The Gorani (, ) or Goranci (, ), are a Slavic Muslim
ethnic group inhabiting the
Gora region—the triangle between
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
,
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
, and
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
. They number an estimated 60,000 people, and speak a transitional
South Slavic dialect, called ''
Goranski''. The vast majority of the Gorani people adhere to
Sunni Islam.
Name
The
ethnonym ''Goranci'', meaning "highlanders", is derived from the Slavic toponym ''
gora'', which means "hill, mountain".
Another
autonym
Autonym may refer to:
* Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym
* Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name
See also
* Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...
of this people is ''Našinci'', which literally means "our people, our ones".
In
Macedonian sources, the Gorani are sometimes called
Torbeši, a term used for Muslim Macedonians.
In the
Albanian language
Albanian ( endonym: or ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is spoken by the Albanians in the Balkans and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europ ...
, they are known as ''Goranët''
[ "Goranët jetojnë në krahinën e Gorës, që sot ndahet mes shteteve të Shqipërisë, të Kosovës etë Maqedonisë, krahinë nga ku e marrin edhe emrin."] and sometimes by other
exonyms
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
, such as ''Bulgareci'' ("Bulgarians"), ''Torbesh''
("bag carriers") and ''Poturë'' ("
turkified", from ''po-tur'', literally not Turk but, "turkified", used for Islamized Slavs).
Population
![Ethnic map of Kosovo, municipalities (1991)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Ethnic_map_of_Kosovo%2C_municipalities_%281991%29.png)
Some of the local Gorani people have over time also self declared themselves as
Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
,
Albanians,
Macedonians,
Bosniaks, Muslim
Bulgarians
Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe.
Etymology
Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely unders ...
,
Turks
Turk or Turks may refer to:
Communities and ethnic groups
* Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages
* Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
* Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...
, or just as
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, due to geopolitical circumstances and in censuses.
In Kosovo, the Gorani number 10,265 inhabitants,
[ which is drastically lower than before the ]Kosovo War
The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the wa ...
. In 1998, it was estimated that their total population number was at least 50,000.
Settlements
In Albania, there are nine Gorani-inhabited villages: Zapod, Pakisht, Orçikël, Kosharisht, Cernalevë, Orgjost, Oreshkë, Borje and Shishtavec
Shishtavec is a village in Kukës County in northeastern Albania. It was also the seat of the former municipality of the same name. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Kukës. The administrative unit of Shishtavec ...
.
/ref>
In Kosovo, there are 18 Gorani-inhabited villages: Baćka, Brod, Vranište, Globočice, Gornja Rapča, Gornji Krstac, Dikance
Dragash or Sharr ( sq-definite, Dragashi or ''Sharri'') or Dragaš ( sr-cyr, Драгаш), is a town and municipality located in the Prizren District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Dragash has 1,098 inhabitants, while the ...
, Donja Rapča, Donji Krstac, Zli Potok
Dragash or Sharr ( sq-definite, Dragashi or ''Sharri'') or Dragaš ( sr-cyr, Драгаш), is a List of cities in Kosovo, town and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in the District of Prizren, Prizren District of Kosovo. According t ...
, Kruševo, Kukaljane, Lještane, Ljubošta, Mlike, Orčuša, Radeša, and Restelica, plus the town of Dragaš
Dragash or Sharr ( sq-definite, Dragashi or ''Sharri'') or Dragaš ( sr-cyr, Драгаш), is a town and municipality located in the Prizren District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Dragash has 1,098 inhabitants, while the ...
.
Following 1999, Dragaš has a mixed population of Gorani, who live in the lower neighbourhood, and Albanians in the upper neighbourhood constituting the majority of inhabitants.
In North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
, there are two Gorani-inhabited villages located in the Polog
Polog ( mk, Полог, Polog; sq, Pollog), also known as the Polog Valley ( mk, links=no, Полошка Котлина, Pološka Kotlina; sq, links=no, Lugina e Pollogut), is located in the north-western part of the Republic of North Macedo ...
region: Jelovjane and Urvič.[ "Данашњи становници Урвича и Јеловјана на супротној, полошкој страни Шар-Планине, пореклом су Горани. Много су више утицале на исељавање Горана политичке промене, настале после 1912 године. Тада се скоро четвртина становништва иселила у Турску, за коју су се преко вере и дуге управе били интимно везали. Још једна миграција јаче је захватила Горане, али не у нашој земљи, него оне који су остали у границама Арбаније."]
History
Contemporary
The Gora municipality and Opoja region remained separated during the Milošević period. After the war, the Gorani-majority Gora municipality was merged with the Albanian inhabited Opoja
Opolje ( sq, Opoja/Opojë, sr, Опоље) is a region in the southern part of the municipality of Prizren in southern Kosovo. The region has 19 villages mainly inhabited by Kosovo Albanians.
Settlements
The region of Opoja includes 19 settleme ...
region to form the municipality of Dragaš
Dragash or Sharr ( sq-definite, Dragashi or ''Sharri'') or Dragaš ( sr-cyr, Драгаш), is a town and municipality located in the Prizren District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Dragash has 1,098 inhabitants, while the ...
by the United Nations Mission (UNMIK) and the new administrative unit has an Albanian majority.
In 2007 the Kosovar provisional institutions opened a school in Gora to teach the Bosnian language, which sparked minor consternation amongst the Gorani population. Many Gorani refuse to send their children to school due to societal prejudices, and threats of assimilation to Bosniaks or Albanians. Consequently, Gorani organized education per Serbia's curriculum.
Gorani activists in Serbia's proper stated they want Gora (a former municipality) to join the Association of Serb Municipalities, causing added pressure on the Gorani Community in Kosovo.
In 2018 Bulgarian activists among Gorani have filed a petition in the country's parliament demanding their official recognition as a separate minority.
Most Gorani state that the unstable situation and economic issues drive them to leave Kosovo. There is also some mention of threats and discrimination by ethnic Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbi ...
.
Apart from the multiethnic town of Dragash, the Gorani of Kosovo continue to live in villages primarily inhabited by their community and relations with Albanians remain tense. Mixed marriage between both communities do not occur with the exception of a few Gorani families that have migrated to Prizren.
Culture
Religion
In the 18th century, a wave of Islamization
Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occur ...
began in Gora.[Бурсаћ 2000, pp. 71-73 (Орхан Драгаш)] The Ottoman abolition of the Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid
The Archbishopric of Ohrid, also known as the Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid
*T. Kamusella in The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Central Europe, Springer, 2008, p. 276
*Aisling Lyon, Decentralisation and the Management of Ethni ...
and Serbian Patriarchate of Peć
The Serbian Patriarchate of Peć ( sr, Српска патријаршија у Пећи, ''Srpska patrijaršija u Peći'') or just Patriarchate of Peć ( sr, Пећка патријаршија, ''Pećka patrijaršija''), was an autocephalous ...
in 1766/1767 is thought to have prompted the Islamization of Gora as was the trend of many Balkan communities. The last Christian Gorani, Božana, died in the 19th century – she has received a cult, signifying the Gorani's Christian heritage, collected by Russian consuls Anastasiev and Yastrebov in the second half of the 19th century.[
]
Traditions
The Gorani are known for being "the best confectioners and bakers" in former Yugoslavia.
The Slavs of Gora were Christianized after 864 when Bulgaria adopted Christianity. The Ottomans conquered the region in the 14th century, which started the process of Islamization
Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occur ...
of the Gorani and neighbouring Albanians. However, the Gorani still tangentially observe some Orthodox Christian
Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion.
Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churche ...
traditions, such as Slavas and Đurđevdan
George's Day in Spring, or Saint George's Day ( sr, Ђурђевдан, Đurđevdan, ; bg, Гергьовден, Gergovden; mk, Ѓурѓовден, Ǵurǵovden; russian: Егорий Вешний, Yegoriy Veshniy, or russian: Юрьев ден ...
, and like Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
they know their Onomastik or saint's days.
Although most Gorani are Sunni Muslims, Sufism and in particular the Halveti and Bektashi
The Bektashi Order; sq, Tarikati Bektashi; tr, Bektaşi or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi mystic movement originating in the 13th-century. It is named after the Anatolian saint Haji Bektash Wali (d. 1271). The community is currently led by ...
Sufi orders are widespread.
Traditional Gorani folk music includes a two-beat dance called " oro" ('circle'), which is a circle dance focused on the foot movements: it always starts on the right foot and moves in an anti-clockwise direction. The Oro is usually accompanied by instruments such as curlje, kaval, čiftelija or tapan, and singing is used less frequently in the dances than in those of the Albanians and Serbs.
The "national" sport of '' Pelivona'' is a form of oil wrestling popular among Gorani with regular tournaments being held in the outdoors to the accompaniment of curlje and tapan with associated ritualized hand gestures and dances, with origins in the Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
through the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
's conquest of the Balkans.
The "national" drink of the Gorani is rakija
Rakia, Rakija, Rachiu or Raki (), is the collective term for fruit spirits (or fruit brandy) popular in the Balkans. The alcohol content of rakia is normally 40% ABV, but home-produced rakia can be stronger (typically 50%).
Etymology
Fruit sp ...
which is commonly distilled at home by elderly people. Another popular drink is Turkish coffee
Turkish coffee is a style of coffee prepared in a '' cezve'' using very finely ground coffee beans without filtering.
Preparation
Turkish coffee is very finely ground coffee brewed by boiling. Any coffee bean may be used; arabica varieties are ...
which is drunk in small cups accompanied by a glass of water. Tasseography
Tasseography (also known as tasseomancy, tassology, or tasseology) is a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments.
The terms derive from the French word ''tasse'' (cup), w ...
is popular among all Gorani using the residue of Turkish coffee.
File:Момче од Гора во народна носија.jpg, Gorani boy in folk costume
File:Veshje Tradicionale Struka e bardh Dhe Dimijat ..JPG, Gorani girls in folk costume
File:Veshje tradicionale.JPG, Elderly Gorani woman in traditional clothing
File:Festa e Patates Shishtavec.JPG, Young Gorani dancing at village festival
Language
The Gorani people speak South Slavic, a local dialect known as " Našinski" or "Goranski", which is part of a wider Torlakian dialect
Torlakian, or Torlak is a group of South Slavic dialects of southeastern Serbia, Kosovo, northeastern North Macedonia, and northwestern Bulgaria. Torlakian, together with Bulgarian and Macedonian, falls into the Balkan Slavic linguistic ar ...
,[Browne, Wayles (2002): Serbo-Croat. In: Bernard Comrie, Greville G. Corbett (eds.), ''The Slavonic Languages''. London: Taylor & Francis]
p. 383 spoken in Southern Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
, Western Bulgaria and part of North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
. The Slavic dialect of the Gorani community is known as ''Gorançe'' by Albanians.[ "In den 17 Dörfern des Kosovo wird Našinski/Goranče gesprochen, und sie gehören zu einer Gemeinde mit dem Verwaltungszentrum in Dragaš. Die 19 Dörfer in Albanien sind hingegen auf drei Gemeinden des Bezirks Kukës aufgeteilt, und zwar auf Shishtavec, Zapod und Topojan. Slavophone findet man freilich nur in den ersten beiden Gemeinden. Zur Gemeinde Shishtavec gehören sieben Dörfer und in den folgenden vier wird Našinski/Goranče gesprochen: Shishtavec (Šištaec/Šišteec), Borja (Borje), Cërnaleva (Cărnolevo/Cărneleve) und Oreshka (Orešek). Zur Gemeinde Zapod gehören ebenfalls sieben Dörfer, und in den folgenden fünf wird Našinski/Goranče gesprochen: Orgjost (Orgosta), Kosharisht (Košarišta), Pakisht (Pakiša/Pakišča) Zapod (Zapod) und Orçikla (Orčikl’e/Očikl’e)’. In der Gemeinde Topojan gibt es inzwischen keine slavophone Bevölkerung mehr. Die Einwohner selbst bezeichnen sich gewöhnlich als Goranen ‘Einwohner von Gora oder Našinci Unsrige, und ihre Sprache wird von ihnen als Našinski und von den Albanern als Gorançe bezeichnet."] Within the Gorani community there is a recognition of their dialects being closer to the Macedonian language, than to Serbian. The Torlakian dialect is a transitional dialect of Serbian and Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
whilst also sharing features with Macedonian. The Gorani speech is classified as an Old-Shtokavian dialect of Serbian, the Prizren-Timok dialect.
Bulgarian linguists classify the Gorani dialect as part of a Bulgarian dialectal area. Despite not bordering Bulgaria and being an Islamic nation, the Gorani are a target of Bulgarian irredentism on the belief that if the Gora dialect is Bulgarian, then all Macedonian dialects are Bulgarian. Illustrating the Bulgarian interest is the first Gorani– Albanian dictionary (with 43,000 words and phrases) in 2007 by Albanian-Gorani scholar Nazif Dokle, sponsored and printed by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In this dictionary, Dokle defined the language as related to "the Bulgarian dialects spoken in the northwest" North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
.[Dokle, Nazif. Reçnik Goransko (Nashinski) - Albanski, Sofia 2007, Peçatnica Naukini akademiji "Prof. Marin Drinov", s. 5, 11, 19 (Nazif Dokle. Goranian (Nashinski) - Albanian Dictionary, Sofia 2007, Published by Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, p. 5, 11, 19)]
Within scholarship, the Goran dialects previously classified as belonging to Serbian have been reassigned to Macedonian in the 21st century.[ "The Gorans, who are also Muslim, have a separate identity. The Goran dialects used to be classed with Serbian, but have more recently been assigned to Macedonian, and Gorans themselves recognize that their dialects are closer to Macedonian than to Serbian."]
Gorani speech has numerous loan words, being greatly influenced by Turkish and Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
due to the influence of Islam, as well as Albanian areally. It is similar to the Bosnian language because of the numerous Turkish loanwords. Gorani speak Serbo-Croatian in school.
According to the last 1991 Yugoslav census, 54.8% of the inhabitants of the Gora municipality said that they spoke the Gorani language, while the remainder had called it Serbian. Some linguists, including Vidoeski, Brozovic and Ivic, identify the Slavic-dialect of the Gora region as Macedonian. There are assertions that Macedonian is spoken in 50 to 75 villages in the Gora region (Albania and Kosovo). According to some unverified sources in 2003 the Kosovo government acquired Macedonian language and grammar books for Gorani school.
In 2008 the first issue of a Macedonian language newspaper, ''Гороцвет'' (''Gorocvet'') was published.
::''Verno libe''
:''Gledaj me gledaj libe, abe verno libe,
:''nagledaj mi se dur ti som ovde.''
:''Utre ke odim abe verno libe dalek-dalek''
:''na pusti Gurbet.''
:''Racaj poracaj libe šo da ti kupim.''
:''Ti da mi kupiš''
:''abe gledaniku cerna šamija, ja da ga nosim
:''abe gledaniku i da ga želam.''
:''Racaj poracaj abe verno''
:''libe šo da ti pratim''
:''Ti da mi pratiš abe''
:''gledaniku šarena knjiga''
:''Ja da ga pujem abe''
''gledaniku i da ga želam''
Politics
* Unique Gorani Party
The United Gorani Party ( sr, Jedinstvena Goranska Partija, sq, Partia Unike Gorane) is a Gorani political party in Kosovo.
History
The Unique Gorani Party was registered by the Kosovo Electoral Commission on 12 May 2014.
Representation
Sin ...
* Civic Initiative of Gora
The Civic Initiative of Gora ( sr-Cyrl, Грађанска Иницијатива Горе, sr-Latn, Građanska Inicijativa Gore, sq, Nisma Qytetare e Gorës) is a Gorani political party in Kosovo.
History
The party held a seat in the Communi ...
Notable Gorani
* Fahrudin Jusufi
Fahrudin Jusufi ( sr-Cyrl, Фахрудин Јусуфи, ; 8 December 1939 – 9 August 2019) was a Yugoslav footballer who most notably played for Partizan, Eintracht Frankfurt and the Yugoslav national team.
Playing career Club career
Jusufi ...
, former Yugoslav footballer, born in Zli Potok
* Miralem Sulejmani
Miralem Sulejmani ( sr-Cyrl, Миралем Сулејмани, ; born 5 December 1988) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a winger.
When he signed for Ajax in 2008, he became the most expensive football player to have ever been ...
, Serbian footballer, of Gorani descent
* Almen Abdi
Almen Abdi (born 21 October 1986) is a retired Swiss Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He has previously played for FC Zürich, Zürich, Le Mans Union Club 72, Le Mans, Udinese Calcio, Udinese, Watford F.C., ...
, Swiss footballer, of Gorani descent
* Zeli Ismail, English footballer born in Shishtavec
* Zufer Avdija
Zufer Avdija ( sr, Зуфер Авдија, he, זופר אבדיה; born October 1, 1959) is a Serbian–Israeli professional basketball coach and former player who is the general manager and president of basketball operations for Bnei Herzliya ...
, former Israeli-Serbian basketball player, of Gorani descent
* Deni Avdija
Deni Avdija ( he, דֶנִי אָבְדִיָה, sr-cyr, Дени Авдија; born 3 January 2001) is an Israeli-Serbian professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the sma ...
, Israeli NBA basketball player, of Gorani descent
* Danel Sinani
Danel Sinani ( sr-Cyrl, Данел Синани; born 5 April 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for EFL Championship club Wigan Athletic, on loan from Norwich City. Born in Belgrade to Gorani parents, he plays for the ...
, Luxembourgish footballer, of Gorani descent
See also
* Torbeshi
* Pomaks
Pomaks ( bg, Помаци, Pomatsi; el, Πομάκοι, Pomáki; tr, Pomaklar) are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims inhabiting northwestern Turkey, Bulgaria and northeastern Greece. The c. 220,000 strong ethno-confessional minority in Bulgaria is ...
* Gorals
The Gorals ( pl, Górale; Goral dialect: ''Górole''; sk, Gorali; Cieszyn Silesia dialect, Cieszyn Silesian: ''Gorole''), also known as the Highlanders (in Poland as the Polish Highlanders) are an indigenous ethnographic or ethnic group primar ...
Notes
References
Sources
;Books
*
*
*
*
;Journals
*
*
*
*
;Symposia
*
**
**
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*
* Oberling, "Gurān", Encyclopædia Iranica, at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/guran
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorani (Ethnic Group)
Ethnic groups in Kosovo
Ethnic groups in Serbia
Ethnic groups in North Macedonia
Ethnoreligious groups in Europe
Slavic ethnic groups
Slavic highlanders
Islam in North Macedonia
South Slavs
Muslim communities in Europe
Kukës