Kosovo Province, Ottoman Empire
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| History of Kosovo |
|---|
| Early history (before 850) |
| Prehistoric Balkans |
| Moesia (AD 6 to 850) |
| Middle Ages (850 to 1455) |
| First Bulgarian Empire (850 to 1180) |
| Medieval Serbia |
| Battle of Kosovo |
| Ottoman Kosovo (1455 to 1912) |
| Eyalet of Rumelia |
| Vilayet of Kosovo |
| Albanian nationalism |
| 20th century |
| First Balkan War |
| Kosovo in the Kingdoms of Serbia and SHS/Yugoslavia |
| AP Kosovo and Metohija (1946 to 1974) |
| SAP Kosovo (1974 to 1990) |
| Kosovo War (1996 to 1999) |
| UN administration (since 1999) |
| Kosovo (since February 17, 2008) |
The Province of Kosovo (Vilayet of Kosovo) (Serbian: Косовски вилајет, Kosovski vilajet; Albanian: Vilajeti i Kosovës; Turkish: Kosova Vilayeti; Macedonian: Покраина на Косово, Pokraina na Kosovo) was a vilayet of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkan Peninsula only roughly corresponding to the current region of Kosovo. It was created from the former Rumelia Province as part of an Ottoman administrative reform law of 1864. As a result of the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, the province was split between Montenegro, Serbia, and Albania.
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[edit] Name
The name Kosovo was used for the first time in this form for Kosovo Field, in which there were two to three main cities.[1]. This area was part of Rumelia and it was a geographical name after the Battle of Kosovo. In 1912 the name Kosovo had been extended to mean the area of today's Kosovo and the Sandjak of Novi Pazar, Sandjak of Niš and some parts of Greater Dibra.
At the time, Kosovo was often spelled with a double "s" (Kossovo) in English so as to render the sound clearly to English speakers as /s/ rather than /z/. Since first forming a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, followed by the three incarnations of Yugoslavia and now under UN administration whilst within Serbia's borders, the common English spelling has been a transliteration of the Serbian Cyrillic /Косово/, ie. with a single "s." The traditional name in both Albanian and Turkish is Kosova.[2]
[edit] History
The Province of Kosovo was an area much larger than today's Kosovo; not only was today's province incorporated into the Ottoman administered district, but also parts of north-western Macedonia including the capital city, Skopje (then Üsküb). Just as Skopje is larger than Priština today (Kosovo's administrative seat), it was significantly larger then too, although the population in both towns was several times smaller. Skopje was the provincial capital of Kosovo Province as a Turkish vilayet. Kosovo also encompassed sections of the Sandžak region cutting into present-day Central Serbia and Montenegro along with the Kukës municipality and surrounding region in present-day northern Albania.
The province's boundaries shifted as a the Ottoman Empire lost territory to neighboring states in the Treaty of Berlin following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 and parts were also internally transferred to Monastir Province and from Salonica Province. In 1878, the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, a subdivision of the Province of Kosovo, fell under Austro-Hungarian military occupation in accord with the Berlin treaty. There it would remain until 1908.
[edit] Population
The population of the province had a mixed Serb and Albanian population, with the latter becoming strong majority in the later stage of existence[citation needed]. Most were adherents of Islam, with significance presence of Eastern Orthodoxy and some Roman Catholicism.
[edit] Subdivisions
The province was subdivided into the following sanjaks (Albanian town names in italics):
- Üsküb (Skopje) including the towns of Skopje, Kumanovo ; Kačanik (Kaçanik); Štip; Kratovo; and Kočani.
- Prizren including the towns of Prizren (Pirzerin) and Tetovo (Kalkandelen) (Albanian: Tetovë).
- İpek (Peć) including the towns of Peć (İpek), (Albanian: Pejë); Ðakovica (Yakova) (Albanian: Gjakovë); Gusinje, Berane, and Trgovište.
- Priştine (Priština) including the towns of Priština (Priştine), (Albanian: Prishtinë ); Kosovska Mitrovica *(Mitroviça) (Albanian: Mitrovicë ); Vučitrn (Velçetrin) (Albanian: Vushtrri), Gnjilane (Gjilan), and Preševo (Preşova) (Albanian: Preshevë).
- Yenipazar (Novi Pazar) including the towns of Novi Pazar, Sjenica (Seniçe), Kolašin (Kolaşin), Nova Varoš (Yeni Varoş) , and Prijepolje (Akova).
[edit] Governors
List of the governors of the province:
- . until 1893 : Ibrahim Edem Pasha
- 1894-1899 : Hafiz Mehmed Pasha
- 1900-1902 : Reshad Bey Pasha
- 1903-1904 : Shakir Pasha Numan
- 1905-1907 : Mehmed Shefket Pasha
- .. . . . 1908 : Hadi Pasha
- 1909-1910 : Mazhar Bey Pasha
- .. . . . 1911 : Halil Bey Pasha
- .. . . . 1912 : Ghalib Pasha
[edit] References
- ^ Robert Elsie : nga udhëpërshkrimi (Sejahatnameja) i Evlija Çelebiut from original Book 5, Bagdat 307, foliot 167a-169a, Evlija Çeleb.
- ^ The 1911 edition Encyclopaedia - Love to Know
[edit] Literature
- Sûreti defter-i sancak-i Arvanid, H. Inalcik, Ankara 1954. (Turkish)
- Sûreti defter-i esami vilayeti Dibra, f. 124-176, Başbakanlık Arşivi, maliyeden müdever, nr.508. (Turkish)
- Regjistri turk i vitit 1485* - Prof. As. Dr. David Luka (Albanian)
- A.F. Gilferding, Putovanje po Hercegovini, Bosni i Staroj Srbiji, Sarajevo, 1972, 241-245 (Serbian)
