Skopje (Shkupi) Ethnic make up throughout history

TheOne

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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 anthroponymy with cases of Slavicisation present (e.g. Palić; Pal + Slavic suffix ). During this time period, a number of timariots of the city are recorded as bearing the name Arnauti (meaning Albanian) alongside a Muslim name, i.e. Hamza Arnauti, Shahin Arnauti, Jusuf Arnauti. Another group bore Slavic Christian names, whilst 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. In the year 1451 or 1453 a neighborhood was registered bearing an Aromanian name, Mahalle-i Todor Vlaja-Vlaha. Amongst 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.), whilst 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.

In the mahallah Ahrijan Hasan in the year 1451 or 1453, a head of the family from the noble Albanian Muzaka family, who had converted to Islam, was re-registered amongst the Muslim heads of the family. In the other register of 1467/68, now in the Christian mahallah named Svetko Samarxhi, amongst the 29 heads of families with Slavic Christian anthroponyms, a number also carried Albanian anthroponyms. In the neighborhood of Jazixhi Shahin, amongst 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, a descendant of the Zenebishi family and the Soubashi of the Nahiyah of Kalkandelen. Individuals bearing Albanian anthroponyms, be they in conjunction with Islamic, Slavic or Christian ones, also appear in the neighbourhoods of Kasim Fakih, Dursun Saraç, Kujumxhi Mentesheli, Çerep, Jandro, Stanimir, Vllah Dançu and Rela. 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 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.

Around 1529, the Christians of Skopje were mostly non-converted Slavs and Albanians, but also Ragusan and Armenian tradesmen. Mustafa Pasha Mosque, built in 1492, is reputed to be "one of the most resplendent sacral Islamic buildings in the Balkans." In 1535 all churches were demolished by decree of the Ottoman governor. In 1555, the city was hit by another severe earthquake, collapsing much of the city. The Old Bazaar of Skopje, the columns of the Stone Bridge, and the murals in the upper parts of the Church of Saint Panteleimon, Gorno Nerezi were all severely damaged. Some modern sources estimate this earthquake to have been a Category XII (Extreme) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale, although others believe this is an overestimate.

In 1623–1624, Pjeter Mazreku, a Roman Catholic prelate, reported the town was inhabited by "Turks (Muslims), the majority of them being Albanians, the rest are of Asiatic origin", Mazreku further wrote, "there are also Jews, Serbs and some Greeks in the town". In the Ottoman period, Turk was used within Christian writings as a name for a Muslim or for Islamised Albanians. Sources from the years of 1689–1690 considered the town of Shkupi (Skopje) during those periods as part of Albania.

 
During the Iron Age, the area of Skopje was inhabited by the Dardani. Illyrian tribes lived in most of the area west of Skopje and Thracian groups (Maedi) to the east, whilst Paeonians lived to the south of Skopje
 
Scupi first served as a military base to maintain peace in the region and was officially named "Colonia Flavia Scupinorum", Flavia being the name of the emperor's dynasty. Shortly afterwards it became part of the province of Moesia during Augustus's rule. After the division of the province by Domitian in AD 86, Scupi was elevated to colonial status and became a seat of government within the new province of Moesia Superior. The district called Dardania (within Moesia Superior) was formed into a special province by Emperor Diocletian, with the capital at Naissus. In Roman times the eastern part of Dardania, from Scupi to Naissus, remained inhabited mostly by a local population, mainly of Thracian origin. The city's population was very diverse. Engravings on tombstones suggest that only a minority of the population came from Italia, whilst many veterans were from Dalmatia, southern Gaul and Syria. Because of the ethnic diversity of the population, Latin maintained itself as the main language in the city at the expense of Greek, which was spoken in most of the Moesian and Macedonian cities.

An ancient funeral inscription of the Illyrian tribe Albanoi was found in Scupi.
 
Shkup, the name of the city in Albanian, developed directly from Roman-era Scupi in agreement with the Albanian phonological development, the basis of evidence of an earlier Albanian settlement in the area
 
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