Jasenica (Žitorađa)

Jasenica (Serbian Cyrillic:Јасеница) (Albanian:Jashanica) is a village in the municipality of Žitorađa, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village has a population of 989 people.^[1]

Jasenica Јасеница (Serbian)
Village
Jasenica
Coordinates: 43°10′50″N 21°45′40″E
Country	Serbia
District	Toplica District
Municipality	Žitorađa
Population  (2002)
• Total	989
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)

History

Toponyms such as Arbanaška and Đjake show an historic Albanian presence in the Toplica and Southern Morava regions.^[2] The Toplica region had an Albanian majority, including Jasenica.^[3][4]

During the Expulsion of the Albanians in 1877 and 1878, many Albanians were forced to leave Žitorađa and its surroundings, and they became Muhaxhirs, These Albanians were expelled by Serbian forces in a way that today would be characterized as ethnic cleansing.^[5] This included the village of Jasenica, which was completely ethnically Albanian.^{[citation needed]} The village name in the Albanian language was Jashanica, the Albanians of this village spoke Albanian in the Gheg dialect and were Muslims.^{[citation needed]} The Muhaxhirs, including the ones from this village, mostly migrated to what is today modern Kosovo, which was back then the Vilayet of Kosovo of the Ottoman Empire.

Descendants and families of the Jasenica village today bear the surname Jashanica in Kosovo.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. Popis stanovništva, domaćinstava i Stanova 2002. Knjiga 1: Nacionalna ili etnička pripadnost po naseljima. Republika Srbija, Republički zavod za statistiku Beograd 2003. ISBN 86-84433-00-9
2. Geniş, Şerife; Maynard, Kelly Lynne (July 2009). "Formation of a Diasporic Community: The History of Migration and Resettlement of Muslim Albanians in the Black Sea Region of Turkey". Middle Eastern Studies. 45 (4): 553–569. doi:10.1080/00263200903009619. ISSN 0026-3206.
3. Jagodić, Miloš (1998-12-01). "The Emigration of Muslims from the New Serbian Regions 1877/1878". Balkanologie. Revue d'études pluridisciplinaires. 2 (2). doi:10.4000/balkanologie.265. ISSN 1279-7952.
4. Luković, Miloš (2011). "DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN SERBIAN STATE AND ABOLISHMENT OF OTTOMAN AGRARIAN RELATIONS IN THE 19 th CENTURY". Český lid. 98 (3): 281–305. ISSN 0009-0794.
5. Müller, Dietmar (2009-01-01). "Orientalism and Nation: Jews and Muslims as Alterity in Southeastern Europe in the Age of Nation-States, 1878–1941". East Central Europe. 36 (1): 63–99. doi:10.1163/187633009X411485. ISSN 1876-3308.

43°10′59″N 21°45′46″E