Kachaks

Kosovo Albanian rebels controlling a road in Kosovo, 1920s

Kachaks (Albanian: kaçak, Serbian: kačaci/качаци) is a term used for the Albanian bandits active in the 19th and early 20th century in northern Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia, and later as a term for the militias of Albanian revolutionary organizations against the Kingdom of Serbia (1910–18) Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–24), called the "Kaçak movement".

Etymology

The word is derived from Turkish kaçak for "bandit, outlaw, army deserter",^[1] originally from kaç–ak ("one who runs away, deserter").^[2] The word refers to Albanian outlaws in groups who attacked and plundered individuals, caravans, or villages.^[1]

Background

History

The Committee for the National Defense of Kosovo (Albanian: Komiteti për Mbrojten Kombëtare së Kosovës) was created in Shkodër, under Hasan Prishtina. The Committee sponsored insurgents and organized active resistance in North Albania as well as Albanian populated areas of Yugoslavia.

In 1918, Albanian kachaks were active around Ohrid and Bitola.^[3]

The Kachaks were popular among Albanians, and local support to them increased in the 1920s when Hasan Prishtina became a member of the Albanian parliament, Hoxhe Kadriu became Minister of justice, and Bajram Curri became Minister of war. All three were Kosovar Albanians. During this time, Kosovar Albanians under Azem Galica began an armed struggle, also known as the Kachak movement.

Legacy

They are widely depicted in the Albanian folklore.^[4][5][6] Albanian collaborationists in Yugoslavia during World War II were also known as Kachaks.^[7]

People

References

1. Serbia in the World. 84–87. Ministry of Information of the Republic of Serbia. 1998. p. 63.
2. Karl Heinrich Menges (1995). The Turkic Languages and Peoples: An Introduction to Turkic Studies. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 162–. ISBN 978-3-447-03533-0.
3. Hugh Poulton (1995). Who are the Macedonians?. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. pp. 92–. ISBN 978-1-85065-238-0.
4. Dhimiter Shuteriqi (1971). Historia e letërsisë shqipe 1–2 (2 ed.). Enti i teksteve dhe i mjeteve mësimore i Krahinës Socialiste Autonome të Kosovës. p. 101. OCLC 8692190.
5. Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë (Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë), Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës. Instituti i Historisë dhe Gjuhësisë (1970). Studime Filologjike. Akademia e Shkencave e RPSSH, Instituti i Gjuhesise dhe i Letersise. pp. 71–75. ISSN 0563-5780. OCLC 29286220.
6. Spiro Shetuni (April 21, 2011). Albanian Traditional Music: An Introduction, with Sheet Music and Lyrics for 48 Songs. Mcfarland. p. 78. ISBN 978-0786464494.
7. Hans-Christian Petersen, Samuel Salzborn (2010). Antisemitism in Eastern Europe: History and Present in Comparison. Bern: Peter Lang. p. 97.

Sources

• Maliković, D. (2003). "The Kachak movement in Kosovo and Metohija from 1922-1924" (PDF). Baština (15): 89–102.
• Maliković, D. (2001). "Kačački pokret na Kosovu i Metohiji 1918-1924". Novopazarski zbornik (25): 231–257.