Luma (region)

Albanian bayraks as of 1918 from Franz Seiner. Luma listed as Ljuma in section 37. Name does not appear on the map sections, but on the legend.
Women from the region of Lumë dancing in a folk festival, with regional traditional clothing

Lumë (definite Albanian form: Luma) is a region that extends itself in northeastern Albania and southwest Kosovo whose territory is synonymous with the historic Albanian tribe of the same name.[1] It includes the village with the same name, Lumë, which is located in Albania. Luma is surrounded by Has region in the north and northwest, Fan and Orosh, Reçi and M’Ujë e m’Uja in the south, Upper Reka, Gora and Opoja in the east, and Vërrini of Prizren in the north.[2]

Only a small portion of the region, half of historic Tërthorë bajrak (tribal banner), is situated within the borders of Kosovo[a], from Prizren city to the border between Kosovo and Albania. During the Balkan wars, Bozidar Jankovic, the general of the invading Serbian army, ordered his army to commit massacres of the Albanians of Luma resulting in entire villages being burned down with the inhabitants being burned alive or slaughtered.

History

The region is documented first in the 16th century (1571 -1591), as a nahiye of the Sanjak of İpek, whereas in the 17th century it is mentioned by Frang Bardhi as the most eastern frontier of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sapë.[2]

It is thought that before the 18th century the timar system was replaced by the self-governing system of bajrak.[3] Luma has had 7 bajraks:[2]

  1. Bajrak of Rrafsha (the bajraktar was centered in Bicaj),
  2. Bajrak of Tejdrina (the bajraktar was centered in Ujmisht and then in Domaj),
  3. Bajrak of Qafa (the bajraktar was centered in Bushtricë),
  4. Bajrak of Kalisi (the bajraktar was centered in Zallë-Kalis),
  5. Bajrak of Radomira (the bajraktar was centered in Tejs),
  6. Bajrak of Çaja (the bajraktar was centered in Fshat),
  7. Bajrak of Topojan (the bajraktar was centered in Brekijë).

The last organization of these bajraks was done in 1912 in the battle of Qafa e Kolesjanit, against the Serbian army.[2]

Massacres committed by the Serbian army during 1912

Leo Freundlich, an Austrian correspondent who was in Luma at the time, reported that General Jankovic, ordered his army to commit massacres of the Abanians of Luma resulting in entire villages being burned down with the inhabitants being burned or slaughtered alive. All in all, twenty-seven villages on Luma territory were burnt to the ground and their inhabitants slain, even the children. It was here that one of the most appalling atrocities of the Serbian war of annihilation was committed against the Albanians. Women and children were tied to bundles of hay and set on fire before the eyes of their husbands and fathers. The women were then barbarously cut to pieces and the children bayoneted. A colleague of Freundlich wrote "It is all so inconceivable, and yet it is true!" Four hundred men from Luma who gave themselves up voluntarily were taken to Prizren and executed day after day in groups of forty to sixty.

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ Robert Elsie (30 May 2015). The Tribes of Albania: History, Society and Culture. I.B.Tauris. pp. 281–282. ISBN 978-1-78453-401-1.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Fejzulla Gjabri (Department of Culture of Albania), Information about the Heroic Epos in the Province of Luma
  3. ↑ HOXHA, Shefqet. "BAJRAKTARËT E LUMËS". Pashtriku. Retrieved 15 November 2015. Megjithëse deri tani nuk është shpaluar ndonjë akt zyrtar i Perandorisë Osmane që ligjëronte zëvendësimin e sistemit të timarit në malësi me atë të njësive vetëqeverisëse tradicionale dhe si njësi administrative-ushtarake osmane me emrin "bajrak", ky proces mendohet të ketë nisur para shek.XVIII

Bibliography

Notes

^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the Brussels Agreement. Kosovo has received formal recognition as an independent state from 113 out of 193 United Nations member states.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.