In the cadastral register of 1451-52, the Skopje neighborhood
Gjin-ko - (Gjinaj), is mentioned, being named after the medieval Albanian
Gjini family. The neighbourhood displayed mixed Christian Albanian anthroponomy with cases of Slavicisation present (e.g
Palić;
Pal + Slavic suffix
ić).
[102] During this time period, a number of timariotes of the city are recorded as bearing the name
Arnauti (Albanian) alongside a Muslim name, i.e
Hamza Arnauti, Shahin Arnauti, Jusuf Arnauti. Another group bore Christian/Slavic names, while also carrying bearing the surname
Arbanas/Arnaut, i.e
Bogdan Arbanas, Bogoslav Arbanas, Milosh Arbanas, Bozhidar Arnaut etc. These individuals are not noted as having the Slavic appellatives
došlac, prišlac or
uselica, which were given by Ottoman authorities to new settlers of a given region, likely indicating they were locals.
[103] In the year 1451/53 a neighborhood was registered bearing an Aromanian name,
Mahalle-i Todor Vlaja-Vlaha. Among the 45 family heads of this neighborhood , Christian-Slavic and Albanian anthroponyms were recorded (
Gjon-çe, son of
Noriç,
Koljko Bibani,
Tusho, son of
Rada etc), while a sizeable number of individuals bearing mixed Slavic-Vlach anthroponyms are also registered, such as:
Petko, son of
Vllah (
Iflak),
Petru son of
David,
Andreja, kozhuhar,
Nikul Çikun, etc.
[104]
In the
mahallah Ahrijan Hasan in the year 1451/53, a head of the family from noble Albanian
Muzaka family, who had converted to Islam, was re-registered among the Muslim heads of the family. In the other register of 1467/68, now in the Christian mahallah named
Svetko Samarxhi, among the 29 heads of families with Slavic Christian anthroponyms, a number also carry Albanian anthroponyms.
[105] In the neighborhood of
Jazixhi Shahin, among the residents with Muslim names, the head of the family was registered only with the surname
Zenebishi, without mentioning his social position or his profession, indicating a higher social status. This may suggest a relation to Hasan Bey Zenebishi adescendant of the
Zenebishi family and the
Soubashi of the
Nahiyah of
Kalkandelen. Individuals bearing Albanian anthroponyms, be they in conjunction with Oriental/Islamic, Slavic or Christian ones, also appear in the neighbourhoods of
Kasim Fakih,
Dursun Saraç,
Kujumxhi Mentesheli,
Çerep, Jandro, Stanimir, Vllah Dançu and
Rela.
[104] A number of Sipahis were also of Albanian origin, with these individuals holding
timars in areas which had a Christian Albanian symbiosis with Slavic anthroponyms in the vicinity of Skopje. The defters noted that these were old were old Sipahis, likely having been landowners. These individual Sipahis were closely related by descent and blood, and taking account kinship ties, even though they had heterogeneous, Christian, Slavic and Oriental names, they appear to have been Albanians. Some have names indicating their origin, such as
Shimerd Vardarli from Skopje, making it likely these timariotes were locals.
[106]
The 15th-century
Mustafa Pasha Mosque
Around 1529, the Christians of Skopje were mostly non-converted
Slavs and
Albanians, but also
Ragusan and
Armenian tradesmen.
[107]
They are a tiny originally Bulgarian speaking minority. Not many deep clades determined as they've mostly done commercial DNA tests.
