Kosovo vilayet

The Province of Kosovo (Vilayet of Kosovo) (Albanian: Vilajeti i Kosovës; Macedonian: Покраина на Косово, Pokraina na Kosovo; Serbian: Косовски вилајет, Kosovski vilajet; Turkish: Kosova Vilayeti) was a vilayet of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkan Peninsula only roughly corresponding to the current region of Kosovo and Western FYRM where other ethnic Albanians lived. 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.

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.. 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.

History

Vilayet of Kosovo, 1875-1878.

Vilayet of Kosovo, 1881-1912.

Ethnographic map of Bakans and Asia Minor, 1898

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.

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. Most were adherents of Islam, with significance presence of Eastern Orthodoxy and some Roman Catholicism.

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).

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

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)

External links

• Map