian and Croatian heroic songs, identifying them with the Greek Dioscuri, who have their counterparts among the Germans, Armenians, Indians, and other ancient peoples, but are unknown among other Slav populations aside from the Bosnians (Cabej, art. cit. in Studime Gjuhisore, p. 160). 

46. G. Stadtmflller, Geschichte Siidosteuropa.s, Munchen, Verlag Oldenbourg, 1950, p. 88. 

47. 5. PolIoA. Puto, op. cit. pp. 37-38. 

48. "... Belgrade, the white city, whose medieval name, Alba Bulgarica, shows that it was essentially a non-Serbian city (Temperley, op. cit., p. 49-50). 

49. Mas-Latrie, "Zupans et Rois de Rascie on Serbie," Tresors de chronolagie, dhistoire et de geographie ... Paris, 1889. 

50. See A. Ducellier,"LesAlbanais ont-ils envahi le Kossovo,"Albanie, Paris,June, 198l,pp. 10-14. 

51. Cf. K. Jirecek: "Quand on fait une comparaison avec Ia Bulgarie et la Russie, on est frappe par labsence en Serbie dune residence royale fixe,"  "If one compares Bulgaria and Russia with Serbia, the absence among this latter nation of a stable royal residence is striking," (La civilisatian serbe an Moyen Age, I, p.331, French transl., Paris 1920); cf. also N. Jorga: "Cet Empire [lEmpire byzantin] representait Ia centralisation romaine... tandis que lEtat serbe du 14e s., tel quil resulte des conquetes de lempereur, navait quun chef militaire, a peine entoure de quelques dignitaires sans capitale fixe  "The Byzantine Empire represented the Roman centralization . . . whereas the 14th-century Serbian state, originating from the conquests of the Emperor, had merely a military leader surrounded by just a few dignitaries. There was no fixed capital (N. lorga, Petite histoire de lAlbanie et du peuple albanais, p. 41). 

52. This memorandum, titled "The expulsion of the Albanians" is kept in the files of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Lately, the memorandum has circulated in the U.S. in English translation (20 pages, no date). Parts of the text have appeared in French translation inAlbanie, Paris,June 1981, pp.24-25. Dr. Vaso Cubrilovic, born 1897, taught for many years at the University of Belgrade. After World War II, he served in the Government of the FSRY. He is the author of the chapter on Kosova in Istorija narodna]ugoslavije (Knida 2, Beograd, 1960), the official history book of Yugoslavia. 

53. According to Anna Comnena, in 1080, the river Lab was the southern border of the Serbian territories. The center of the Serbian state was Raska. "It is from Stephan Nemanya, the Grand Zupan of Rashka that modern Serbia has always dated the rise of Serbian national greatness in the Middle Ages" (Temperley, op. cit., p. 38). 

54. N. Lorga prefers to render Knez with count, despite the fact that it is a Western title of nobility, probably to indicate the limited power of the ruler. Central power had disappeared. 

55. Sylvain, Levy, India: "India does not have that worship of great men so important to us ... India has given birth to an exceptional genious, Asvaghosha ... Asvaghosha belongs entirely to Western learning" (cited by J. Grenier, "Imaginary India," Les lIes, Gallimard, 1959). 

56. Illustrative of this conception are a few examples picked at random from various books: 
"Dusans achievement became more than a historical memory. It was to constitute a political programme for the Serbs who, early in the nineteenth century, were liberated from over five centuries of Turkish rule" (H.C. Darby [and others] ,A short history of Yugoslavia from early times to 1966, London, Cambridge U.P. 1966, p. 87) II "Nineteenth-century British statesmen did not use the affairs of Plantagenet England as an argument in forming their policy, but the memory of Dusans Empire, kept alive by folk-tales and ballads, was an important factor in the "Eastern Question" and the "Macedonia Problem" (ibidem). // "Urosh III who was murdered by his son Stefan Dushan was regarded as a saint although he had revolted against his own father, murdered his own brother and sought to murder his own son" (Temperley, op. cit., p. 63-64) II "Czar Stefan was named "Dushan" because he strangled his father, but his name is interpreted as victorious, (K. Jirecek, Geschichte derSerben, p. 365-366). II Plusieurs de leurs rois ont ete eleves au rang des saints de cette eglise sans lavoir toujours merite par leur conduite"  "In this Church, several of their kings were elevated to the rank of saints without always deserving it through their conduct" (A. Boue, La Turquie dEurope, II p. 65). II "Historically, Marko Kraljevich is a petty Serbian chieftain who served under the Turks against his Christian brethern when it paid him to do so... but popular imagination had attached to him the attributes of the ancient war-God" (Durham, Some Tribal . . . p. 108). 

57. The important role of the Albanians in this battle is attested by Greek and Turkish sources: Hierax, Chronique sur lEmpire des Turcs, Sathas, Bibliotheca Graeca, I, p. 247. See also S. Pulaha, The Albano-Turkish War in Ottoman sources (in Albanian), Tirana, 1968 and Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, knj. 4, Zagreb, 1960, p. 467. 

58. At the turn of the century, an attempt was made by the Serbian intelligentzia to deny the betrayal (see A. Arnautovic, La poesie kossovienne, Paris (pamphlet, reprint from Revue You goslave, 1919). 

59. .... . This victory of Islam was to no small degree due to the Servian troops fighting on the Turkish side. The Servians recovered Belgrade, but in the long run this gain hardly compensated them for the disaster which they prepared by strengthening the Ottoman Empire," (C.N. E. Eliot, Turkey in Europe, 1965 ed. p. 41). 

60. Dragutin, Kostic, "Milos Kopilic  Kobilic  Obilic," Revue Internationale des etudes balkaniques, 1935, I, pp. 232-254. According to Kostic, the absence of the heros name from Serbian docments may be attributed to the chroniclers habit of mentioning merely names of well-known nobles. Evidently, Milos did not come from a prominent family. 
The Balkan word Kopil (non-Slavic) is considered by F. Miklosic (Etym Worterb. d. Slav. Spr.) and by Skok (Juznoslav Fil XII p. 142) as being of Albanian origin. In Albanian it also has the meaning of smart, skilled. Kostic has indicated two localities by that name. 
Surprisingly, Kostic attributes also to the first name of the hero an Illyro-Albanian ongin. Duje Rendic-Miosevic has shown clear evidence that some old Croatian names have an Illyrian origin: e.g. Licca, Pleto (Illyr. = Liccavus, Pletor), among many others (see D. Rendk-Miocevic, "Prilog proucavanju nase ranosredovjecne onomastike," Starohrvatska pros vj eta, ser. III, 1949, 1, pp.9-21). Considering that the Illyrians inhabited the Dalmatian coast before the coming of the Slavs, this fact might seem perfectly normalthe very name of Dalmatia is of Illyrian origin. But to attribute to Milos, which has eventually become so popular a name among the Slavs seems curious. Yet Kostic remarks that the name does not appear in Serbian documents before the 13th century and even then is not used by people of high rank. Kostic argues that Milos may be the Slavized form of the Albanian mir and osh. Kostic links the suffix osh (and ush) to Albanian. He points out that it is added to adjectives; thus bardb-bardbosh; kuq-kuqalosh; vogel-voglush, voglosh. The suffix is also used with names; thus Belush, Tanush, Mirush, etc. 
Obilics hypersensitiveness to suspicions expressed by others as to his word of honor (besa), also reveals, in Kostics opinion, his Albanian origin. Finally, Kosticc refers to Elezovic who has pointed out the cult professed by the Albanians for Obilic. 
According to Prof. S. Skendi (Balkan Cultural Studies, East European Monographs, Boulder, dif. Columbia Univ., 1980, p. 147, no. 13), M. Budimir has expressed a similar opinion in "Digenis und Marko Kraljevic," Extrait des Actes de 4e Congres international des etudes byzantines (Bul. de lirist. archeol. bulgare, tome 10, 1936, Sofia, 1936, p. 17.  I have not been able to consult this study.). 

61. "Samtliche im Bereiche dieser Bache liegenden Dorfer wurden uns als rein Albanesisch bezeichnet. Da nun auch die Dorfer des Sitniza Thales um die Mundung des Lab grossten Teils albanesisch sind, und in der Metohija Ebene die albanesische Bevolkerung die serbische uberwiegen soll, so durfte sich hochst wahrscheinlich eine ununterbrochene, reine albanesische Verbindungslinie zwischen Dardanien und Albanien durch das Gebiet der Dreniza herstellen lassen" (Reise von Belgrad nach Salonik, Kais Akad, d. Wissenschaft, Phil. hist. Classe. Denksch. Bd. 1111 Wien 1861 p. 55). 

62. "Les Serbes nont fait que disloquer les anciens Illyriens dont les descendants sont les Albanais actuels.""... les Albanais ne sont que les restes des anciens Illyriens auxquels les Slaves ont pris tant de pays et quils ont accules ca et Ia dans les montagnes eleves.""... ils ne faut jamais perdre de vue que les Albanais sont les restes dune population qui occupait une bonne partie des pays slaves de Ia Turquie surtout occidentale avant larrivee des Slaves du midi Recueji dItineraies 1854 I p. 205-206 II 332.

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## King Bardhyl

> [B]K O S O V A 
> The Albanians in Yugoslavia in light of historical documents 
> By Dr. S.S. Juka edited in New York in 1984 *FAKTET E ARGUMENTUARA NGA HISTORIAN TONE DHE TE HUAJ*
> 
> 1. The initiators of the Illyrian movement were G. Krizanic (1618-1683) and P. Ritter Vitesovic (1652-17 13). The latter identified the ancient Illyrians with the Slays and wanted to create Croatia rediviva, Croatia resuscitated, which was to comprise territories once inhabited by the Illyrians. But he acted in the interest of Austria who, following her victory over the Turks in 1699, had claims over the Balkans. Illyrism was revived in the 19th century by L. Gaj, 1809-1872 (see E.M. Despalatovi~,Ljudevit Gaj and the Illyrian Movement, East European Monographs, Boulder, 1975, dif. Columbia U.P.). In 1935 the 100th anniversary of "lIlyrism" was celebrated (see M. Radojkovic, [and others] "Le centenaire de lIllyrisme," Le Monde Slave,June, 1935, pp. 32 1-457 and F. Sisic, "Genese et caractere general du mouvement illyrien," Le Monde Slave, Feb. 1936, pp. 266-288). 
> 
> P. Ritter-Vitezovic was not the first to identify the Slavs with the Illyrians; this had already been the opinion of L. Chalkokondylis. 
> 
> Although Emperor Ferdinand prohibited, in 1843, the use of the terms "Illyrism" and "Illyria," these continued, nonetheless, to be employed. 
> ...


 mitrovicalia_81 ka bere shume mire qe ka postuar keto futnote nga artikulli i mrekullueshem i zonjes Juka. Problemi eshte se mungojne futnote nga 63 deri ne 123. Ju lutem, dikush ti gjeje dhe ti postoje ketu sepse une nuk po arrij qe ti gjej.

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