Ottoman period in the history of Albania
Gong K.F. Albanian warrior. Krasnodar Regional Art Museum
We have already talked about Albania in an article dedicated to the life and exploits of the great Skanderbeg (Georgy Kastrioti), who managed to inflict a number of defeats on the Ottomans and died undefeated. Today we will continue talking about this country and see what happened to it after the death of the hero.
Pre-Ottoman period of Albanian history
The Illyrians lived on the territory of modern Albania for a long time (from the 90th-168th centuries BC), and the modern international name of this country has an Illyrian origin: from the word olba - "village", it was first found in the works of Ptolemy (Alexandria, XNUMX C.E.). The modern Albanian language is not similar to any of the European ones, it is believed that it originates from the now defunct Illyrian, transformed under the influence of Greek, Latin, Romance, Turkish and Slavic languages. The Albanians themselves call their country Shqipër (and themselves - "shiptar", shqipёtar): according to the most reliable and justified version, this name comes from a verb meaning "to speak clearly." That is, shqipёtar are people who speak to each other in a language they understand (according to the same principle, the self-name "Slovene" appeared). But there is another version, according to which this name comes from the word shqipe - "eagle". This much more dubious version flatters the pride of modern Albanians, who often call their homeland "the Land of the Eagles". But the Albanians living in Italy and Greece often use the name Arbëri (Arberia) in relation to the homeland of their ancestors - this name is older than Shqipër.
From 229 BC e. The Illyrians were constantly at war with the Romans. Finally, in 167 BC. e. these lands were annexed to Rome, becoming part of the province of Dalmatia.
After the Roman conquest, the local population underwent Romanization, which practically did not affect the highlanders. Mountainous Albania retained a patriarchal way of life even in the XIV century of the new era. The anonymous traveler describes it as follows:
This country is rich in meat, cheese, milk, but not rich in bread and wines, but the nobility has all this in abundance; there are no cities, fortresses, settlements, fortified places or villages, but they live in huts and move from one place to another with their whole family.
Quite different orders were in the cities of the Adriatic coast Lezha, Durres, Vlora and in Shkodra, located on the lake of the same name, connected to the sea by the Buna River: they were active in trade and were famous for their artisans. The cities of Berat, Kruja and Gjirokastra, located in the interior regions of the country, were also developed.
It is known that 7 emperors of Rome were of Illyrian origin, the most famous of them is Diocletian, who, "having retired", spent the rest of his life in his homeland - near the city of Salona (his palace can now be seen in the city of Split). In the future, the Albanian lands survived the invasions of the Visigoths, Huns, Ostrogoths, as well as the Turanik-Bulgarian tribes, and in the 1271th century AD. e. Slavic tribes began to settle in this territory. In 1333, a part of Albania with the center in the city of Durres came under the rule of the crusaders. But almost all the lands of this kingdom, created by Charles I of Anjou, were conquered by other crusaders in 1368 - from the Achaean principality (only the city of Durres held out until 1336), and already in XNUMX this territory was occupied by the Serbs.
Among the Albanian feudal lords of that time, two clans stood out: Topia, whose possessions were located in the south, and Balsha, who owned lands to the north and east of Shkodra. The first Albanian ruler of these lands was Karl Topia, who twice (in 1362-1382 and 1385-1388) managed to gain a foothold in those places (in 1368 he captured Durres) and even received from Pope Gregory XI the title of “great count Albania ". He was Albanian on his father's side (a certain Tanush from the Topia clan later became an associate of the famous Skanderbeg and commanded the Albanian infantry during the second Ottoman siege of the Kruja fortress), and on his mother's side, Karl was descended from the Neapolitan king Roberto of the Angevin dynasty.
Karl Topia by Kostandin Shpataraku, Ardenica Monastery, XNUMXth century
Since 1381, a struggle began in Albania between the clans of Topia and Balsha, in which the former relied on the Ottomans, and the latter on Venice.
On September 15, 1385, in the battle on the Savra plain, Karl Topia, with the help of the Turks, defeated the army of Balsha (the head of this clan died in battle). But three years later, Karl also died, after which the possessions of both princes began to disintegrate into smaller ones. Among the ascended clans was the Kastrioti family, one of whose members was the famous enemy of the Ottomans - George: he was described in the article Albanian warrior and commander Skanderbeg.
Georgy Skanderbeg, portrait from the work of Chalkondil of Athens "History the collapse of the Greek Empire, as well as the creation of the Turkish one ”, illustrated translation by V. de Vigenère Bourbonnois, 1632. Hellenic Library of A. Onassis Foundation
Albania after Skanderbeg
As you remember from the article mentioned above Albanian warrior and commander Skanderbeg, under the leadership of Georgy Kastrioti, Christian Albania for a long time successfully resisted the Ottomans' offensive, repeatedly defeating the armies of the sultans Murad II and Mehmed II Fatih (the Conqueror). Only in 1478, 10 years after the death of Skanderbeg, Kruja fell - the last stronghold of the Albanian resistance. The Turkish army was then led by two renegades: the Albanian Koca Daud Pasha and “either Greek, or Serb, or Albanian” Gedik Ahmed Pasha.
The Islamization of Albania turned out to be very successful - largely because these mountaineers did not attach much importance to the issues of religion. The attitude of the Albanians to religion can be judged by the catch phrase of Gyon Kastrioti, the father of Skanderbeg:
Ku është shpata, është feja! ("Where the saber is, there is faith!")
This phrase should be interpreted as follows: an Albanian in the Ottoman service must go to a mosque, and if he is hired by the Venetians or other Christians, then to the church.
In some Albanian communities, a dual faith persisted: on Fridays, all residents went to the mosque, and on Sundays, to church.
The Albanians of Kosovo and Metohija were the most devoted to Islam. In Kosovo and in the interior mountainous regions, the Sufi order of the Bektashi, the patrons of the Janissaries, had a great influence. On the Adriatic coast of Albania, which had close ties with Venice, many Catholics remained. And in the Greek region of Epirus, many Albanians belonged to the Orthodox Church. In modern Albania, the vast majority of citizens are Sunni Muslims.
The Ottoman authorities highly appreciated the fighting qualities of the warlike Albanians, many of whom made good careers in the Turkish army.
Auguste de Choiseul-Gufier. "Albanian soldiers", 1782
Moreover, in the middle of the 6th century, XNUMX viziers of the Ottoman Empire belonged to the Keprel Albanian clan, this century was even called the "Era of Albanian Viziers". The immigrants from Albania had a great influence in semi-independent Iraq, in which members of one of the Albanian clans traditionally became governors, forming their own dynasty of rulers of Baghdad.
Arnaut mercenaries served in the guards of the Egyptian Pasha, one of them (in full dress) can be seen in Jean-Léon Jerome's painting Arnaut with two whippets (whippet is a small English greyhound), painted in 1867:
Albania was divided into two principalities. The northern one, centered in the city of Shkoder, was ruled by representatives of the Bushati clan.
And the most successful and famous ruler of the southern principality, which also included some Greek lands (northern Epirus), was Ali Pasha Tepelensky and Yaninsky, nicknamed "Yaninsky lion".
And this is how he appears before us in the painting by Louis Despres:
Ali Pasha in the painting "Ali Pasha of Janina Hunting on Lake Butrinto" by Louis Dupre (detail)
A. Dumas included the romanticized story about him in the novel "The Count of Monte Cristo". This French writer remained true to himself, distorting everything and declaring "black is white, and white is black": the fictional daughter of Ali Pasha and the Greek woman Vasilica Gaide tells about the last siege of Ioannina and the betrayal of the French officer Fernand Mondego - the very one that once took a denunciation of Dantes to the prosecutor. French officers were indeed in the service of Ali Pasha, some researchers believe that one of them could have opened the gates of the fortress (others, however, believe that Vasilika herself did it). Thus, Dumas denigrated his unknown compatriot, thanks to whom the surrounding lands were spared from the robber, in turn, declared by the writer to be almost a model of nobility. But this novelist is no stranger, such "quirks" are found in almost every novel.
We remember that the Albanians were used by the Turks to suppress the Moray uprising in 1770. I must say that the Albanians then overdid it, shocking even the Ottomans with their atrocities. It was not even a matter of the humanity of the Turkish rulers, but the fact that they wanted to restore order in Morea and start paying taxes, and not the total destruction of the entire population of this province. In 1779, the Ottomans were forced to send an army to Morea, which defeated the overly zealous "helpers". To make it "clearer" for the Albanians, the Turks after the victory built a mound of several thousand severed heads. But already in 1785, the semi-independent prince of Northern Albania Kara Mahmud Bushati attacked Montenegro, where he even managed to capture Cetinje. New campaigns of Turkish troops against the "disobedient" Albanians ended with the defeat of their army in 1787 and defeat in 1793.
Kara Mahmoud Bushati, portrait by an unknown artist
The Ottomans were forced to make a "good face with a bad game" and "forgive" Mahmud, who, on the courage, invaded Kosovo in 1795, and the next - repeated the campaign against Montenegro. But here luck betrayed this "prince-robber": in alliance with the Brdyans, the Montenegrins defeated his troops, the "Black Mahmud" himself was captured and beheaded. They say that his head was cut off personally by Metropolitan Peter I Petrovic-Njegosh - these were the metropolitans in Montenegro at that time.
Peter I Petrovich-Njegosh, aka Saint Peter of Cetinsky
And the ordinary priests, judging by the illustration below, were also great fellows:
Montenegrin priest, illustration from the book of Stenin P.A. "East: Countries of the Cross and Crescent and their inhabitants." SPb., 1892
After these events, Montenegro actually became an independent state from the Port, but this status was officially approved only in 1878.
Arnauts
The sub-ethnic group of Albanians was the "Arnaut" - as the Turks originally called all Albanians. In the Balkans, the word "arnaut" has become synonymous with mercenaries, in Serbian and Croatian languages it means "cruel", "evil". Vladimir Dal in his dictionary gives the following definition to this word: “a monster, a brutal man, a basurman”.
The Arnauts differed from the inhabitants of Albania in that they professed Orthodoxy and lived in Greece (here they were called Arnavites), Macedonia and Serbia. The Albanians who left their homeland themselves often called the words "tanté" or "nele" - something like "ours" or "ours."
Pavle (Paya) Jovanovitch. "Arnaut"
On the map below, the places of settlement of the Arnouts in the Peloponnese are marked in red:
It is curious that it was the Arnauts who decided to recruit Byron, who arrived in Greece at the end of 1823, to his detachment, promising them a salary of 20 piastres a month.
Part of the Albanian Christians left the borders of the Ottoman Empire. Some of them moved to Italy, which was very close - on the opposite shore of the Adriatic Sea.
The Russian magazine "Around the World" in 1865 gave the following description of the Arnauts who moved to Italy:
Arnauts or Albanians living in the Abruzzo mountains (part of the Apennines), Calabria and Basilicata, partly by the sea coast, and partly in the harsh mountains, are distinguished by a strong physique, pleasant facial features, large, fiery, dark eyes, yellow-brown skin and black, very curly hair. They are mostly engaged in agriculture or in the delivery of various goods. They belong to the Greek Church and have their own white clergy priests. Arnauts differ from Italians especially in neatness and dexterity ... All arnauts ... are in exactly the same relations as in the East, which is especially striking in Italy: Albanians are no more than servants. They are more beautiful than real Italians, but just as unenlightened. Poor Albanians have to cultivate the field, spin and perform various difficult jobs.
Albanians in national dress, 1904
Some Arnauts ended up in Novorossiya - along with other Balkan settlers - Greeks, Serbs, Macedonians, Bulgarians.
The Arnauts settled in Odessa thanks to the favorite of Catherine II, Platon Zubov, who in 1791 ordered Joseph de Ribas to build for the Greeks and Arnauts “for the first time, stone houses with small shops, according to the Asian custom of two varieties. The first - 3, each at a cost of 1500 rubles, and the second - 50, at a cost of 350 rubles.
Gustav-Theodor Pauli. Greek and Arnaut. Drawing from the book "Ethnographic Description of the Peoples of Russia", St. Petersburg, 1862
Arnauts from Western Macedonia originally settled in the Arnautskaya Sloboda of Odessa (another place of their settlement was the village of Arnautovka, which is now called Aleksandrovka and is located on the banks of the Sukhoi estuary). According to one of the versions, the name Arnautskie streets of Odessa was named after the height of its inhabitants. Tall sailors allegedly lived on Bolshaya Arnautskaya, cavalrymen were distinguished by their short stature on Malaya Arnautskaya.
It was on Malaya Arnautskaya Street, according to Ostap Bender, that "all the smuggling was done." One of the authors of the novel “The Twelve Chairs”, Ilya Ilf, who is well acquainted with local realities, lived here in house number 9. The famous Soviet weightlifter V. Zhabotinsky and composer I. Shaferan were also born on this street. On Bolshaya Arnautskaya Street there was a school where grandmaster Efim Geller and composer Oskar Feltsman studied.
School building number 101, a former gymnasium, on Bolshaya Arnautskaya Street in Odessa
In Greece, the majority of Arnouts became Hellenized, in other areas they retained their identity or began to consider themselves Albanians.
Ottoman regiments were also called Arnauts, in which there were no Albanians proper - Bulgarian and Wallachian. Some of these "arnauts" passed to the Russian army of Suvorov near Rymnik and Fokshany. Moreover, the Russian army at the beginning of the XNUMXth century also had its own arnauts - irregular troops recruited from the inhabitants of Moldavia and Wallachia.
Arnaut of the Russian army and the Black Sea Cossack
Some arnouts ended up in the United States.
The Ottomans also encouraged the resettlement of Muslim Albanians to the Serbian regions of Kosovo and Metohija.
Albania on the eve of gaining independence
In the second half of the 1878th century, the Albanians began to claim the creation of their autonomy on the territory of the Ottoman Empire, and they considered many lands that originally belonged to the Serbs, Montenegrins and Macedonians as their own. In the spring of XNUMX, the Albanian Yana Committee, advocating the creation of such autonomy, was created in Constantinople. This summer, as part of the work of the so-called Prizren League, the following mission statement was made:
The goal of our League is not to accept and stay at a distance from any authority other than the Port, and to fight weapons in hands for the protection of the entire territory. Our main goal is to preserve the royal rights of his inviolable majesty the Sultan, our master. Therefore, all those who oppose this and interfere with the world, those who seek to weaken the authority of the authorities, those who help this, will be viewed as enemies of the nation and homeland ...
We will protect our lives, wealth and honor on the basis of the high religious law of Sharia ... If Serbia does not peacefully leave the powerlessly occupied territories, then we will send bashi-bazouks (hackingjilers) against it and will try to occupy those territories to the end, and in that in the same vein we will act against Montenegro ...
Based on this word, we, the representatives of the invincible heroes of Northern Albania, Epirus and Bosnia, those heroes who since birth do not know any other game than weapons, and who are ready to give their blood for the Kingdom, for the nation and for the homeland.
We will protect our lives, wealth and honor on the basis of the high religious law of Sharia ... If Serbia does not peacefully leave the powerlessly occupied territories, then we will send bashi-bazouks (hackingjilers) against it and will try to occupy those territories to the end, and in that in the same vein we will act against Montenegro ...
Based on this word, we, the representatives of the invincible heroes of Northern Albania, Epirus and Bosnia, those heroes who since birth do not know any other game than weapons, and who are ready to give their blood for the Kingdom, for the nation and for the homeland.
Bashibuzuki
However, the Albanians were not allowed to create even an autonomous principality at that time.
In the following articles, we will talk about the emergence of the independent state of the Albanians and the history of this country in the XX and XXI centuries.
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