Labëria Labër | |
|---|---|
 Map of Labëria, based on the more expansive version (seeLabëria#Extent) | |
| Largest city | Vlorë |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| ISO 3166 code | AL |
Labëria is a historic region that is roughly situated in southwesternAlbania. Its inhabitants are known asLabs (referred to asAlbanian:Lab, pl.Lebër, also dial. sing.Lap) and its boundaries reach fromVlorë toHimara in the south, to theGreek border nearSarandë, incorporating theKurvelesh region ofGjirokastër District and extending east to the city ofTepelenë.
The toponymLabëri/-a and the name of theAlbanian sub-group:Lab (alsoLabe,Labi), pl.Lebër, are endonyms formed from the root*arb/*alb (cf. the ancient ethonymΑλβανοί,Albanoi byPtolemy, and Αλβανοί, Αρβανίται inByzantine sources). The variantlab-, which goes back to*alb-, resulted from ametathesis characteristic ofCommon Slavic, and wasreborrowed in that form into Albanian.[1][2] The toponymArbëri, now used as a variant ofLabëri and only to refer to a small mountainous region extending within the triangle:Vlorë-Sarandë-Tepelenë, formerly had a broader usage referring in the old times generally to Albania and Albanians (arbëror, subst.arbëresh). The variants Arbëri/Labëri were used narrowly to designate a country inhabited by the Labs, i.e. Albanians proper.[2]
The link to the older form of the toponym was preserved until the lateOttoman period as suggested in documents of the court ofAli Pasha of Tepelena and other publications.[3] As reported byHahn (1854), at his time the toponymArbërí was used in the strict sense to denote the highland area at the back ofVlorë, i.e.Kurvelesh and Labëria; however, according to him, it was used in a wider sense including alsoHimarë up toDelvinë, that is the ancientChaonia.[4]
In Ottoman times, the region became known asLaplık inTurkish, comprising the areas ofDelvinë, Avlonya (Vlorë), Tepedelen (Tepelenë), Kurules (Kurvelesh), and Ergiri (Gjirokastër).[5] TheGreek name is Λιαπουριά,Liapouriá.[6]
In the Middle Ages the Labs were followers of theEastern Orthodox Church but many converted toIslam duringOttoman rule, with the bulk of conversion occurring in the 18th century. Conversions were especially intense during years of conflict between theRussian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, during which some pressure was applied on Orthodox Christians by Ottoman rulers, including even low-scale forced conversion of villages, contradicting the official Ottoman tolerance for Christians.[7] Additional reasons for conversion included discrimination and exploitation of Christians by Ottoman rulers, the previous patterns of conversion between different Christian sects and the diverse pre-Ottoman distribution of Christian faiths in the region (including Orthodoxy,Catholicism,Bogomilism, and evenArianism), the poll tax which only Christians had to pay, the poverty of the church, the mass illiteracy of priests and the fact that the language of worship was not the Albanian vernacular.[7][8] Tradition holds that a mass conversion of Labs occurred during a famine in which the bishops ofHimara andDelvina refused to let the Labs break fast and drink milk.[9][10]
Many Labs were recruited by the OttomanJanissary corps due to their skills and the Ottomans' initial preference for recruiting Albanians after their invasion of the Balkans. After the disbandment of the Janissary corps bySultan Mahmud II in 1826, theSufi branch of theBektashi Order, a core Janissary institution, was also disbanded, and its followers executed or exiled to Southern Albania. As a result, the majority of the Labs today belong to the Bektashi faith with Orthodox Christians concentrated in the Himara coastal region as well as a few pockets throughout Vlorë district and the southern and eastern parts of the region, around Gjirokastër, Delvine and Sarande.
Ali Pasha of Tepelena or of Yanina (Ioannina), surnamed Aslan, "the Lion", or the "Lion of Yannina" (1740–1822), was born in this region. He ruled the western part ofRumelia, the Ottoman Empire's European territory which was also calledPashalik of Yanina. His court was inIoannina. Ali had three sons: Ahmet Muhtar Pasha (served in the 1809 war against the Russians), Veli Pasha of Morea and Salih Pasha of Vlorë. Ali Pasha of Tepelena died fighting on February 5, 1822, at the age of 82.
In its most extensive definition, Labëria may be used to include everything fromMallakastra and theVjosa river down toSaranda, and in its (somewhat more common) most specific definition, it may refer only toHimara,Tepelena andKurvelesh. In the more extensive definition, in addition to these three regions, other regions included areVlore and its surroundings south of the Vjosa river,Lunxhëria,Mallakastra,Gjirokastër and its surroundings,Delvinë and its surroundings,Pogon,Dropull,Saranda and sometimes ( very rarely)Këlcyra andZagori. Bordering regions includePogon,Myzeqe,Chamëria,Dangëllia andDishnica (as well as the border with Greece).
Labëria is culturally distinguishable from the rest of Albania in its traditions and folklore. The Labs were warlike pastoral people who lived mainly in the mountains ofKurvelesh,Progonat andVlorë during theByzantine period and theOttoman invasion of Albania. However, due to mass migrations to urban areas followingWorld War II, the population is now concentrated in the cities ofVlorë,Tepelenë,Gjirokastër andSarandë.
Pleqërishte is a genre ofAlbanian iso-polyphony primarily found in Labëria
Music of Labs is polyphonic, more soft and lyrical than rugged single voiced music ofGhegs dedicated to heroism.[11] Similarly to otherclan-based Albanian mountain communities, Labs developed a codex of customary laws, theKanun of Labëria (Albanian:Kanuni i Labërisë,Kanuni i Papa Zhulit orKanuni i Idriz Sulit).[12][13][14] This set of traditional unwritten laws which survivedByzantine andOttoman periods in the isolated and inaccessible territories of southwest Albania.[15]
During the regime ofEnver Hoxha the Labs, Ghegs and Tosks were forbidden to emphasize their identity.[16]
The dialect associated with Labëria is theLab dialect, which is particular to the region. The dialect mixes innovative and archaic features, and is closely related to theArbëresh spoken by theold Albanian diaspora inItaly, theArvanitika ofArvanites inGreece, andCham Albanian.
TheHimariote dialect of Greek is also spoken in the region of Himara, which is often considered part of Laberia, and other Greek dialects are spoken in the southern extremes of the region as well as in the villages ofNartë andZvernec.Aromanian andRoma minorities that are present in some places may also speak their ancestral languages.
Historically the Labs were followers of theEastern Orthodox Church. Literary evidence by Greek historian Aravatinos records that they converted toIslam at a time of great famine during the Ottoman period. One of the reasons was that Christian bishops refused to allow them to consume milk duringfast days.[10]
During the Ottoman era, a minority of Labs converted to Eastern Catholicism under Arberesh-led missionaries (notably in Himara in 1577); although the presence of eastern Catholicism in Labëria remains small today, and receded due to the Islamization of the wider region.[17]
 | This sectionpossibly containsoriginal research. Pleaseimprove it byverifying the claims made and addinginline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.(February 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
.jpg)
40°10′N19°50′E / 40.167°N 19.833°E /40.167; 19.833
The validity of Psalidas' reference to Labëria as Arbër is confirmed by several documents from the archive of Ali Pasha dating from 1802 to 1820 (Panagiotopoulos et al. 2007: doc. 135, vol. 1, pp. 257-60; doc. 204, pp. 392-5; doc. 550, vol. 2, pp. 168-70; doc. 807, pp. 597-600; doc. 1319, vol. 3, pp. 464-5; doc. 1355, pp. 528-30), narrative sources, such as Hadji Shehreti's Alipashiada (Sathas 1870: passim, e.g. 130, 141 and 338), as well as studies on the local folklore (Veizi 1998: 202-3). (..) While this distinction justifies the very disagreement of early geographers and scholars regarding Himarra's position in Epiros or Albania, the 19th century account of Athanasios Psalidas, whereby Labëria was called Arbër, may suggest what Meyer attributed to a metastasis from "Labëri" to "Arbëri" (cited in Çabej 1976: 61, 68).
Gheg music is rugged, heroic and single voiced while Tosk and Lab music is softer, more lyrical and polyphonic.
...the Tosks, Labs and Gegs - all minorities which under Enver Hoxha had been forbidden to flaunt their identity.
