The uprising of Dervish Cara


Robert Nesimi

In the world of books “The uprising of Dervish Cara” no doubt occupies a unique place. It is a book that never saw the light in the original language in which it was written, but has already been published twice in another language, translated by two different translators. The book was written in Macedonian by the famous historian Aleksandar Matkovski in the eighties, but his manuscript was never published, probably since its content went against the official, state-controlled, historical narrative of the period. At the same time however, under a heavy dose of auto-censorship and big omissions, in order to evade the state censors, the book was translated by Lutfi Rusi and published by the albanian language newspaper “Flaka e Vellazerimit”. Twenty years later professor Fatmir Sulejmani undertook to translate the whole book again, now without the burden of the past system, and it was again published in Albanian. In meantime the book remains unpublished in its original Macedonian, even though it speaks of important events in these parts during the time of the Ottoman Empire.

The events described in the book happen in the fifth decade of the 19th century, in 1844 to be more exact. It was a time of big reforms in the Empire, the so-called Tanizmat reforms, which was trying to modernize and catch up with the West. The main driver of these reforms was the strong centralization of the state, that among other things foresaw the creation of a single imperial army by recruiting directly from the population. These would be sent for military service to the farthest reaches of the empire. Obviously these measures were highly unpopular for the local population, but also for the local pashas who had enjoyed wide powers under the old system. Among the targets were three brothers, pashas of Tetovo, Skopje and Kustendil. Under silly pretenses they were removed from power, taken to Istanbul and jailed.

Dervish Cara, born in Palchishte, Tetovo, at that time was deputy to the Tetovo Pasha, in charge of Gostivar. Unhappy with the treatment of Tetovo’s pasha, and at the same time aware of the discontent among the population, he comes openly against the state and starts an uprising. He quickly manages to liberate Gostivar, and after a few battles liberates Tetovo as well. At that point the uprising spreads like fire. In cooperation with some local leaders and with the support of the local population, after a few days of fighting, Dervish Cara triumphantly enters Skopje. The insurgents then proceed to capture Kumanovo, then Vranje, Leskovac, Mitrovica, Prishtina and so on. After a few weeks they already control the whole northern part of Macedonia, South Serbia and half of Kosovo. They number a few thousand people under arms.

The answer from the Empire is hard, but calculated. Defeated several times at the hands of the insurgents, the Ottomans already know that to deal with them they would have to bring a large army from outside, that by the end will reach tens of thousands of soldiers brought from all parts of the empire to Thesalonika and Bitola. At the same time they are afraid that the insurgency may spread to other parts, foremost in Albania and Bosnia. Under the principle “divide et impera”, they promise those regions that the reforms there will be delayed or maybe even not apply at all, and thus they manage to keep the peace. Meanwhile the fight against insurgents proceeds. In the end the Ottoman army manages to defeat the insurgents in a large battle at Katlanovo. Dervish Cara is imprisoned and sent to Istanbul, where he is sentenced to life imprisonment. That is the last that is known of him; most likely he died in jail. The Ottoman Army continues its march and by the end of May 1844 recaptures Skopje, then proceeds to capture Tetovo, Gostivar and so on. The insurgency is thus finally put down, but its effects are heard far and wide. For the next two or three years its surviving leaders inspire new uprisings in Albania and Bosnia, but they were also soon extinguished.

The uprising of Dervish Cara is the biggest uprising in the territory of Macedonia during the whole period of Ottoman rule, fought wholly with local forces and without any foreign involvement. For six months Dervish Cara manged to liberate and hold a wide territory, with many towns, including Skopje. However this uprising was completely forgotten and neglected by the official Macedonian, and even Albanian, historiography. The main body of information comes from British, Russian, Austrian and above all French diplomats and services, that reported to their home countries about events in Macedonia. These documents were the main inspiration and chief support for professor Matkovski when he wrote the book. It is entirely because of him that this uprising and this interesting historical period is once again known, and that the figure of Dervish Cara has been saved from total oblivion. Unfortunately the book was written in a period of strong anti-Albanian attitude within the ruling circles of that time, and the very fact that Dervish Cara was Albanian had been enough to decide that the book should not be published in Macedonian.

On the other hand it is incomprehensible why this censorship of the figure of Cara continues to this day. To date his name can only be found at the elementary school in his birthplace Palchishte, and a street in Tetovo. Even during the building of the pompous Skopje 2014 when statues of hundreds of historical figures were erected, and place was even found for foreign characters such as Car Dushan, not a word was said of possibly erecting a statue of Dervish Cara, the only one who managed to free Skopje during the Ottoman period. If we are to be honest with our past, this situation must be rectified. Dervish Cara has earned his place in history, but this should be recognized and not hidden. A good first step should be to publish the book by professor Matkovski in the original Macedonian, in which it was written 35 years ago.

Views expressed in this article are personal views of the author and do not represent the editorial policy of Nezavisen Vesnik