ΠΥΛΗ ΚΑΤΑΝΟΥ
Albania and Epirus
In the Balkan Peninsula two anthropological races prevailed: the Mediterranean and Dinaric. In the north of the peninsula other races, to a lesser extent, made their appearance. As I discussed earlier, the Mediterranean race, even from the ancient times, was pressed by the Dinarics of the north, a pressure that finally reached equilibrium. The Mediterraneans were compressed to the south-east of the peninsula, while the Dinarics settled down to the north and northwest part of it. Generally, the Dinarics dominated the areas of present-day Rumania, Albania and the former Yugoslavia, while the Mediterraneans the areas of Hellas and Bulgaria.
As I have already explained, the Dinarics formed a branch of the Caucasic stock that sprung up in the area of the Caucasus. One branch of the Caucasic stock, the Armenoid, moved to the Near East; another, the Dinaric, moved to the west, entering Europe. The main body of the Dinaric race descended to the Balkan Peninsula, but there were also some other offshoots which moved farther west to Bavaria, southeast France, northeast Italy and round the Bay of Biscay. These Dinaric offshoots mixed with the European races but retained more or less some ancestral elements. Their anthropological characteristics proved of course stronger in time, but some linguistic remnants were also detected: the strange language of the Basques, for example, shares some common roots with the Caucasian languages. However, these Caucasian roots also exist in the modern Albanian language, a language that descends from the Illyrian. Schwidetzky verifies the strong presence of the Dinarics in Southern Germany. Von Arndt first detected this relation of the Albanian to the Basque language and their common roots from the languages of the mountainous Caucasus. He presented his evidence in Peter Pallas’ Comparative Dictionary (published by the incitement of the Russian Empress Catherine II).
Ancient countries of Transcaucasia.
It is remarkable, though, that before the Iberian Peninsula acquired its name, the ancient Hellenes called those people who resided west of the Caspian Sea Iberians. Close to those “Iberians”- and north of Armenia – there lived the Albanians. The emigration of those Dinaric peoples to Europe resulted in the transplantation of their names in their new countries.
There are a number of other similarities between the two “Albanias”, the one of the Caucasus and the other of the Balkans. In the former there was a town named “Albanon” or “Albani”, while in the later there was the town “Arvon” or “Arvanon” as well as “Alvanopolis” (Elbasan). The Hellenes called parts of the Caucasus Mountains “Keravnia”, as well as the mountains of Balkan Albania. Ptolemeus and Strabo write that near the Caucasus there existed the people of “Touski” or “Doski”, who are almost the same as the “Tosks” of southern Albania. The Tosks call themselves “Arber” and thus the word “Arvanites”. [See Strabo (11, 4), Plutarch (Pomp. 34 and Luk. 26), and Ptolemy (5, 11). That area of the Caucasus is called today Azerbaijan and Georgia]. Even as late as the fifteenth century, the Albanians called their language “ Skiperian”, as Biris mentions. The Hellenes called them Albanians even before the time of Ptolemy.
These and other similarities point to the relationship of these two people; as Koupitoris points out, it is “a most ancient relationship, before recorded history”. As we have indicated, the Dinarics had infiltrated the Balkan Peninsula in prehistoric times; the Albanians formed their southern branch. We do not know what prompted them to invade Europe at that time and more particularly to descent to the Balkan Peninsula. One can only conjecture. Being culturally undeveloped, but knowing and admiring Hellenic civilization, they might have attempted a war of conquest. They were myths in the Caucasus related to Jason and the Argonautic expedition and their descent from a grandson of Iapetos (Strabo, 11,503, Tacitus, 6, 34 etc.). The Cirscassians, who lived in the Caucasus, believed that they were of Thracian origin.
The Albanians, however, from the language that they spoke, Illyrian, almost nothing survived since they would abandon their language when they encountered the languages of other more developed people. Then, in the southern Balkans where the Albanians reached, they encountered the Pelasgic language, from which they certainly borrowed many elements. In Roman times the Illyrians of the northern Balkan Peninsula, gave up their language to adopt Latin and later on Slavic.
Ghegs Traditional costumes in Albania
The modern Albanian language is a mixture of Latin, Slavic, Hellenic and Turkish as well as Illyrian. The Illyrian linguistic roots which relate to the Caucasic are certainly few and some of them uncertain – since the ancient Illyrians did not leave written documents. The words, however, which are of Hellenic origin refer to the Pelasgic antiquity, as the pronunciation of the rough breathing (helk=έλκω, draw, pull) and the “digamma” (voe=ωόν, egg, var=αίρω, raise, lift) prove. Koupitoris has presented the relationship of many Albanian words to the ancient Aeloic dialect – concluding from this that the Pelasgic was the nearest to the Aeolic. This linguistic data proves the ancient arrival of the Albanians to that area as well as their intermixture with Hellenic-Pelasgic elements. However, this is not evidence enough to prove that the Illyrians “form a Hellenic race”, as Kupitoris insists. The latter view is somehow stale. It is common mistake of researchers to draw ethnological conclusions only from linguistic elements. Koupitoris, particularly, who supports the arrival of the Albanians from Caspian, does not excuse the inconsistency for the “Hellenicity” of the Illyrians.
Let us examine then the anthropological elements to have a clearer view. However, I should remind the reader of the main racial features of the Mediterraneans and Dinarics in order to follow the diachronic tug of war that exists between them within the broad Balkan area. As Alekseev proves the anthropological relationship of the Dinarics with the ancient people of the Caucasus is indisputable. The Dinarics are taller than the Mediterranean. Their cranial index (breadth/length) was always much larger. We have dolichocrany with indexes smaller than 75, mesocrany with 75-80, and brachycrany with indexes larger than 80. In living people, the limits of the “head index” are 76 and 81 respectively. In antiquity it was about 80 (the Hellenic type was about 77); today it is hyper-brachycephalic (more than 85), while in the Hellenic area it is about 82. The back skull of the Dinarics is flatter (occipital flatness) and their ears usually protrude. In contrast, the Mediterraneans have small ears (even smaller than the Nordics). The Dinarics have a smaller skull, flatter and higher, than the Mediterraneans. The face of the Dinarics is also higher and their nose is crooked.
Gheg and Tosk are dialects of Albania. In south Albania live Epirotic Hellenes.
I have already mentioned that in antiquity the Dinarics first infiltrated the Hellenic area, particularly from the northwest. The Illyrians by gathering to the Adriatic coast with their infiltration to Epirus and Acarnania and with their possible admixture with the Dorians brought mainly to western Hellas a Dinaric contribution to the Mediterranean population. Anyway, the anthropological findings of ancient Hellas do not prove that the contribution was significant, since the main Mediterranean features were not affected by a Dinaric influence.
We could say the same about the modern situation. The head length in Hellas is 185-188mm (while in the Dinarics it is about 180). Occipital flatness in Hellas is limited; it differs from area to area from 2.5 to 13%; in southwest Hellas (in Peloponnese) it is just 3.5%. In Epirus where occipital flatness exceeds 40%, the Dinaric influence is clear. The nose height in Hellas is about 53-54mm (only in Epirus does it exceed 55), while in the Dinarics the nose height is about 58. According to Necrasov, the Albanians have more than 57 and according to Coon the Ghegs of northern Albania have 58.1.
Generally, a somewhat Dinaric admixture appears in Hellas only in Epirus (where there is hyper-brachycephaly with the index beyond 87), while the Dinaric participation in the other parts of the country is very small. Of course, the safest way to verify the degree of the Dinaric participation in Hellas would be the measurement of the cranial height on recent skeletal material; but this unfortunately is not possible. The Dinarics race has a large cranial height. Xirotiri’s view then that “racially western Hellas is basically Dinaric, while eastern Hellas is Mediterranean" is not justified. Pitsios’s research on the Peloponnese does not leave such possibility. Furthermore, the opinion of the German anthropologist K. Saller is very clear on this: “the evolution of the Hellenes until the present day remains basically Mediterranean and less Dinaric, compared to the other southeastern parts of Europe”. Beyond that, the great dispersion of the few Dinaric features among the Hellenic population also proves the antiquity of this admixture.
It is a fact that the Hellenic race in the course of time became brachycephalic, mainly exhibiting an increase in cranial breadth: from 141mmit gradually reached 145-148. This means an increase in the cranial index B/L from about 77 (mesocrany) to about 82 (brachycrany). This phenomenon, however, is wrongly called by some “Dinarization”, since it is not due to a mixture with the Dinaric race. The correct term is “brachycephalization”. The Swedish anthropologist Lundman writes that “the rounding of the cranial shape continues to our days and this not usually due to population movements, but to a local change in type, probably by a mutation”. In pre-historic times the Mediterranean race was dolichocranic. Saller refers to von Luschan’s research on ancient Crete, where a gradual brachycephalization was certified. In the year -3000, the cranial index was about 73.5, in -2000 were 75.5, at about -1500 reached the 76.5, and at ca. -1000 exceeded 79.
We are referring to cranial dimensions and not head ones. That is, there is a widening of the skull of about 6mm from antiquity up to the present day. Brachycephalization affected to a lesser degree the cranial length, which became smaller, about 3mm. The Thracians today are still near to mesocrany (index 80).
Brachycephalization was indeed a general phenomenon throughout Europe and not only in Hellas. This phenomenon was also noted in the Mongoloid race in the last 2000 years. In the Neolithic period, the European cranial index was less than 76, with the exceptions being the “Alpine” area in central Europe (76-80) and the Dinarics who invaded at that time. Doth the Mediterranean and the Nordic races were dolichocephalic, thus, as Baker notes, the skulls of these two races are difficult to discern, unlike the alpine skulls. The tendency toward brachycephalization appeared as a phenomenon in all Europe. As the anthropologists de Froe and Schwidetzky note, “[this tendency] was not, the due to the Alpine race’s increasing influence, as previous writers believed”, nor, of course, to a Dinaric influence.
Typical mountain Gheg Albanian Tosk Albanian girls in traditional costums
Today in Europe there are no longer dolichocephalic people. The only people who are mesocephalic are the Spanish, the southern Italians, the English, the Flemish and the Scandinavians. All other people are brachycephalic. Thus, the division of the indexes-that is, dolichocephaly, mesocephaly and brachycephaly-do not serve contemporary anthropological needs, but only to paleoanthropology. Today, the areas of central and southern Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, southern Poland, northern Italy, central France and of course the Dinaric areas are hyper-brachycephalic.
Brachycephalization began in ancient times and continued in Europe, particularly from the beginning of the Middle Ages and approximately up to the previous century. Basically, it had a result an increase in cranial breadth and a reduction somewhat in the cranial length. Bunak points out that “there was also an influence in the face breadth”, while on the contrary Vallois detected an increase in leptoprosopy.
Much has been written about the causes of brachycephalization. Fischer considered it relevant to the civilization of the people. On the contrary Lundman connects it to “poverty, as far as food is concerned, and to the coldness of the areas”. Many thought that the child rearing methods exerts an influence. Thus, for instance, infant swaddling and the placing of infants on their backs increase their cranial breadth, while on the contrary the placing of infants on their side reduces the head index. While this is true, we do not believe that today this influence was decisive.
Ancient Illyrian skulls are brachcephalic with obvious occipital flatness
Typical Dinaric in Albania
Greek girls from Northern Epirus, Albania
Flag of the autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus.
Greek drachm 229-100 B.C. Apollonia Illyria silver
There are some historical examples of artificial cranial molding due to the local customs of the Incas, the Huns and the Tatars. It seems that something similar happened in Epirus, where midwives pressed the skull of a newborn, so that he could become “a seller of rolls in Constantinople”! Hippocrates also refers to a people near the Azofic Sea, probably the Kirghizians, who mixed with the Mongoloids and who reacted against their brachycephalization with an artificial molding of the infant’s skull into an oblong shape. We know today that such customs do not have a permanent physical effect, since the acquired characteristics are not inherited.
The most prevalent view for the cause of brachycephalization is that supported by Hulse and Schreider, who believe that persistent endogamy, that is, the long isolation of a population in one area, increases brachycephaly. Populations isolated in mountainous and difficult to reach areas tend toward brachycephalization, perhaps by the combined influence of some recessive genes, or perhaps because brachycephaly is a prevalent quality. In mountainous populations the high altitude perhaps exercises an influence on brachycephalization. The solar radiation is far greater on the mountain, especially when this is extended and it perhaps causes a relevant mutation in the genetic substance. Living a year on a mountain with an altitude of 1500 m (according to an announcement of Hessing-Stiftung of Augsbourg) brings an influence of 73mRem, equal to 243 chest x-rays. Amazingly even Plato had detected a difference in the people living in high altitude (Timaios 22D).
The hyperbrachycephalization of mountainous Austria, Bavaria and Epirus can be explained in this way/ Generally, the closed societies of the Middle Ages might have affected the brachycephalization of Europe, while on the contrary, given the modern means of transportation, the mobility of modern people led to de-brachycephalization. Indeed, in the last century, a reverse of the phenomenon is detected-especially in the large cities where endogamy is reduced. For instance, Vallois detects this reversion in France, where the head index in the last century averaged 78 to 88, while today it averages 78 to 84. Gloor indicates the same tendency in Switzerland, believing that the cause for this reversion is the reduction of endogamy; he adds that the de-brachycephalization now occurs with an elongation of the skull rather than with the reduction of its width. Poulianos also certifies a de-brachycephalization in Hellas in the last decades.
This is what Poulianos also believes, that “the Mediterranean origin of the Epirot type is certain. Compared to the other types of Hellas, the Epirot type lives in relatively greater geographic isolation, and in more difficult weather conditions, and consequently to more special life conditions. We believe that the extreme brachycephaly that characterizes the Epirot and distinguishes him from every other Hellenic type is due to a degree to a combination of these causes”. Of course, but up to a degree because hyper-brachycephaly does not bring about occipital flatness which is widely spread.
It has been noted that the Albanians, who emigrated to Kosovo and other countries some centuries ago, do not present a high degree of brachycephalization. Today, 90% of the people of Kosovo are Albanians and that is why this area is disputed by Albania. The high altitude of Albania and Epirus exerted a reinforcing influence on the phenomenon of brachycephaly, but not, however, a decisive influence. It seems that the other Dinaric characteristics (occipital flatness, crooked nose) were not affected by the environment.
The anthropological data for Albania clearly indicates that Albania is a typical Dinaric country, as Saller comments. They have large brachycephaly (especially a large head width), hypsicrany, occipital flatness, long nose, and deep hair color and brown or olive eyes. However, the mixing of the Albanians with the ancient Hellenes, in that area, renders them less Dinaric compared to their northern neighbors, as Lundmann states.
Generally, one can certify a gradual anthropological differentiation from the north Albania where the so-called Ghegs live, to the south where the Tosks live, and further to the south, the northern Epirots. Of course this differentiation cannot be entirely absolute and clear, despite the mountainous area and the difficulties in transportation. The river Shkumbi is the geographical border between the two Albanian breeds. The Ghegs speak a different dialect from the Tosks, while the Northern Epirots speak the Hellenic language. The Ghegs have a very long, thin, crooked nose, with a nose index just 58.4. The Tosks (according to researches of Tildesley and Necrasov) have a straighter nose and larger nose index (60.5 to 64). Research specifically on the northern Epirots has the same nose index with the other Epirots of Hellas, that is, beyond 65. According to Poulianos 65.6 is the relevant index, while the index in the Peloponnese, according to Pitsios, is even higher (67.3).
Wherever you excavate in Albania you will find ancient Greek antiquities
Apollonia Nymphaeum in Apollonia
Dyrrachium Illyria 208 BC. Ancient Greek silver coin
Thus, the increasing influence of the Mediterranean race on the Albanian south becomes obvious. As far as the head index is concerned, the Tosks have a smaller head length, an index of 88-89, that is, hyper-brachycephaly, while the Ghegs have about 85. This phenomenon is attributed to the infiltration of the Slavs (who were light-colored and had long heads) to northern Albania at the beginning of the Middle Ages. Indeed, the Ghegs have more light-colored eyes than the Tosks. The somewhat light-coloredness of the area is also justified by its isolation, since endogamy contributes to the “homozygosis” of the recessive genes of light-coloredness.
There is also a differentiation from a mental point of view. According to researcher Koupitoris, who specializes on Albania, the Ghegs are wilder, while the Tosks are more ingenious. According to Christoforos Perrevos (the friend of Rigas Pheraios), the Ghegs are duller. In conclusion in Albania one can discern the Dinaric race with the decreasing influence of the Slavs in the south, and an increasing influence of the Mediterranean race. As Amantos writes, “the Tosks mixed with the Hellenes and were influenced by the Hellenic civilization”. Biris calls them “Helleno-albanic Tosks”. During the Middle Ages most of the Tosks and the northern Epirots immigrated to Hellas and became the first “Arvanites”.
Thus, from an ethnological view, a point can be raised for the area of the Tosks (modern central Albania), which Hellas could even claim, if the linguistic, cultural, and the religious differentiation would not be a problem. The Hellenicity, however, of Northern Epirus cannot be disputed, since the northern Epirots clearly exhibit the racial prevalence of the Mediterranean type and also the Hellenic consciousness (language, religion, will). This had already been detected by Strabo, who had called only northern Albania “Illyria”, while about the southern area he writes that the Illyrians mixed with Epirots. He also maps out Epirus up to the Egnatia way, that is, up to Durazzo.
Autonomy Declaration1914
When in 1913 the Hellenic army liberated Epirus from the Turks, and the Great Powers of the time, giving into the demands of Italy, adjudicated Northern Epirus to the newly-established Albanian state, the people of the former, under the leadership of G. Ch. Zographos, declared their autonomy. The Albanian attack then was repelled successfully and their autonomy was universally recognized (Treaty of Corfu). Later, with the outbreak of WWI, the Entente Powers agreed to let Hellas control once again northern Epirus, but in 1916, when Italy joined the Entente Powers, Hellas was again obliged to withdraw. The Hellenic army invaded northern Epirus for the third time in 1940, fighting against Italy.
The heavy toll that the war took on the nation - the thousands of dead soldiers and officers – established permanently and undisputedly Hellas’ right to the area. The victorious forces of WWII referred the issue of the settlement of northern Epirus to the future Peace Treaty, but before this happened (in 1989 with the return of Germany), the Hellenic government hastened to give up her rights, raising the typical state of war that existed between Hellas and Albania, and proceeded in guaranteeing the present Hellenic-Albanian borders. I must stress, though, that these Hellenic governmental initiatives do not coincide with the feelings of the Hellenic nation. Hellas should not claim only human rights for the northern Epirots, but also national rights.
Stamp Epirus 1914 Infantry Stamp Epirus 1914 flag Stamp Epirus 1916 occupation
Ancient Illyrian (pre-Albanian) coins have Greek language upon them
In Albania live about 250.000-300.000 ethnic Hellenes
Ancient map of the Caucasus by the geographer Ptolemeus on which Albania and Iberia are underlined.
Arvanites
After the tenth century, and especially during the fourteenth century, the Albanians emigrated en masse. The Ghegs in particular emigrated to neighboring Kosovo; actually changing the latter’s ethnological structure. In smaller numbers Albanian-speaking people descended to Epirus, the Peloponnese and southern Hellas. Those who descended to Hellas at that time, the “Arvanites”, were northern Epirots and Tosks, most of whom also spoke the Hellenic language.
The descent of this Albanian-speaking population to southern Hellas did not take place because at that time the area was sparsely populated (as some have argued) but because southern Hellas was rich both in agriculture and trade. This is verified by Frankish sources (Miller), since, as it is known, the Franks occupied the area till then. That descent is similar to the recent descent that takes place since 1990.
Of the Arvanites that came to Hellas at that time, many emigrated to Kalavria and Sicily during the next two centuries (as well as many Maniots), while Hellas was under the cruel domination of the Turks. Quantitatively, only a few Arvanites stayed in Hellas. However, their number seemed greater later, when with the liberation of Hellas, many communities spoke the “Arbanian” dialect. Then, the question was raised about the ethnological position of those Arbanians. Arbanian communities were established in Boetia, Attica, Euboea, Argolis, Corinthos and else where.
Sourmelis explain that under the Turkish occupation, many Hellenic communities which were cohabiting with Arbanians preferred to dress and speak like Arbanians to avoid the Turkish persecution. For this reason the bilingual communities multiplied. Biris points out that “in the places where the Hellenic and the Arbanian languages intermixed and latter language prevailed”. This is the reference to the Arbanian communities that existed in Hellas after 1830. As we shall see, anthropologists verify this view today.
Arvanites with Hellenic consciousness in Peloponnese Arvanites with their costumes in Hellas
Indeed, Stephanos, in 1911, had noticed that none of the Arbanian communities in Hellas was Hyper-brachycephalic. The head indexes that Stephanos measured, even though they do not share many similarities, were not outside the spectrum of Hellenic head index measurements. Everywhere the average head index wavered between 80 and 84, with the Arvanites of Argolis tending towards hyper-brachycephaly and the Arvanites of Attica, Euboea and Corinth tending toward mesocephaly.
Pitsios’s recent research on the Peloponnese verifies that the Arvanites who live there do not have any relationship to the Dinaric race, but are even more Mediterranean than the Hellenes of Epirus. Thus, for example, the nose height of the Arvanites is about 53.5, of the Epirots about 55.5, while that of the northern Albanians, according to Coon’s research, exceeds 58 mm. Moreover, the jaw breadth of the Arvanites, which is small in the Dinarics, forming a triangular face (in the Ghegs it is just 107.7), exceeds 110mm, which is the same as the other Peloponnesian populations – the Epirots have about 109. Moreover, orthometopy, which is pure characteristic of the Mediterranean race, is found in the Arvanites to a degree of 90%, that is, the same degree as in the other Peloponnesians, while in the Ghegs the degree is below 40%. This and other evidence prove that the Arvanites “do not differ from the Hellenes of the neighboring villages”. That is why the Franks did not differentiate them from other Hellenes (they used to write that “they form one people”), and distinguished them only by their language and their inclination toward the military art, as Biris points out.
This military inclination of the Arvanites, which caused the Franks to identify the name “arvanitis” with “soldier”, denotes a singularity in their mental idiosyncrasy. And there is indeed a singularity in the mental character of the Arvanites, who are considered even today callous, stubborn and self-seeking. Kambouroglou had long ago detected this differentiation of the Arvanites from the other Hellenes – even though he accepted that the former came from Epirus and not from Albania like the Turco-albanians. During the Turkish occupation in Hellas, a large number of Albanians converted to Islam, particularly the Ghegs. These Muslim Albanians are known as Turk-albanians; they combined the hardness of the Albanian character with religious fanaticism. The Turks used them in their military campaigns.
But Biris also writes that “as the Arvanites proved in exercising their military skills, they did not lack ingenuity, but their lack of versatility made them rough in manners, persistent and obstinate”. (what we call in Hellas, “a stubborn Arvanian head”). This mental singularity of the Arvanites recalls the mental description of the Dinaric race. And because mental characteristics are almost as convincing as anthropographic ones as far as raciality are concerned, one can conclude that the Arvanites have a somewhat dinaric origin- even though the Dinaric participation is minimal, as physical traits reveal. This contrast between mental and physical traits certifies that mental racial characteristics can be occasionally more stable and diachronic than body elements, a fact that I have already mentioned and interpreted. (D. Demopoulos, “An Introduction to Biopolitics, 1997).
Finally, the Dinaric race resembles somewhat the Nordic from the psychic point of view, while it is the exact opposite of the Mediterranean in that it aims toward some kind of stiffness and fanaticism and is distinguished by the seriousness of its expression and outlook. Burckhardt writes that, “a Dinaric trait can be considered a somewhat psychic hardness that has something cruel and wild in it”, and he adds, that “while the Mediterranean race is characterized by a certain refinement, tact, we could attribute to the Dinaric mentality an inclination to cruelty”.
The Hellenic national consciousness of the Arvanites is indisputable. The consciousness forms the second component of nationality. We can support then without doubt that the Arvanites, even though their origins are minimally Dinaric like that of many Hellenes, do not differ ethnologically from other Hellenic people. Language alone is not an indication of nationality. Besides, the Arbanian language is rarely spoken today – and only as a second language.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
The Origin of the Hellenes. Their roots, related peoples and neighbors. Eleftheri Skepsis
Μπίρης Κ. Αρβανίτες (Arvanites), 1960
Κουπιτώρης Π. Αλβανικαί Μελέται (Albanian Studies), 1879
Baker J. Race, 1974
Πουλιανός Αρ. Η Προέλευση των Ελλήνων (The Descent of the Greeks), 1968
Hoffmann O., Debrunner A. Geschichte der griechischen Sprache, 1953
΄ Πίτσιος Θ.Κ. Ανθρωπολογική μελέτη του πληθυσμού της Πελοποννήσου (Anthropological Study of the Population in Peloponnese), 1978
Saller K. Rassengeschichte des Menschen, 1969
Lundman B. Geographische Anthropologie, 1967
Ξηροτύρης Ν. Rassengeschichte von Griechland in “Rassengesch, der Menschheit”.VI,1975
Froe A. De, Schwidetzky I. Rassengeschiste der Niederlande in Rassengesch. d. Menscheit, VII,1979
Schreider E. Interbreeding, biological and mental variations in France, 1969
Coon C., The Mountains of giants, 1950
Bunak V. Rassengeschichte Osteuropas in der Menschheit IV, 1976
Hulse F.S. Esogamie et heterosis, 1958
Schreider E. Inbreeding, biological and mental variations in France, 1969
Gloor P.A. La structure raciale de la Suisse, 1962
Schwidetzky I. Albanien in Rassengesch. der Menschheit IV, 1979
Vallois H.V., ChamlaM.C. Histoire raciale de la France in Rassengesch. der Menschheit. II 1974
Άμαντος Κ. Οι βόρειοι Γείτονες της Ελλάδος (The Northern Neighbors of Greece), 1923
Jochalas T. Ueber eine Einwanderung der Albaner in Griechenland, 1971
Σουρμελής Δ. Κατάστασις συνοπτική της πόλεως Αθηνών (A Concise Description of the City of Athens),1815
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Click for: The Slavs and the Fallmerayer's theory
The "tribes" of the Albanians. Let's meet them...
Writes Pantelis Stef. Athanasiadis
Albanians are our neighbors, but in fact they have never proved to be good neighbors and we know this from history, but also from the current terrible everyday life, because of their presence in our country, which oppresses us all.
They managed to become a state only in 1912. After the fall of the existing socialism and the quasi-opening of the borders, many thousands of Albanians fled to Greece, where the majority of them created a series of social problems (tendency towards crime, etc.). These do not concern history, but sociology.
However, it is worth knowing who are these neighbors who have disturbed our lives in various ways, which usually they move in the realm of criminal law or its fringes, we also have official manifestations of bigotry, which are directed directly against the territorial integrity, our country.
The Albanian nation is divided into certain "tribes" with special characteristics each. These "races" are the following:
* The Ghegs: They live in the north of the country, in the valley of the river Drino, mainly in the area of Skodra. They are usually light in color with blue eyes. Tough, violent and belligerent. The Ghegs are taller and larger than the Tosks. They speak the Gheg dialect and are more unruly and spontaneous than the Tosks. Muslims in religion. They create strong tribal families, and show complete obedience to the leader. They faithfully follow their manners, customs and traditions and do not hesitate to come into conflict with the state and the law. During the Turkish occupation, the Ghegs were battalions of rioters of the Turkish army, who followed them with the aim of plundering.
* The Malisors: They are mountainous Ghegs who live in the area of the Albanian Alps on the border with Montenegro and are Christians (Orthodox or Catholic) or Muslims.
* The Mirdites: They live in the valley of the river Mati and are generally Catholic. They are a branch of the Ghegs and are considered the most civilized Albanians.
* The Tosks: They are found in Central and Southern Albania and are Muslim or Christian Orthodox. Their manners and customs are similar to the Greek ones. They are relatively short; speak the Tosk dialect of Albanian, which has been institutionalized as the official language of Albania. The Tisks are less expressive, and most of them are involved in politics, science and literature. The Tosks consider the Ghegs to be rude, primitive, irreconcilable and resilient, who do not easily accept the compulsions and conditions of lack of freedom.
* The Liapides: They are Muslims, living in the area of Mouzakia, between the mouths of the rivers Skoubi and Semani. The Semani, is the second largest river in Albania. The Liapides are distinguished for their savagery, cunning and audacity. These traits, they themselves consider as indicative of their bravery. Liapis was Ali Pasha of Ioannina (from Tepeleni) and the vizier of Sultan Abdul Hamid II was Ferit Pasha of Vlora (from Avlona). Their area is called Liapouria.
* The Chams (Tsamides): They are Muslims living today in Southern Albania. Their area was called Tsamuria. The name "Tsamuria" comes from the corruption of the name of the river Thyamis (Greek), Cham in Albanian.
Generally...
Northern Albanians are characteristically different from Southern Albanians. The Ghegs, the Malisores and the Mirdites are believed to be descendants of the Illyrians. On the contrary, the Tosks, the Liaps and the Chams, are considered descendants of Greeks, with obvious signs of their intermingling with the Ghegs. In the Tosks, the Hellenic characteristics prevail, while in the Liaps and the Chams, the Gheg characteristics prevail. The mixing of the old Albanians with various foreign tribes, Roman, Venetian, Serbian and Turkish, had a significant influence on the formation of all the above Albanian tribes.
In the southern provinces of Albania, in the area that is more widely known as Northern Epirus, live purely Greek populations, with genuine Hellenic origin and conscience. Northern Epirus was liberated by the Greeks twice in the 20th century (in 1912 and 1940) but the geo-strategic interests of the Great Powers ceded the Northern Epirus to Albania.
The case of the Chamuria
The Chams (Tsams), Albanian-speaking Muslims, lived concentrated mainly in Thesprotia and especially in the regions of Igoumenitsa, Margariti, Filiates and Paramythia. When the war of 1940 began there were about 23-24,000 Tsams.
During the Fascist occupation they collaborated with the Italians initially and the Germans at the end, committing allot of crimes against the Greeks. In fact, by decree of the Italian fascist government, brothers Nouri Dino and Nazar Dino from Paramythia were appointed, the first high commissioner of Thesprotia, and the second colonel of "Militsia", ie the Militia. Later, with the approval of the Italians, they created the organization "Ksili Nacional Skipetar" (Albanian National Commission), a kind of local government, which for short was called (K.S.I.L.I.A). This organization created 14 battalions that committed terrible crimes against the Greek inhabitants of the area. In particular, the leaders of the Chams, Beys of bigotry from the time of the Ottoman Empire, cooperated with the occupying authorities and participated in persecutions, destructions, and mass executions. The most famous is the execution of 49 elites of Paramythia, in September 1943, carried out by the Germans at the suggestion of the Chams.
The case of the Chams
The Chams were finally expelled to Albania by the forces of EDES, Napoleon Zerva. The EDES guerrillas, who dominated the region of Epirus, carried out violent retaliation, which culminated in the mass expulsion of the Chams to Albania in September 1944.
In the Italian archives, a memoir of the Turkalbanian Chami is preserved, Dino to Benito Mussolini (addressed to him by ALCAVALIERE) with which he invokes the help of the Italians, expressing the devotion of the Tsami to Italy.
"All the Greeks - wrote Dino Bey among others - are armed, and day by day they are waiting for the coveted arrival of the British, often addressing us with threatening implications. The people of Tsamouria, meanwhile, have often asked me the question: "Italy fought Greece for Tsamuria, why does it not count on our faith now and leave us at the mercy of our common enemies?"
And he concluded:
"This strong and generous armed world could defend its land, and die for its devotion to Italy."
This memorandum is dated February 26, 1943.
The Chams still claim their return to Greece and the return of their property.
Nazis courted the Islamic Chams during the WW II
Albanian Nazi-fascists Chams
The muslim Chams, the Ghegs and the Turco-albanians during the history collaborated with the Turks, the nazi Germans and the fascist regime of Italians
