Duhël ( sr-Cyrl, Дуље, ) is a settlement in the
Suva Reka municipality in
Kosovo
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
. The village is exclusively ethnic Albanian; in the 1991 census, it had 1399 inhabitants.
Geography
The village lies in
Prizrenski Podgor, about 25 km east of
Prizren
Prizren ( sq-definite, Prizreni, ; sr-cyr, Призрен) is the second List of cities and towns in Kosovo, most populous city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and District of Prizren, ...
, on the west side of the
Crnoljeva and offset of the
Šar Mountains.
[Glasnik, p. 392] It lies in the region of
Podrimlje. From its heights, one can view almost the whole of
Metohija
Metohija (), also known in Albanian as Dukagjini, (, ) is a large drainage basin, basin and the name of the region covering the southwestern part of Kosovo. The region covers 35% (3,891 km2) of Kosovo's total area. According to the 2024 ce ...
. Dulje extends over a lake terrace, nearly 1 km wide, around 750 m high, which in this part represents the border of the Metohija-Prizren region.
[ The rural settlement lies on a cadastral area of 1413 hectares.][Stamenković, p. 115] Dulje includes two major physiognomic parts: ''Dulje'', the main part with three '' mahala'' (hamlets); Rafš, Srpska (Mahallae Shkijeve) and Sopska; the second part is Dragačin, an isolated hamlet on the right valley side of the Dragačin river.[ The Suhareka-Duhël-Malisheva road goes through the village.
Dulje was formerly a seat of a municipality with the same name, though it still represents an administrative and cultural center for the neighbouring villages.][Glasnik, p. 394]
History
The village is mentioned for the first time in the Saint Archangels charter (Svetoarhanđelska povelja) of Emperor
The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
Stephen Uroš IV Dušan, dating to 1348, as Duhlje.[ A medieval road crossed Dulje, from Prizren to Štimlje, further to the interior of Serbia. There are ruins of the medieval ]Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...
es of Parascheva (Sv. Petka), on a graveyard, and the Holy Salvation (Sv. Spasa), by the spring of the Lukara stream, in the village.
In 1881, when Dervish-Pasha crushed the rebel Albanians in Ferizovik, he hung Albanian Sejf-Košar to a pear tree between Ferizovići and Štimlje
Shtime ( sq-definite, Shtimja) or Štimlje ( sr-Cyrl, Штимље), is a List of cities in Kosovo, town and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in the District of Ferizaj, Ferizaj District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the ...
.[Stankovic]
Prvi Odeljak, J
/ref> Some of the Albanians sought rest in Dulje Hana, after their defeat.[ When the innkeeper burnt trees in the furnace, the Albanians woke up in fear; they thought Dervish-Pasha had come after them shooting guns, after which they fled.][
During the Serbian Campaign (World War I), in 1915, after the Bulgarian breakthrough of Serbian positions, the last Serbian contingents in Kosovo had divisions in Crnoljeva; the Cavalry Division had retreated to the Dulje Hana.
During the ]Kosovo War
The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...
, the Kosovo Liberation Army
The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA; , UÇK) was an Albanians, ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Republic of Serbia (1992–2006), Republic of R ...
(KLA) operated in the region and the area experienced bombings by NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
forces. KLA forces were reported to have killed and wounded several Serbian policemen and civilians.
Demographic history
The village was historically inhabited by Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
, and the Albanian families came from Malesia
Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. It is a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical kingdom. It was first recognized as a distinct region ...
in northern Albania
Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
,[ most likely in the 18th century. According to data which is older than the 18th century from the Devič monastery, all villages of Drenica were inhabited by Serbs.][Nusic 1966, p. 223] In 1875, there were 26 Albanian and 4 Serb families in the village.[ In 1879, there were 16 Albanian and 4 Serb families in the village.][ In 1910, there were 6 Serb families][ (no data on Albanians). In 1921, there were 52 houses and 299 inhabitants.][
Population counts in censuses conducted between 1948 and 1991 are provided in the table below. Information on population by ethnic group is not available for most years in this period. In 1981, 1229 people were listed as Albanian and 1 person was listed as Muslim; no residents were identified as Serbs, Montenegrins, Turks, or other groups.][1981 Census, Kosovo]
(Preliminary)
Notes
References
* Onomatološki prilozi, Volume 13, Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti. Odbor za onomastiku. Akademija, 1997. p. 540: "Дуље"
* Branislav Đ Nušić, Sabrana dela
Volume 23
NIP "Jež", 1966 (Original: 1931)
* Branislav Đ Nušić
S Kosova na sinje more: beleške s puta kroz Arbanase 1894. godine
Čigoja štampa, 2005 (Original: "Kosovo, Opis zemlje i naroda", 1902)
* Srboljub Đ Stamenković, Географска енциклопедија населjа Србије: С-Ш
Volume 4
Географски факултет, 2002, pp. 115–118: "Дуље"
* Dimitrije M. Kalezić, Enciklopedija pravoslavlja, I, Savremena administracija, 2002, p. X: "Дуље"
* Milovan Radovanović 2008, Kosovo i Metohija: antropogeografske, istorijskogeografske, demografske i geopolitičke osnove, Službeni Glasnik
* Glasnik
Volume 4
1952, Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, pp. 392–394: "Дуље"
* Petar Bojovīć
Odbrana Kosovoga polja 1915. g. i zaštita odstupanja srpske vojske preko Albanije i Crne gore
Izdavačka knjižarnica G. Kona, 1922
* Južnoslovenski Filolog
Volume 23
Srpska akademija nauka. Institut za srpski jezik, 1958
* Тодор П. Станковић
Путне белешке по Старој Србији 1871—1898
* Gavro A. Škrivanić
Путеви у средњовековној Србији
Туристичка штампа, 1974
{{Settlements in Suva Reka
Villages in Suva Reka