Sredačka župa

Sredačka Župa (Serbian Cyrillic: Средачка Жупа; "county of Sredska") is a remote geographical region, a valley, in southeastern Kosovo, below the Šar Mountains at the source of the Prizrenska Bistrica.

Geography

The region, an oval basin, lies below the Šar Mountains, at the source, upper stream of the Prizrenska Bistrica ("Prizren river").[1][2] South of the region between the Prizren mountains and Koritnik mountain, lies the Gora region.[2]

It currently includes Sredska, Pousko, Jablanica, Lokvica, Rečane, Živinjane, Planjane, Nebregošte, Manastirica, Struže, Donje Ljubinje, Gornje Ljubinje, Drajčići, Mušnikovo, Gornje Selo.

History

It was a medieval župa (small administrative division) of the Serbia in the Middle Ages in modern-day southeastern Kosovo. It encompassed seven hamlets and was centered in the town of Sredska. In the early 19th century, Sredačka župa was inhabited by Serbs, and in the first decades Serbian schools were opened here.[3] During the Serbo-Turkish War (1876–78), in the Prizren surroundings there existed the bajrak (district) of Opolje, Ljubinje (Sredačka župa), Suva Reka, Ostrozub, Ljum and Gora.[4]

Between 1918 and 1945 Sredačka Župa was a municipality of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After World War II, in 1945, the Slavophone Muslims in Sredačka župa were ascribed Albanian ethnicity and names by state institutions (as was the case with Gorani and other Muslim non-Albanian speakers).[5] The region was annexed into the municipality of Prizren by the FPR Yugoslavia (1945–63). In 1953, there were 12 villages in the region, and the region was inhabited by "Serbs [...] divided into Muslims and Orthodox" in all villages except Stružje (Struže) inhabited by Albanian Muslims.[1]

Culture

Church of the Holy Virgin, Sredska.
Monuments

Demographics and anthropology

Ethnic groups in the Šar Mountain region, Kosovo, 1981 census (in Russian). Green—Bosniaks/Muslims, Yellow—Albanians, Red—Serbs.

The region is inhabited by a majority of Bosniaks and minority of Serbs (who left during and following the Kosovo War). The community was one of several groups noted having Serb origin and language in the Prizren region (Šarplaninska Gora, Sredačka župa, Prizrenski Podgor, Prizrensko Polje, Podrima) that did not submit to Albanization.[6] In 1932, it was said that in Sredačka župa, a woman could be bought for 10,000 dinars.[7]

Notable people

Annotations

It is known in historiography as Sredačka Župa (Средачка Жупа), Sredska Župa (Средска Жупа) and Sretečka Župa[8] meaning "county of Sredska")

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mitar S. Vlahović (1953). Zbornik Etnografskog muzeja u Beogradu. Naučna knjiga. pp. 90–100.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Narodna privreda u prisajedinjenim oblastima: izveštaji komisija ministrstva narodne privede. Izd. ministarstva narodne privrede. 1914. p. 190.
  3. ↑ Zbornik za historiju školstva i prosvjete. 13-15. Hrvatski školski muzej. 1980. p. 110.
  4. ↑ Glasnik Srbskog učenog društva 43. u Državnoj štampariji. 1876. p. 32. У призренском окружију броје се сљедећи барјаци: опољски, љубински (средска жупа), сухоречки, острозубски, љумски, горански и др. Села опољске жупе расположена су на огранцима Шарпланине са севера.
  5. ↑ Dve domovini: razprave o izseljenstvu (27). Inštitut za slovensko izseljenstvo. 2008. p. 75.
  6. ↑ Srboljub Đ Stamenković (2001). Географска енциклопедиjа насеља Србиjе: М-Р. Универзитет у Београду. Географски факултет. p. 325. ISBN 978-86-82657-15-6.
  7. ↑ Bogdan Popović; Jovan Skerlić (1932). Srpski književni glasnik. ... на пример у Средачкој Жупи под највишим венцем Шар-Пла- нине, и данас се девојка плаћа до 10.000 динара (Митар С. Влаховић, Средачка Жупа). У старом јужнословенском дру- штву девојачка смерност и честитост биле су, ...
  8. ↑ Mitar S. Vlahović (1953). Zbornik Etnografskog muzeja u Beogradu. Naučna knjiga. pp. 92–100.

Sources

Further reading