Monday, April 16, 2012

The Arnaouts - The un (known), yet famous Albanians

Ermal BEGA*

THE ARNAOUTS
~ THE (UN) KNOWN, YET FAMOUS ALBANIANS** ~

Ermal Bega
Many of us have heard about the Arnaouts, or the Albanians who have lived in the Orient for many centuries. However, very few of us are well-informed about them, their lives and traditions, their social influence in the places where they live, their contributions to those places etc.
The term Arnaout was used for the first time during the Ottoman Empire, where Albanians were known as Arnaouts, and Albania as Arnautluk.
There exist different theories on the origin of the word أرناؤوط (Arnaout), but to go into this subject requires a whole separate article.
The use of the term Arnaout to reference the Albanian origin of a certain people living in Oriental countries increased during the weakening and then collapse of the Ottoman Empire, where with nationalism entering the scene, the different nations within this empire started forming their own states based on ethnical or religious affiliations. At this time, the Albanian Muslims who were living in these Oriental countries and who were not included in the newly formed Albanian nation-state, started appropriating the term Arnaout to indicate their Albanian origin.
It is interesting to note that, besides the Albanian Muslims (who made up the majority of the Albanian population), this name was also used by the Albanian Christians, many of them Catholics, to indicate their Albanian origin. For example, besides the Muslims of Albanian origin who are found in great numbers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia etc., we can still find entire Christian families of Albanian origin, especially in Lebanon, where their history begins with the appointment of Albanian Catholic Vaso Pasha by the Ottomans as the governor of Lebanon, where he took with him several Albanian Catholic families who decided to live in Lebanon and who, to this day, proudly carry the last name Arnaout as an indication of their Albanian origin. According to the latest researchs, we have found several Albanian Orthodox families that live in Ukraine and carry the name Arnaout.
While the majority of the Arnaouts who live in the Orient carry the last name Arnaout to distinguish themselves as part of the Albanian nation, many other families in different Arab countries and in Turkey carry other last names, many of which are names of places or names of well-known families in Albania. Here we can note the Albani family in Jordan, from which the famous Muslim scholar Nasiruddin Albani (from Shkodra) came forth, the other famous Albanian Muslim scholar Wahbi Sulaiman Gavoçi (also from Shkodra), etc. Among the families whose last name indicates their place of origin is the large Shkodra family in Lebanon.
Among the most well-known Arnaouts (Albanians) in the oriental world we can mention: Muslim scholars Abdulkadr Arnaout and Shuaib Arnaout, the famous writers Ma’ruf Arnaout and Dr. Abdulatif Arnaout, the famous writer and historian Dr. Muhammad Mufaku (Arnaout), the poet and writer Aisha Arnaout, the famous Muslim scholar Nasiruddin Albani, the pioneer in the opening of schools for the lay people of Lebanon Nadim Arnaout, the famous actor from Damascus Yasin Arnaout, the writer and teacher Shawkat Gavoçi etc. In addition, the majority of Albanians who live in the Orient are well educated, most of whom have finished higher education and carry high positions in the societies where they live.
In this context, considering the importance and the great role that Albanians have played and continue to play in the Oriental countries, the editorial board of the cultural-scientific magazine for Oriental Studies “URA” (the Bridge) has decided to dedicate this exclusive issue to them, the Arnaouts.

Translated from Albanian: Armir TARAJ



* Ermal Bega is the Executive Director of the Albanian Center for Oriental Studies, Tirana, Albania.
** This article is taken from the introduction of issue nr. 5 of “URA” magazine, which is published in Tirana - Exclusive issue for the Arnaouts (Albanian) who live in the Orient. The title has been chosen by the author of the article.

17 comments:

  1. What is the origin of the word "Arnaout"?

    ReplyDelete
  2. The name Arnaout has different meanings. It is used in different forms, such as Arnaout, Arnaut, Arnaud, Arnaouti, Larnaout etc. This is a name used by the people in Ottoman State, meaning all the people, to nominate a people living in East Europe and to nominate the Muslim people of that region, wich now the country is know as Albania and its people and Albanians. But during the Ottoman State, till now, Turkish people recognize us as Arnaut and the country as Arnautluk.
    Turkish, Persians and Arabs pretend this word came from their own language, but the most real comment we know as far, it is the one from Arabic words “La alaina an-naud” (meaning “we don’t want to turn back” (from the battle), which is a story about the Arnaouts (Albanians or shqiptarë of nowadays), showing them powerful and brave and clever in the battlefield. Persian, Turkish and Arabic dictionaries use it in many different meanings.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Really nice article. Thank you for translating it

    ReplyDelete
  4. what arnaout means at albanian language ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nothing ....it has nothing to do with albanian language ...only turks in 15 century used that name for first time

      Delete
  5. I am Arnaout from my Father's side who were in Lebanon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My pleasure to know about that, Mr. Sultani! Just 2 days ago I come back from Beirut, and met a lot of Arnaouts there.

      Delete
  6. Arnaut
    This ancient and distinguished surname, recorded in over fifty spellings, is usually of Olde German and Anglo-Saxon origins. It derives from a baptismal compound personal name Ernault or Arnolt, of which the elements are "arn", meaning an eagle, and "wald", to rule. The name spread rapidly throughout Northern Europe in the period known as "The dark ages", roughly between the 6th and 11th centuries a.d., and following the fall of the Roman Empire. T

    Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/arnaut#ixzz382lnmQAc

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! This is very informative. Thank you. My great-grandfather was Arnaout, he fled to Egypt and settled in Port Said!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You should investigate the meaning of "arnăuti" in Romanian. They were mercenary bodyguards of the boyars, mostly of Albanian origin but not exclusively, in the phanariot period of Romanian history (18th century- first decades of 19th century). I think that they must have been Christians.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks a lot for the great article, i am one of the Arnaouts of Syria.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm Arnaout from my father's side. Based in Tunisia since 5 generations we have the surname of BEN SMIDA

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm Arnaout from my father's side. Now based in Tunisia since 5 generations we have the surname of BEN SMIDA .

    ReplyDelete
  12. Arnaut means albanian. In the ouest the country is known as Albania and in the middle ages albanians themselves called the country arberia. In greek arbania or arvania because the ouestern b is v in greek. The people from arbania or arvania were called arvanites in greek. Arnaut is just the corrupted form of arvanit from greek language. That's it. Some albanians with ties to the orient like the version of arnaut coming from persian or arabic language but it is very clear that arnaut is very close to arvanit. Turkish form is arnavut. Albanians arbanas arvanites arberesh albanese arnaut albanais are all the same thing in different forms from different languages.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great info about my my family name arnaout

    ReplyDelete
  14. I am Kosovar Arnavut (Albanian) from Turkey. Love to you all.To Albanians and every other ethnic groups all over the world.

    ReplyDelete