The name Kosovo (as referred to in this spelling) is the most frequently used form in English when discussing the region in question. The Albanian spelling Kosova has lesser currency. The alternative spellings Cossovo and Kossovo were frequently used until the early 20th century. [1]
The toponym Kosovo in contemporary times refers to entire territory of Kosovo. Kosovo originally referred to plain of Kosovo, which forms part of eastern Kosovo. Regions which are today considered parts of Kosovo include Dukagjin/Metohija, Llapusha, Llap and other areas. Kosovo was used as the name of the entire territory for the first time in 1877 when the Kosovo Vilayet was created by the Ottoman administration. [2]
There is a theory within linguistics that the name Dardania used in ancient times for the area of Kosovo is derived from the Albanian word dardhë, meaning "pear". [3] [4]
Due to its Slavic (Serbian) character, Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova supported a name change to "Dardania", in reference to the ancient kingdom and later-turned Roman province. [5] It, however, did not enter into general usage.
Kosovo (Serbian Cyrillic : Косово) is the Serbian neuter possessive adjective of kos (кос), meaning "blackbird"; -ovo being an adjectival suffix – it is short for the region named the "field of the blackbird" (Serbian : Kosovo polje), the Kosovo Field, the site of the 1389 battle between a coalition led by Serbian Prince Lazar and the Ottoman army, which resulted in depletion of Serbian available manpower in future campaigns. [6] The name Kosovo Kos- is found in hundreds of Slavic locations. [7] The cognate of Proto-Slavic kosь is Ancient Greek κόσσυφος. [8] [7]
Linguistic and historical research have shown that the medieval Serb state expanded into the region during the twelfth century. [9] [10] [11] Many toponyms in Kosovo appear to be South Slavic. [11] The name Kosovo appears in Bulgaria as Kosovo, Plovdiv Province.
Kosovo was part of the Ottoman state for 457 years.
Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi, who went to the area in 1660 referred to central Kosovo as Arnavud (آرناوود) and noted that in Vučitrn its inhabitants were speakers of Albanian or Turkish and few spoke "Boşnakca". [12] The highlands around the Tetovo, Peja and Prizren areas Çelebi considered as being the "mountains of Arnavudluk". [12] Çelebi referred to the "mountains of Peja" as being in Arnavudluk and considered the Ibar river that converged in Mitrovica as forming Kosovo's border with Bosnia. [12] He viewed the "Kılab" or Llapi river as having its source in Arnavudluk and by extension the Sitnica as being part of that river. [12] Çelebi also included the central mountains of Kosovo within Arnavudluk. [12]
During Ottoman rule the area of Kosovo was referred to as Arnavudluk (آرناوودلق) meaning Albania by the empire in its documents such as those dating from the eighteenth century. [13] [14] [15]
In the late Ottoman period Albanians claimed the sancaks of Yeni Pazar (Novi Pazar), Ipek (Peja), Prizren, Priștine (Pristina) and Üsküp (Skopje) which were all within Kosovo Vilayet as forming part of Gegalık or Land of the Gegs, a term named after Gheg Albanians who inhabited the area. [16]
The name "Kosovo and Metohija" was used for the autonomous province in Yugoslav Serbia since its creation in 1945 until 1968, when the term "Metohija" was dropped. [17] [18] In 1990, the name was reversed to "Kosovo and Metohija". After the Kosovo War, the United Nations mission used only "Kosovo" as the name of the province.
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a country in Southeast Europe with partial diplomatic recognition. Kosovo lies landlocked in the centre of the Balkans, bordered by Serbia to the north and east, North Macedonia to the southeast, Albania to the southwest, and Montenegro to the west. Most of central Kosovo sits on the plains of Metohija and the Kosovo field. The Accursed Mountains and Šar Mountains rise in the southwest and southeast, respectively. Kosovo's capital and largest city is Pristina.
This article includes information on the demographic history of Kosovo.
Peja is the fourth most populous city in Kosovo and serves as the seat of the Peja Municipality and the District of Peja. It is located in the Rugova region on the eastern section of the Accursed Mountains along the Lumbardhi i Pejës River in the western part of Kosovo.
Prizren is the second most populous city and municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and district. It is located on the banks of the Prizren River between the foothills of the Sharr Mountains in southern Kosovo. Prizren experiences an oceanic climate under the influence of the surrounding mountains.
The League of Prizren, officially the League for the Defense of the Rights of the Albanian Nation, was an Albanian political organization that was officially founded on June 10, 1878 in the old town of Prizren in the Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. It was suppressed in April 1881.
The Dardani or Dardanians were a Paleo-Balkan people, who lived in a region that was named Dardania after their settlement there. They were among the oldest Balkan peoples, and their society was very complex. The Dardani were the most stable and conservative ethnic element among the peoples of the central Balkans, retaining an enduring presence in the region for several centuries.
Metohija or Dukagjin is a large basin and the name of the region covering the southwestern part of Kosovo. The region covers 35% (3,891 km2) of Kosovo's total area. According to the 2011 census, the population of the region is 700,577.
The history of Kosovo dates back to pre-historic times when the Starčevo culture, Vinča culture, Bubanj-Hum culture, and Baden culture were active in the region. Since then, many archaeological sites have been discovered due to the abundance of natural resources which gave way to the development of life.
The Vilayet of Kosovo was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkan Peninsula which included the modern-day territory of Kosovo and the north-western part of the Republic of North Macedonia. The areas today comprising Sandžak (Raška) region of Serbia and Montenegro, although de jure under Ottoman control, were de facto under Austro-Hungarian occupation from 1878 until 1909, as provided under Article 25 of the Treaty of Berlin. Üsküb (Skopje) functioned as the capital of the province and the midway point between Istanbul and its European provinces. Üsküb's population of 32,000 made it the largest city in the province, followed by Prizren, also numbering at 30,000.
Muhaxhir and Muhaxher are Ottoman Albanian communities that left their homes as refugees or were transferred, from Greece, Serbia and Montenegro to Albania, Kosovo and to a lesser extent North Macedonia during and following various wars.
The Albanians of Kosovo, also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo.
Arnaut is a Turkish ethnonym used to denote Albanians. Arvanid (اروانيد), Arnavud (آرناوود), plural: Arnavudlar (آرناوودلر): modern Turkish: Arnavut, plural: Arnavutlar; are ethnonyms used mainly by Ottoman and contemporary Turks for Albanians with Arnavutça being called the Albanian language. Arnavudluk (آرناوودلق) was the Ottoman Turkish geographical designation of the Albanian regions, including areas such as present-day Albania, Kosovo, western North Macedonia, southern Serbia, southern Montenegro and parts of northern Greece.
This is a timeline containing events regarding the history of Kosovo.
The Kingdom of Serbia was one of the major parties in the two Balkan Wars, gaining land in both conflicts. It experienced significant territorial gains in the Central Balkans, nearly doubling its territory.
The Albanian Vilayet was a projected vilayet of the Ottoman Empire in the western Balkan Peninsula, which was to include the four Ottoman vilayets with substantial ethnic Albanian populations: Kosovo Vilayet, Scutari Vilayet, Manastir Vilayet, and Janina Vilayet. In some proposals, it included the Salonica Vilayet as well. The creation of the Vilayet was confirmed in September 1912, but negotiations were interrupted a month later in October by the beginning of the First Balkan War. Plans for an Albanian Vilayet were lost with the Partition of Albania.
The Sanjak of Prizren was one of the sanjaks in the Ottoman Empire with Prizren as its administrative centre. It was founded immediately after Ottoman Empire captured Prizren from Serbian Despotate in 1455. The rest of the territory of Serbian Despotate was conquered after the fall of Smederevo in 1459, and divided into following sanjaks: Sanjak of Viçitrina, Sanjak of Kruševac and Sanjak of Smederevo. At the beginning of the First Balkan War in 1912, the territory of Sanjak of Prizren was occupied by the army of the Kingdom of Serbia. Based on Treaty of London signed on 30 May 1913, the territory of Sanjak of Prizren became part of Serbia.
The Sanjak of İpek or Sanjak of Dukakin was a sanjak with its capital in İpek (Peja), now in Kosovo.
Suzi Çelebi of Prizren, in Turkish Prizrenli Suzi Çelebi, was an Ottoman poet and historiographer. He is remembered for his epic poem Gazavatnama Mihaloğlu which narrates the 15th-century Balkan conquests of the Ottomans, and the battles and glory of the military commander Ali Bey Mihaloğlu, being one of the most-known poetic works of the 15th century in overall.
During the Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18, after Austrian military success, Serb peasants rose up against Ottoman rule in the Sanjak of Viçitrina, and also Novi Pazar and Peja in 1717. The rebellion was brutally suppressed by Ottoman troops.
Kosovo is the birthplace of the Albanian nationalist movement which emerged as a response to the Eastern Crisis of 1878. In the immediate aftermath of the Russo-Ottoman war, the Congress of Berlin proposed partitioning Ottoman Albanian inhabited lands in the Balkans among neighbouring countries. The League of Prizren was formed by Albanians to resist those impositions. For Albanians those events have made Kosovo an important place regarding the emergence of Albanian nationalism. During the remainder of the late Ottoman period various disagreements between Albanian nationalists and the Ottoman Empire over socio-cultural rights culminated in two revolts within Kosovo and adjacent areas. The Balkan Wars (1912–13) ending with Ottoman defeat, Serbian and later Yugoslav sovereignty over the area generated an Albanian nationalism that has become distinct to Kosovo stressing Albanian language, culture, and identity within the context of secession from Serbia. Pan-Albanian sentiments are also present and historically have been achieved only once when part of Kosovo was united by Italian Axis forces to their protectorate of Albania during the Second World War.