They came from Istanbul: What do 1 million documents about Albania under Ottoman rule contain?

2022-09-01 20:21:46Histori SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
They came from Istanbul: What do 1 million documents about Albania under Ottoman
What do 1 million documents about Albania under Ottoman rule contain?

The Directorate of Archives announced today the arrival of 1 million Ottoman documents, which carry data on different realities of Albania under Ottoman rule, whose archives have a world prestige.

"The General Directorate of Archives (DPA) has been enriched with more than 1 million documentary units, obtained in the form of another donation from the counterpart institution, the Archives of the Ottoman Empire based in Istanbul", says the announcement of the Directorate of Archives.

What do they contain?

"The documents taken into possession in digital form cover the political and social activity of Albanians during the five-century Ottoman rule. Among them are decisions and decorations of various personalities, such as the request for the promotion of Mahmut Pasha; information on the political clashes between the leaders in the Albanian space, such as the conflict between Ali Pasha and Ibrahim Pasha; evidence on learning Albanian in Vlora and Skopje; information on the dynasties of Albanian cities; data on the Albanian, Greek, Serbian national movements, etc. and documents of a religious nature", the announcement states.

Interesting should be part of the religious realities in them, as stated in the notice.

"Also, part of these documents that are added to the fund of Ottoman materials, are the religious developments in the region, such as Islam, Christianity and Judaism. In these documents we will also find the dynamics according to the respective societies".

The Directorate of Archives continues by saying that "this donation comes in the wake of several years of efforts of the Albanian Archives and the cooperation agreement between the two institutions, for the exchange of archival documents. Earlier, in 2015 and 2020, the Istanbul Archives donated about 5,000 and 350,000 documents, respectively. Among them were ordinances, farms, biographical data of Ismail Qemali, as well as documentation on Ali Pasha, a part of which has been donated to the local memory organ, the Museum of Tepelena.

This broad research base will serve as an impetus for carrying out further research, which sheds light on the overall activity of Albania and the Albanians during the Ottoman period until the declaration of Independence".



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