Доселување на Албанците во струшки Дримкол
Immigration of Albanians in Struški Drimkol

Summary/Abstract: Settling of Albanian population in Struški Drimkol started in the course of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. The main reason for this late appearance of Albanians is that the great deal of the Albanian population from Čermanika and Bulčiza has arisen from melting of Slavs into Albanians. There are villages in the area populated with Albanians who consider themselves aboriginal population. The aboriginal people in question are actually of Slavic Macedonian origin, thought they adopted the Muslim religion during the Turkish reign and become Albanized in the course of time since they lived in same villages as the immigrated Albanians. Albanians from Struški Drimkol belong to the Toska ethnic group. The areas from which they emigrated are considered to be Čermanika, Korca, Elbasan and Pogradec, i.e., the south of Albania. Great number of them have moved in this area by force, plundering and killing people and also expelling them from their homes. Turkish authorities did not do anything to stop these intrusions. Moreover, they fostered the immigration and even organized settling of Albanian Muslims in Struški Drimkol expecting to establish a kind of ethnic-religious balance of Muslim and Christian population. The already existing roads Drach - Elbasan - Ohrid - Bitola and Skadar - Drach - Struga have been of great use for Albanians in their migration in these areas, although they also used mountain roads. The natural geography with good pastures attracted Albanians to settle these areas. Albanians that immigrated in Struški Drimkol have in no case established their own settlement, they rather moved into existing villages already inhabited by Macedonian population.

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