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Sat Feb 23 08:27:37 2008
THE ALBANIANS.
Br IIELURY SIIEXE, Esq.
Read before the Society, 8th June 1848.
There are three principal distinctions among the inhabitants
of the Greek provinces, still forming a part of the
Turkish empire. The Osmaulis, of pure Asiatic blood, and
the Greelis, are two of these great families, differing in race
and in faith: the third, which is composed of the Albanian
nation, is distinct from either of them, with respect to its
origin and descent, while it is divided between the two religious
sects to which they belong. In habits, appearance,
character, and language, the Albanians are also eminently
dissimilar from both the Greeks and the Turlis ; and they
side, in faith, partly with the Christians and partly with the
Mahometans. These three races now live in close contact
with each other; and they are at such constant variance, on
every subject which implies the slightest interest in common,
that a great political change can alone produce an approximation
of feeling among them.
The Turks and Greeks have been so often the subject of
the lucubrations of travellers and political speculators, that
their characteristics are comparatively well known in the
west of Europe. The Albanians have attracted less attention
; and, when they have been talcen into consideration as
a nation, they have genei3ally been misrepresented or confounded
with the other inhahitants of European Turkey.
The Mahometan Albanians have thus been identified with
the Osmaulis, and the Christians with the Greelrs ; while the
ferocious and treacherous character of one of their tribes
has been attributed to the whole nation.
The Albanians are cliviclecl into four tribes. These are,
the Gheghicles and Mirrlites: the Toskides, the Tsamides, and
the Liapicles.
The Gheghicles, rvho boast of having n~umbererla mong thelrl
- - - --
160 Henry Sliene, Esq., on the AZDaninv~s.
such a hero as Xcanderbeg, unite, according to the learned
topographer of Greece,* '' the cruelty of the Albanian to the
dulness of the Bulgarian." They have long enjoyed a greater
share of independence, under the Pashas of Bcodra, than any
other of the Albanian tribes. They are equally good soldiers
with the latter, and have preserved more of their natural
stubbornness, from the fact of their having been less often
employed as such by the Tnrlis. Their cotmtry extends
from the frontier of the Austrian territory of Cattaro round
the Montenegro, which nlay be considered an independent
state; and, following the ridges which unite it to Mount
Scardus, it reacl~est he Herzegovina, while it is bounded on
the south by the river Drino. Scutari, or Scodra, is their
chief town, ancl Dulcigno, Alessio, and Durazzo belong to
them.
The Mirdites are merely a branch of the Qheg tribe, and
they spealr the same dialect. They occupy the pashalili of
Croja, and their capital is Oros. Many of them are Roman
C,?;t~olics.
The tribe of the Ghegs and Miradites are of lofty stature
and athletic frame ; and their swarthy coinlslexion and black
eyes still retain the characteristics of their supposed Caucasian
origin. The distinguishing marlrlr in the dress of these
two sections of the same family is, that the jaclret of the
Ghegs is red, and that of the Mirdites is black. Both
branches of the tribe are entitled to nlucll credit for their
daring disobedience to the tyrant Ali Pasha, when he ordered
them to fire upon and destroy the relnnant of the
Gandikiotes, which he had enclosed in a co~~rtyarfcolr coldblooded
butchery.
The Tosliides are the most handsome of the Albanians.
They have noble features, with fair hair and blue eyes, indicating
the mixture of Georgian blood, which probably floms
in their veins : less ~varlilrlre than their connt~-gmen of the
other tribes, their stature is also less Herculean. They are
supposed to have derived their name from the Toxidtr, mcntioned
by Chardin as inhabiting Mingrelia. Tile country
* Colonel T'calte.
Henry Sltene, Esq., on the Albania~zs. 161
ilow occupied by this tribe lies to the south of that of the
Ghegs and RiIirdites, and extends to the river Vojutza. It is
called by themselves Toskourih. Their chief places are
Elbassan and Berat, called by the Turlis Arnaout Belgrad,
in order to distinguish it from Belgrade on the Danube. Tepelleak,
the birth-place of Ali Pasha, is now included in their
teiaritory, although it was formerly considered as belonging
to the infamous Liapides. The great despot declared it, 11o.v~-
ever, to be in Toskomaib and no one dared to gainsay him on
a point which affected the respectability of his origin. The
women of the Toske tribe are remarkable for their beauty,
like those of Georgia, whence they issue, according to the
conjecture of some antiquaries.
The Liapides are the worst of the Albanian tribes. Living
only by rapine and murder, they offer the most frightful
picture of a degraded state of society ; and their evil nanle
has sullied the reputation of the whole nation. They infest
the roads, plundering the wayfarer, and often ransacking
villages. They convert their booty into arms, curious collections
of which ]nay be found in their mountain-homes,
whither they yetire at the end of their roving campaign.
They are cruel, fierce, and treacherous,-of forbidding countenances
and sinister expression, and short and ungainly in
person. Their dress displays the greatest possible want of
cleanliness, and they even pride then~selves 011 allowing it to
rot on their bodies. They consider this to be a proof of
warlilre habits, and they boast of a brave countryinan being
washed only three times, namely, at his birth, his marriage,
and his death. Liapourih, which includes the whole country
inhabited by the Liapides, extends as far south as the plain
of Delvino, and is composed of bleak and barren hills, feathered
with trees only near their base. The proneness of these
rude highlanders to lead a life of plunder, and their filthy
habits, aided by the great similarity of the names, the d, or
delta of modern Greek, being pronounced like th, have given
rise to a conjecture, that they tnay be the remains of the ancient
Lapithrz.
The Tsamides are the most peaceable and industrious of
the tribes, and are devoted to trade and ag~icnlture. The
162 Henry Skene, Esq., opt tibe AZDn~zia~zs.
purity of race has been less scrupulously preserved than with
the northern tribes, yet they are for the most part fairhaired.
They dress with great splendour, their clothes being
covered with gold lace and embroidery, and they carry
arms like their more warlike countrymen, notwithstanding
that they do not malie so much use of them. They inhabit
the country, watered by the Thyamis, which is opposite the
island of Corfu, and the regions about the river Acheron, extending
nearly as far as the gulf of Ambracia, on the south.
They call their territory TsamouriB, wllich, together with the
narne of Tsainis which they bear, is probably derived from
the river Thyamis. The site of the ~vell-known Soali is in
this district, as also the ancient Bnihrotam, now a small
military position seen from the town of Corfa. Marga,riti,
Paramythia, and Philates, are their pyincipal towns.
The existence of a nation in the very heaYt of Greece,
which is totally different from the original inhabitants in
manners, appearance, language, and costume, has naturally
roused the curiosity of antiquaries, and given rise to much
research on the subject of their origin.
The Albanian language being rnerely oral, the want of
written docun~entsre nders their history exceedingly obscure,
and the silence preserved by the Greeli and Byzantine writers
on the subject has reduced the data within a very narrow compass.
They are called Arvaniti by the Greeks, and Arnaout
by the Turlis, both names being derived, along with that of
Albanians, from the Albanes, an ancient people of the shores
of the Caspian Sea, which may have incorporated itself with
the Ill~rians. The town of Elbassan or Albanopolis in Illyrian
Macedonia, took its name from them, as it is supposed
to have been built by a horde of these Asiatic barbarians, who
were driven to the coast of the Adriatic by the advancing
tribes of the east. In their own language they call themselves
Skipetar, which name hears some affinity with that of
of the Skitelrip, mentioned b:,r the Armenian geographers as
inhabiting a territory near the Caspian. One of the best authorities*
on the subject compares the name of Sliipetar with
" Colonel Loalte
Henry Skene, Esq., orb the Albanians. 163
that of the Selapitani, a people of Illyria, noticed by Livy."
The modern denomination of Liapides may be derived from
this ancient tribe, rather than from the still more ancient
Lapithz, as the name becomes almost the same when the
first two letters are suppressed, and the termination, which is
nlcvays variable, altered. A similarity of names, however, is
but a feeble indication of the origin of a people or town, especially
in a country where so many dialectic changes have
talien place, nnd it often leads into error. For instance,
there is a village near Elbassan, which bears the name of
Pekin, ~vithont he slighest difference from that of the great
city of the Celestial Empire ; but it cannot be said, even by
the wildest etymologist, to be inhabited by a people in any
way kindred to the Chinese.
Another hypothesis holds that the Albanians derive their
origin from Alba, in Italy, and that they are the descendants
of a colony of the Prztorian guards, dismissed from Rome,
by the Emperor Septimius Severus, foi* having been accessory
to the assassination of Pertinax. Their dress, the words
coming from Latin roots, which are to be found in their language,
and a vague tradition prevalent among themselves,
support this idea. Chalcocondyles thinks that the Albanians
came fi*onl the other side of the Aclriatic.1 But, as Jus'cin
says, that the Albani of Asia were originally brought by Hercules
from Italy,$ the Albanians may have been first Italian,
and then Asiatic. although their migration, in this case, must
have been much anterior to the time of Septimius Severus.
The Albans of Asia, mentioned by T:~citus, occupied the modern
country of Shirvan.
Little is lino\vn about them, however, previously to their
occupation of parts of Macedonia and Epirus, excepting that
they entered these provinces from Illyria, and nothing else
has hitherto been proved on the subject. They are snpposed
to have overrun Epirus about the time of the fall of the Byzantine
Empire. In advancing to~vardst he south, they also
spread over the greatest part of Greece Proper, and many villages
of the Morea are Albanian. Indeed, with the exception
* Lib. xlv., c. 26. t P. 13. j xlii., p, 3.
164 Eenry Skene, Esq., on, the Albaninfzs.
of the Mainotes or modern Spartans, the most warlike communities
of Greece, such as the islands of Hydra and Spetzia,
are formed of this nation, and not of Greelrs. Attica, Argolis,
Phocis, and Bcetia, are liliewise all peopled by them,
and there are Albanian colonies even in Calabria and Sicily.
The Albanians call their language Sliipt. It is totally
different from the Ttlrliish. Greelr, and Sclavoniaii dialects,
and it contains a great number of words, closely resembling
the Spanish, French.anc1 Italian languages This would imply
that they had undergone some process of amalgamation with
the renlains of Roman armies. If this had not been really
the effect of their desceni from the Pri~toi-ian guards, it
might be attributed to an admixture with the troops of
Roger, king of Apnlia, who fled to these niountains, and took
refuge there. Some of his soldiers may have remained as
settlers. The Albanian dress, also, is an exact antitype of
that of the Itoman army, with the exception of the helmet,
which has been replaced by the red slrnll-cap, and, of the
coat of mail, which is imitated by the close enibroidery on
the jacket. There are, liliewise, Gothic words in the Albanian
language. These must have been derived from the incursions
of Alaricus, in the fifth century, when his Goths
made themselves masters of Epirus. It is recorded by Procopius,*
that Goths were to be found settled in Dalmatia,
when Justinian forcibly annexed that country to the Roman
Empire. Some of then1 may, therefore, probably have remained
also in Albania. Now, the ancient Illyrian language
was as co~npletely distinct from the Greelr tongue,
and, if it is not now extant in the form of the Slript
or Albanian, it must be concluded that it has totally disappeared;
whicln is hardly credible. These is no record
in history of the extinction of the Illyrian language and
people. If, then, the modern Albanians came directly
fi.om Alba, in Italy, as some assert, what can have become
of that ancient tribe and dialect 1 The first mention of
the Albanians, by the Byzantine historians, although cnrsory
and imperfect, represents them as they now are : and
Ptolemy, the geographer, who is the first of the ancient
* X)e Bell. Goth., lib. i., c. 5, 7, 16.
Henry Skene, Esq., on Ihe AZbanians. 165
authors to notice them, distinctly places them in Illgria."
Anna ~oinnenam akes the next allusion to them ;? so that
history is totally silent on the subject of this people during
ten centuries. It appears, however, that they were known,
at a much more reniote period ; for Dion Cassino, in enumerating
the Roman conquests, implies that he knew of another
Albania. Therefore it is impossible to assign a later date
to .their settlement in Illyria, with any degree of plausibility,
as some do, because this proves that they had then already
separated from their mother tribe in Asia. They had probably
become incorporated with the ancient Illyrians, and
both races are now represented by the modern Albanians.
AS the remains of the Illyrians, they have perhaps altered
less, during this long succession of ages, than any o t h e ~
people of Europe. The study of this tribe is, therefore,
the more interesting, inasmuch as it is almost an initiation
into the habits and condition of a nation of past time, while
much remains, even in their physical appearance, to recal
the admixture with a still more ancient Asiatic tribe. This
is corroborated by one of the most intelligent and also learned
of the English who have seen this people.$ He says, that
a the features of the Albanian, his narrow forehead, his keen
grey eye, sniall mouth, thin arched eyebrow, high cheekbones,
and pointed chin, strongly mark a Scythian physiognomy."
After Anna Comnena, the first mention of the Albanians,
in the middle ages, is by Nicephorus Bryennius,$ who describes
them as having formed part of the army of Nicephorue
Basilaces, when he rebelled against his Emperor Nicephorus
Botaniates, and was vanquished and taken by Alexius
Comnenus, in the year 1109. They next received the aid of
the Normans against the Greeks, and Robert Guiscard, who
led them, together with his son Bohemoud, took Durazzo,
Ochrida, and Jannina.11 Durazzo was well defended by
George Palzeologus, who waited for the coming of Alexius
Comnenus, the father of the historian Anna Comnena. Again,
* Ptolem. Geog., lib. iii., c. 13. t Lib. xiii., p. 390.
$ Dr Hughes. § Lib, iv., c. 27. ]I Anna Comnena, b. 6.
VOL. 11. M
166 Henry Skene, Esq., on the AZ6anians.
in the end of the twelfth century, the Norman kings of
Sicily, with their relatives the princes of Taranto, formed
permanent settlements in Albania, under the Byzantine emperors,
Andronicus Comnenus and Isaac Angelus. The
Albanians were thus early connected with the natives of the
west. The Cr~zsades next left a sensible impression on this
people, as their ports were constantly resorted to by the
Frank chiefs, during at least a century and a half; and Durazzo,
in particular, was the dep6t of the crusaders. In the
beginning of the thirteenth century, when the oriental empire
fell to pieces, on account of the occupation of Constantinople
by the Franks, a principality of Albania was founded
by an illegitimate son of one of the Comneni, named Michael
Angelus," and it existedfor more than two centuries,under the
title of the Despotate. Jannina was the capital of this state,
and Albariopolis also became one of its principal towns.
Theodore Lascaris the Second, emperor of Nicea, sent a
Pr2etor to the latter place, in the year 1257, hoping to recover
i t ; but the Albanians preferred the protection of the
despot to that of the emperor, and the p~q~etowr,h o was the
historian Acropolita,, was obliged to abandon it. In the same
century, they plundered the city of Durazzo, which had been
destroyed by a violent earthquake ; but they afterwards rebuilt
it themselves. Pachymer, who records this in his history
of the reign of Michael Palceologus,t calls them Albanians
and Illyrians indiscriininately ; and he says that they
enjoyed aclinowledged independence of the (feek emperor,
and were allies of Charles king of Sicily, who then occupied
the island of Corfu and the town of Kanina, anciently Bullis,
near Aulon. In the year 1294, Philip, duke of Taranto, the
son of Charles the Second, king of the Sicilies, having married
the daughter of the despot Nicephorus, received possession
of some territory in this country, and called himself
Lord of Albania.: This title descended to his brother and
nephew, but these Latin princes never enjoined much authority
on this side of the Adriatic. The Albanians are next
* Nicetas, Annal. Baldwin, c. ix., p. 410. t Lib. vi., c. 32.
1Ducange, Hist, de Constantinople, lib. vi., c. 16 ;lib. vii., c .1;lib, viii., c. 34.
Henry Skene, Esq., on the Albanians. 167
mentioned by Cantacuzenus,* as having aided Andronicus
Palzologus, in his struggle with his grandfather, in 1327,
and as having submitted to him, in number about 12,000,
when he, being then sole emperor, made an incursion in 11-
lyrian Macedonia against some rebels of their race. The
historian says, that it was in Thessaly ; but it is more probable
that his knowledge of geography was deficient, than
that the Albanians were ever to be found in Thessaly. The
same emperor took advantage of the death of the despot
John, in the year 1338, and the minority of his son Nicephorus,
to revenge himself on the Albanians, for their frequent
attacks on his towns, and to overthro~vth e despotate.? In
this he mas reinforced by a body of Asiatic Turks, which
was the first appearance in Epirus of the future lords of the
country. TITTOAlbanian chiefs, named Balza and Spata, became
formidable to the Byzantine empire about this period,
as is related by the historian Chalcocoi~d~les. Towards the
commencement of the fifteenth century, the Albanians carne
under the rule of a sovereign from the west of Europe in the
person of Charles Tocco, who was made despot by the Emperor
Manuel Pal~ologns. He was one of the Frank princes
of the Ioizian Islands, and he took the independent possession
of Epirus Proper and Acarnania from them.$ The Turks
now commenced their invasion of Albania, although the first
battle which had been fought against them, dated as far
back as the year 1383. It took place near Berot, and the Albanians
were totally routed by the army of the Sultan Murat
the First, their general, the only son of Balza, being killed
on the occasion. By the year 1431 they were nearly subdued
by the Turks, although their total reduction was warded
off for some years longer by the brave Scanderbeg and his
father-in-law Arianita Topia. Their last struggle was the
siege of Scodra, which was described by a native and eyewitness,
Marinus Barletius, in a Latin publication, dated at
Venice, 1504. The defence was conducted by a Venetian
general, and the attack by Mahomet the Second himself.
" Ducange, Hist. de Constantiaople, lib. i., c. 55.
t Cantacuzenus, lib. ii., c. 32.
$ Lib. iv., p. 112, 113.
168 Henry Skene, Esy., on the Albanians.
The Albanians dispIayed a degree of gallantry worthy of
their warlike name, in baffling the utmost efforts of*greatly
superior number of troops during a whole year, until famine
reduced them to the necessity of yielding. The Venetians
then stepped in to protect them, and obtained for them an
honourable retreat to Venice as refugees, while the town was
given up to the Turks. Since then, the Ottoman dominion
over the Albanians has been nominally undisputed, but the
authority of the Sultan has never been sufficient to enable
him to suppress the spirit of revolt which is still strong within
them.
This is nearly all that is known of the history of the Albanians,
and, although it is uncertain and obsct~res, till several
heroes of this race have arisen to adorn its pages. There is
first the great Scanderbeg ;then the more ancient Balza and
Spata; there is Ali Pasha of the present century; and in
the last, Ghalil or Patrona. The latter headed a sudden
revolution which overwhelmed the capital in 1730, and he
became absolute master of Constantinople, as recorded by
Lord Sandwich.
journals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers,
and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community take
advantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
www.jstor.org
Sat Feb 23 08:27:37 2008
THE ALBANIANS.
Br IIELURY SIIEXE, Esq.
Read before the Society, 8th June 1848.
There are three principal distinctions among the inhabitants
of the Greek provinces, still forming a part of the
Turkish empire. The Osmaulis, of pure Asiatic blood, and
the Greelis, are two of these great families, differing in race
and in faith: the third, which is composed of the Albanian
nation, is distinct from either of them, with respect to its
origin and descent, while it is divided between the two religious
sects to which they belong. In habits, appearance,
character, and language, the Albanians are also eminently
dissimilar from both the Greeks and the Turlis ; and they
side, in faith, partly with the Christians and partly with the
Mahometans. These three races now live in close contact
with each other; and they are at such constant variance, on
every subject which implies the slightest interest in common,
that a great political change can alone produce an approximation
of feeling among them.
The Turks and Greeks have been so often the subject of
the lucubrations of travellers and political speculators, that
their characteristics are comparatively well known in the
west of Europe. The Albanians have attracted less attention
; and, when they have been talcen into consideration as
a nation, they have genei3ally been misrepresented or confounded
with the other inhahitants of European Turkey.
The Mahometan Albanians have thus been identified with
the Osmaulis, and the Christians with the Greelrs ; while the
ferocious and treacherous character of one of their tribes
has been attributed to the whole nation.
The Albanians are cliviclecl into four tribes. These are,
the Gheghicles and Mirrlites: the Toskides, the Tsamides, and
the Liapicles.
The Gheghicles, rvho boast of having n~umbererla mong thelrl
- - - --
160 Henry Sliene, Esq., on the AZDaninv~s.
such a hero as Xcanderbeg, unite, according to the learned
topographer of Greece,* '' the cruelty of the Albanian to the
dulness of the Bulgarian." They have long enjoyed a greater
share of independence, under the Pashas of Bcodra, than any
other of the Albanian tribes. They are equally good soldiers
with the latter, and have preserved more of their natural
stubbornness, from the fact of their having been less often
employed as such by the Tnrlis. Their cotmtry extends
from the frontier of the Austrian territory of Cattaro round
the Montenegro, which nlay be considered an independent
state; and, following the ridges which unite it to Mount
Scardus, it reacl~est he Herzegovina, while it is bounded on
the south by the river Drino. Scutari, or Scodra, is their
chief town, ancl Dulcigno, Alessio, and Durazzo belong to
them.
The Mirdites are merely a branch of the Qheg tribe, and
they spealr the same dialect. They occupy the pashalili of
Croja, and their capital is Oros. Many of them are Roman
C,?;t~olics.
The tribe of the Ghegs and Miradites are of lofty stature
and athletic frame ; and their swarthy coinlslexion and black
eyes still retain the characteristics of their supposed Caucasian
origin. The distinguishing marlrlr in the dress of these
two sections of the same family is, that the jaclret of the
Ghegs is red, and that of the Mirdites is black. Both
branches of the tribe are entitled to nlucll credit for their
daring disobedience to the tyrant Ali Pasha, when he ordered
them to fire upon and destroy the relnnant of the
Gandikiotes, which he had enclosed in a co~~rtyarfcolr coldblooded
butchery.
The Tosliides are the most handsome of the Albanians.
They have noble features, with fair hair and blue eyes, indicating
the mixture of Georgian blood, which probably floms
in their veins : less ~varlilrlre than their connt~-gmen of the
other tribes, their stature is also less Herculean. They are
supposed to have derived their name from the Toxidtr, mcntioned
by Chardin as inhabiting Mingrelia. Tile country
* Colonel T'calte.
Henry Sltene, Esq., on the Albania~zs. 161
ilow occupied by this tribe lies to the south of that of the
Ghegs and RiIirdites, and extends to the river Vojutza. It is
called by themselves Toskourih. Their chief places are
Elbassan and Berat, called by the Turlis Arnaout Belgrad,
in order to distinguish it from Belgrade on the Danube. Tepelleak,
the birth-place of Ali Pasha, is now included in their
teiaritory, although it was formerly considered as belonging
to the infamous Liapides. The great despot declared it, 11o.v~-
ever, to be in Toskomaib and no one dared to gainsay him on
a point which affected the respectability of his origin. The
women of the Toske tribe are remarkable for their beauty,
like those of Georgia, whence they issue, according to the
conjecture of some antiquaries.
The Liapides are the worst of the Albanian tribes. Living
only by rapine and murder, they offer the most frightful
picture of a degraded state of society ; and their evil nanle
has sullied the reputation of the whole nation. They infest
the roads, plundering the wayfarer, and often ransacking
villages. They convert their booty into arms, curious collections
of which ]nay be found in their mountain-homes,
whither they yetire at the end of their roving campaign.
They are cruel, fierce, and treacherous,-of forbidding countenances
and sinister expression, and short and ungainly in
person. Their dress displays the greatest possible want of
cleanliness, and they even pride then~selves 011 allowing it to
rot on their bodies. They consider this to be a proof of
warlilre habits, and they boast of a brave countryinan being
washed only three times, namely, at his birth, his marriage,
and his death. Liapourih, which includes the whole country
inhabited by the Liapides, extends as far south as the plain
of Delvino, and is composed of bleak and barren hills, feathered
with trees only near their base. The proneness of these
rude highlanders to lead a life of plunder, and their filthy
habits, aided by the great similarity of the names, the d, or
delta of modern Greek, being pronounced like th, have given
rise to a conjecture, that they tnay be the remains of the ancient
Lapithrz.
The Tsamides are the most peaceable and industrious of
the tribes, and are devoted to trade and ag~icnlture. The
162 Henry Skene, Esq., opt tibe AZDn~zia~zs.
purity of race has been less scrupulously preserved than with
the northern tribes, yet they are for the most part fairhaired.
They dress with great splendour, their clothes being
covered with gold lace and embroidery, and they carry
arms like their more warlike countrymen, notwithstanding
that they do not malie so much use of them. They inhabit
the country, watered by the Thyamis, which is opposite the
island of Corfu, and the regions about the river Acheron, extending
nearly as far as the gulf of Ambracia, on the south.
They call their territory TsamouriB, wllich, together with the
narne of Tsainis which they bear, is probably derived from
the river Thyamis. The site of the ~vell-known Soali is in
this district, as also the ancient Bnihrotam, now a small
military position seen from the town of Corfa. Marga,riti,
Paramythia, and Philates, are their pyincipal towns.
The existence of a nation in the very heaYt of Greece,
which is totally different from the original inhabitants in
manners, appearance, language, and costume, has naturally
roused the curiosity of antiquaries, and given rise to much
research on the subject of their origin.
The Albanian language being rnerely oral, the want of
written docun~entsre nders their history exceedingly obscure,
and the silence preserved by the Greeli and Byzantine writers
on the subject has reduced the data within a very narrow compass.
They are called Arvaniti by the Greeks, and Arnaout
by the Turlis, both names being derived, along with that of
Albanians, from the Albanes, an ancient people of the shores
of the Caspian Sea, which may have incorporated itself with
the Ill~rians. The town of Elbassan or Albanopolis in Illyrian
Macedonia, took its name from them, as it is supposed
to have been built by a horde of these Asiatic barbarians, who
were driven to the coast of the Adriatic by the advancing
tribes of the east. In their own language they call themselves
Skipetar, which name hears some affinity with that of
of the Skitelrip, mentioned b:,r the Armenian geographers as
inhabiting a territory near the Caspian. One of the best authorities*
on the subject compares the name of Sliipetar with
" Colonel Loalte
Henry Skene, Esq., orb the Albanians. 163
that of the Selapitani, a people of Illyria, noticed by Livy."
The modern denomination of Liapides may be derived from
this ancient tribe, rather than from the still more ancient
Lapithz, as the name becomes almost the same when the
first two letters are suppressed, and the termination, which is
nlcvays variable, altered. A similarity of names, however, is
but a feeble indication of the origin of a people or town, especially
in a country where so many dialectic changes have
talien place, nnd it often leads into error. For instance,
there is a village near Elbassan, which bears the name of
Pekin, ~vithont he slighest difference from that of the great
city of the Celestial Empire ; but it cannot be said, even by
the wildest etymologist, to be inhabited by a people in any
way kindred to the Chinese.
Another hypothesis holds that the Albanians derive their
origin from Alba, in Italy, and that they are the descendants
of a colony of the Prztorian guards, dismissed from Rome,
by the Emperor Septimius Severus, foi* having been accessory
to the assassination of Pertinax. Their dress, the words
coming from Latin roots, which are to be found in their language,
and a vague tradition prevalent among themselves,
support this idea. Chalcocondyles thinks that the Albanians
came fi*onl the other side of the Aclriatic.1 But, as Jus'cin
says, that the Albani of Asia were originally brought by Hercules
from Italy,$ the Albanians may have been first Italian,
and then Asiatic. although their migration, in this case, must
have been much anterior to the time of Septimius Severus.
The Albans of Asia, mentioned by T:~citus, occupied the modern
country of Shirvan.
Little is lino\vn about them, however, previously to their
occupation of parts of Macedonia and Epirus, excepting that
they entered these provinces from Illyria, and nothing else
has hitherto been proved on the subject. They are snpposed
to have overrun Epirus about the time of the fall of the Byzantine
Empire. In advancing to~vardst he south, they also
spread over the greatest part of Greece Proper, and many villages
of the Morea are Albanian. Indeed, with the exception
* Lib. xlv., c. 26. t P. 13. j xlii., p, 3.
164 Eenry Skene, Esq., on, the Albaninfzs.
of the Mainotes or modern Spartans, the most warlike communities
of Greece, such as the islands of Hydra and Spetzia,
are formed of this nation, and not of Greelrs. Attica, Argolis,
Phocis, and Bcetia, are liliewise all peopled by them,
and there are Albanian colonies even in Calabria and Sicily.
The Albanians call their language Sliipt. It is totally
different from the Ttlrliish. Greelr, and Sclavoniaii dialects,
and it contains a great number of words, closely resembling
the Spanish, French.anc1 Italian languages This would imply
that they had undergone some process of amalgamation with
the renlains of Roman armies. If this had not been really
the effect of their desceni from the Pri~toi-ian guards, it
might be attributed to an admixture with the troops of
Roger, king of Apnlia, who fled to these niountains, and took
refuge there. Some of his soldiers may have remained as
settlers. The Albanian dress, also, is an exact antitype of
that of the Itoman army, with the exception of the helmet,
which has been replaced by the red slrnll-cap, and, of the
coat of mail, which is imitated by the close enibroidery on
the jacket. There are, liliewise, Gothic words in the Albanian
language. These must have been derived from the incursions
of Alaricus, in the fifth century, when his Goths
made themselves masters of Epirus. It is recorded by Procopius,*
that Goths were to be found settled in Dalmatia,
when Justinian forcibly annexed that country to the Roman
Empire. Some of then1 may, therefore, probably have remained
also in Albania. Now, the ancient Illyrian language
was as co~npletely distinct from the Greelr tongue,
and, if it is not now extant in the form of the Slript
or Albanian, it must be concluded that it has totally disappeared;
whicln is hardly credible. These is no record
in history of the extinction of the Illyrian language and
people. If, then, the modern Albanians came directly
fi.om Alba, in Italy, as some assert, what can have become
of that ancient tribe and dialect 1 The first mention of
the Albanians, by the Byzantine historians, although cnrsory
and imperfect, represents them as they now are : and
Ptolemy, the geographer, who is the first of the ancient
* X)e Bell. Goth., lib. i., c. 5, 7, 16.
Henry Skene, Esq., on Ihe AZbanians. 165
authors to notice them, distinctly places them in Illgria."
Anna ~oinnenam akes the next allusion to them ;? so that
history is totally silent on the subject of this people during
ten centuries. It appears, however, that they were known,
at a much more reniote period ; for Dion Cassino, in enumerating
the Roman conquests, implies that he knew of another
Albania. Therefore it is impossible to assign a later date
to .their settlement in Illyria, with any degree of plausibility,
as some do, because this proves that they had then already
separated from their mother tribe in Asia. They had probably
become incorporated with the ancient Illyrians, and
both races are now represented by the modern Albanians.
AS the remains of the Illyrians, they have perhaps altered
less, during this long succession of ages, than any o t h e ~
people of Europe. The study of this tribe is, therefore,
the more interesting, inasmuch as it is almost an initiation
into the habits and condition of a nation of past time, while
much remains, even in their physical appearance, to recal
the admixture with a still more ancient Asiatic tribe. This
is corroborated by one of the most intelligent and also learned
of the English who have seen this people.$ He says, that
a the features of the Albanian, his narrow forehead, his keen
grey eye, sniall mouth, thin arched eyebrow, high cheekbones,
and pointed chin, strongly mark a Scythian physiognomy."
After Anna Comnena, the first mention of the Albanians,
in the middle ages, is by Nicephorus Bryennius,$ who describes
them as having formed part of the army of Nicephorue
Basilaces, when he rebelled against his Emperor Nicephorus
Botaniates, and was vanquished and taken by Alexius
Comnenus, in the year 1109. They next received the aid of
the Normans against the Greeks, and Robert Guiscard, who
led them, together with his son Bohemoud, took Durazzo,
Ochrida, and Jannina.11 Durazzo was well defended by
George Palzeologus, who waited for the coming of Alexius
Comnenus, the father of the historian Anna Comnena. Again,
* Ptolem. Geog., lib. iii., c. 13. t Lib. xiii., p. 390.
$ Dr Hughes. § Lib, iv., c. 27. ]I Anna Comnena, b. 6.
VOL. 11. M
166 Henry Skene, Esq., on the AZ6anians.
in the end of the twelfth century, the Norman kings of
Sicily, with their relatives the princes of Taranto, formed
permanent settlements in Albania, under the Byzantine emperors,
Andronicus Comnenus and Isaac Angelus. The
Albanians were thus early connected with the natives of the
west. The Cr~zsades next left a sensible impression on this
people, as their ports were constantly resorted to by the
Frank chiefs, during at least a century and a half; and Durazzo,
in particular, was the dep6t of the crusaders. In the
beginning of the thirteenth century, when the oriental empire
fell to pieces, on account of the occupation of Constantinople
by the Franks, a principality of Albania was founded
by an illegitimate son of one of the Comneni, named Michael
Angelus," and it existedfor more than two centuries,under the
title of the Despotate. Jannina was the capital of this state,
and Albariopolis also became one of its principal towns.
Theodore Lascaris the Second, emperor of Nicea, sent a
Pr2etor to the latter place, in the year 1257, hoping to recover
i t ; but the Albanians preferred the protection of the
despot to that of the emperor, and the p~q~etowr,h o was the
historian Acropolita,, was obliged to abandon it. In the same
century, they plundered the city of Durazzo, which had been
destroyed by a violent earthquake ; but they afterwards rebuilt
it themselves. Pachymer, who records this in his history
of the reign of Michael Palceologus,t calls them Albanians
and Illyrians indiscriininately ; and he says that they
enjoyed aclinowledged independence of the (feek emperor,
and were allies of Charles king of Sicily, who then occupied
the island of Corfu and the town of Kanina, anciently Bullis,
near Aulon. In the year 1294, Philip, duke of Taranto, the
son of Charles the Second, king of the Sicilies, having married
the daughter of the despot Nicephorus, received possession
of some territory in this country, and called himself
Lord of Albania.: This title descended to his brother and
nephew, but these Latin princes never enjoined much authority
on this side of the Adriatic. The Albanians are next
* Nicetas, Annal. Baldwin, c. ix., p. 410. t Lib. vi., c. 32.
1Ducange, Hist, de Constantinople, lib. vi., c. 16 ;lib. vii., c .1;lib, viii., c. 34.
Henry Skene, Esq., on the Albanians. 167
mentioned by Cantacuzenus,* as having aided Andronicus
Palzologus, in his struggle with his grandfather, in 1327,
and as having submitted to him, in number about 12,000,
when he, being then sole emperor, made an incursion in 11-
lyrian Macedonia against some rebels of their race. The
historian says, that it was in Thessaly ; but it is more probable
that his knowledge of geography was deficient, than
that the Albanians were ever to be found in Thessaly. The
same emperor took advantage of the death of the despot
John, in the year 1338, and the minority of his son Nicephorus,
to revenge himself on the Albanians, for their frequent
attacks on his towns, and to overthro~vth e despotate.? In
this he mas reinforced by a body of Asiatic Turks, which
was the first appearance in Epirus of the future lords of the
country. TITTOAlbanian chiefs, named Balza and Spata, became
formidable to the Byzantine empire about this period,
as is related by the historian Chalcocoi~d~les. Towards the
commencement of the fifteenth century, the Albanians carne
under the rule of a sovereign from the west of Europe in the
person of Charles Tocco, who was made despot by the Emperor
Manuel Pal~ologns. He was one of the Frank princes
of the Ioizian Islands, and he took the independent possession
of Epirus Proper and Acarnania from them.$ The Turks
now commenced their invasion of Albania, although the first
battle which had been fought against them, dated as far
back as the year 1383. It took place near Berot, and the Albanians
were totally routed by the army of the Sultan Murat
the First, their general, the only son of Balza, being killed
on the occasion. By the year 1431 they were nearly subdued
by the Turks, although their total reduction was warded
off for some years longer by the brave Scanderbeg and his
father-in-law Arianita Topia. Their last struggle was the
siege of Scodra, which was described by a native and eyewitness,
Marinus Barletius, in a Latin publication, dated at
Venice, 1504. The defence was conducted by a Venetian
general, and the attack by Mahomet the Second himself.
" Ducange, Hist. de Constantiaople, lib. i., c. 55.
t Cantacuzenus, lib. ii., c. 32.
$ Lib. iv., p. 112, 113.
168 Henry Skene, Esy., on the Albanians.
The Albanians dispIayed a degree of gallantry worthy of
their warlike name, in baffling the utmost efforts of*greatly
superior number of troops during a whole year, until famine
reduced them to the necessity of yielding. The Venetians
then stepped in to protect them, and obtained for them an
honourable retreat to Venice as refugees, while the town was
given up to the Turks. Since then, the Ottoman dominion
over the Albanians has been nominally undisputed, but the
authority of the Sultan has never been sufficient to enable
him to suppress the spirit of revolt which is still strong within
them.
This is nearly all that is known of the history of the Albanians,
and, although it is uncertain and obsct~res, till several
heroes of this race have arisen to adorn its pages. There is
first the great Scanderbeg ;then the more ancient Balza and
Spata; there is Ali Pasha of the present century; and in
the last, Ghalil or Patrona. The latter headed a sudden
revolution which overwhelmed the capital in 1730, and he
became absolute master of Constantinople, as recorded by
Lord Sandwich.