Page 476 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

Mirčeta Vemić
The map of the Balkans, mid–15th century, National Library of France, Paris
south-western Serbia, south-eastern Montenegro and northern albania, where general ambivalence of these two people can be seen, with very few mixed areas. although the map was simplified drawn with hatches, it clearly shows the full extent of the old Serbian type of names in Old Serbia, that is, in Kosovo and Metohija, except for slight mixed population near Djakovica within Serbia, but also across the border in old altin area within present- day albania. a similar situation existed on the territory of today’s Montenegro, except for a small mixing of names around Lake Scutari.
Synthesizing the data for seven consecutive Ottoman defterleri dating for a hundred and twenty years, from 1452 to 1574, Pešikan gave a very comprehensive and com- plex map “The Kosovo personal names of the 15th–16th century,” which presents all the settlements of that time in Kosovo and Metohija. The settlements are divided into two categories: settlements with the Serbian type of names and the albanian type of names. On this much more con- crete map of Pešikan, in terms of ethnic affiliation of set-
tlements, the majority of the Serbian settlements is visi- ble with partial mix with the albanian ones only near Djakovica, in a slightly higher percentage than on the pre- vious map, which shows some settling of albanians from albania and their gradual penetration in Metohija, which will be in the following centuries gradually increased. Namely, by the Ottoman conquest of Kosovo and Meto- hija, the permanent settlements were damaged most, which was established by the 1455 census analysis of M. Macura, who found that there were 32 destroyed villages probably during the Battle of Kosovo, then 42 deserted villages, from which the people were exterminated or fled, that is, of a total of 599 villages recorded, 74 or 12% were unfit for human habitation. in addition to the above not- ed even 142 dwarf (up to 5 houses) and small villages (6–10 houses) were recorded, indicating that the whole structure of the villages was damaged by the Ottoman oc- cupation (Macura, 2001).
in this ethno-demographic situation, where they lived mixed—majority Serbian Christian population to minor-
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