Population Islamizing in Elbasan City at the End of XIXth Century and the Beginning of the XXth Century: An Anthroponomical Analysis

Abstract

This paper analyses the characteristics of religion belief in the Elbasan city during the Ottoman occupation at the end of XIXth Century and the beginning of the XXth Century. The analysis is based on a large historical literature and Ottoman original documents (Daimi and Jokllama registers). Besides the explanations of the historical materials, the paper also provides a comparative analysis of the Muslim population dynamics during the study period. The religion belief is considered from the anthroponomy point of view, which suggests that its majority is Turk. This fact is totally reliable because of the long occupation impact. About 72% of the population during that period practiced the Muslims religion and only 28% practiced the Orthodox one. All Muslims neighborhoods had mosques, which served not only for the religion rituals but also as centers for the Islam Religion propagation. This structure has remained almost the same even nowadays. The documents analysis suggests that the population with Muslim belief was increasing not only because of the natural growth but also because of the recently embracing the Islam religion. The Ottoman Empire respected all other religions and this was legally executed. Finally, it seems that Islam religion was already not only an interesting concern but also an aware belief. Keywords: belief, Islam, Ottoman Empire, anthroponomy.