History Of Macedonia – Population of Skopje Through History

Population of Skopje Through History – Contemporary Sources

in FYROM Propaganda, Skopjan Propaganda, skopje / by Admin / on October 9, 2008 at 7:47 am /

– Skopje was conquered by Pasha Yigit in the reign of Bayezit I (1392). As the turkish academic Mehmet Inbasi informs us “Having Strategic significance as located in the borders, the city of Skopje was subjected to a systematic settlement after the conquest[..]It is, however, obvious that Ottoman conquests were made to settle there, which were not just temporary adventurous or marauding movements. “Bayezit I placed the Muslim Turks on the region between Skopje and Nis. According to Halil Inalcik [2] “Such places as Serez, Plovdiv, Babadag, Elbasan, Sarajevo, Silistre and Skopje had been rearranged by the uc-begis in such a way to be new Turkish cities“. Naturally Skopje and the areas close to Stip was settled by Ofcabolu Yoruks. The Serbian speaking Catholics in Skopje were converted to Islam and mixed with Ottomans.

The estimated population of Skopje between 1455 and 1569 was:

Its indicative that Skopje in certain periods like during the years 1841-42 was an ordinary Turkish city.

In page 211 he is in Skopje and writes about the population: ‘sa population est eminemment Bulgare,mais il y a aussi assez de Serbes et de Zinzares’ (Tr: its population is eminently Bulgarian, but there are also enough Serbs and Zinzares(Vlachs).

In page 212 he writes about the total population of the Pashalik of Skopje which was 600.000 that ‘the great mass are Bulgarians and Christians’. Below he writes that the Moslems are descendands of Turks or Bulgarians,Serbs and Albanians who converted to Islam. Conclusion:In the whole of the Skopje’s Pashalik weren’t any ethnic ‘Macedonians’ living.

– FromTravels and politics in the Near East (1898) by William Miller 1864-1945

With the formation of the second Bulgarian Empire in 1186, the rule of the Tsars once more made itself felt in Macedonia. As early as 1197 a Bulgarian noble declared himself independent in the passes of the Vardar, and governed Upper Macedonia in his own name. We find the Tsar Kalojan lord of Uskub in 1210.

Slaveikoff, by his journal, published at Constantinople in the sixties, had endeavoured to prepare the way for the national movement in Macedonia ; but so little was the Bulgarian alphabet then known, even among the Bulgarian Macedonians, that the editor was forced to print his patriotic articles in Greek characters.

Bcrats were granted in 1890 for two Bulgarian Bishops at Ochrida and Uskub respectively.

While later the author informs us “In the district of Uskub, where there are some Servian-speaking refugees and people speaking a Bulgarian dialect containing many Servian words“.

– E. G. Ravenstein in “Journal of the Statistical Society of London”, Vol. 40, No. 3 (Sep., 1877), pp. 433-467

The Sanjak of Skopje has a BULGARIAN MAJORITY!!!

– Taken from the book “History Of Montenegro” by Francis Seymour Stevenson, 1914

In page 24 we can find

Stevenson makes it explicit that the Ethnicities suffering from the extension of Serbian state were Greeks, Magyars, Shkipetars and Bulgarians since unfortunately for the usual propagandists of fYROM, these were the only Ethnicities of the region.

Its even interesting to witness the fact Stevenson mentions Skoplje when it became the new capital on the Wardar but still there were found No “Macedonians” there but obviously Bulgarians!!!!

– The Journal of International Relations By george h. blakeslee

Quote:

and Uskub, the great majority of the population is Slavic, … the middle ages until 1913 called themselves and were called by their neighbors Bulgarians

– In the book“Turkey in Transition” by G.F Abbott, published in 1909 we are informed Skopje (Uskub) had
“Bulgarian inhabitants“

– In the book “The Bulgarians and Anglo-Saxondom” published in 1919, we are informed that Skopje, along with other cities of Modern FYROM were “recognised as Bulgarian“

In page 208 he mentions ‘Bulgarian peasants’ near Skopje(Uskoub)

A table with numbers making explicit the population of Skopje during 19th cent.

Sources:
– Anastasovski “Contestations over Macedonian identity 1870-1912″
– Halil Inalcik “The middle east and the balkans under the ottoman empire essays on economy and society”
– Mehmet Inbasi “The city of Skopje and its demographic structure in the 19th century”

– In 1854 the French Ami Boue published in Vienna his book ‘Recueil d’itineraires dans la Turquie d’Europe.Details geographiques,topographiques et statistiques sur cet empire’.