Province of Plava between 1280 – 1620
In relation to the territory, the social structure and the populated localities of Plav, regarding the medieval period, as well as the first decades of the Ottoman rule, there seems to be a deficit of works in science. Until now, the province has not been subjected to a detailed research aimed at the exploration of material sources and archival documents, which would create adequate ground for a more advanced interpretation in the historical context. However, according to the existing data, including the charters of the Serbian feudal society, the Ottoman administrative summaries, the relations or correspondence of the time, narratives from the collective memory and examples from the discipline of toponymy, it seems that even in these circumstances a short history of the area can be laid out. In this context, as a result of this study, it seems that the province of Plavs includes a territory, which, although it gained political significance only from the end of the Middle Ages, later was characterized by quite dynamic developments in the socio-political plane. However, when it comes to the ethnic configuration, until the 15th century, it seems like a very diverse environment where the pre-Slavic society, specifically Vlach and Albanian, appears quite competitive, furthermore it could have dominated the area. However, with the passage of time, thanks to political and religious pressure, this stratum may have started towards serbization, a process which is not known to what extent it was completed, since in the second part of the 17th century they collectively gravitated towards other territories, while their new habitat after emigration is unknown.
Names of Albanians during the XIII–XVI centuries
This paper is concerned with the exploration of the names used within the ethnic Albanian community in the period between the XIII- XVI centuries, which appeared in the old documents and especially the population and property registers. Firstly, within the volume is explained the type and scope of authentic names, where most of them have no local character but were encountered almost throughout the territory populated by Albanians. Discussing Christian names is part of this paper as well. Names of this nature are divided into two groups: of the same form as other Balkan people whereas the second group involves those that were treated by Albanian language, which did not occur as such in the culture of other surrounding ethnic communities. Furthermore, the last two chapters explore the names of Ottoman-Islamic nature, the practice of
which began with the stabilization of the Ottoman authorities after the occupation, and with the female names found throughout the research.