Saffron as a symbol of changes in Kosovo in the 16th century

The appearance of saffron in the food offered in the Kaçanik imarate reflected great significance, because saffron was a symbol of the tables of rich families in the Orient and later in Europe, and now it was offered to everyone for free with the dessert called Zerde, with origin from Persia. The book "Shafrani in Kaçanik" by Ylber Hysa deals with the economic, social and cultural history of Kosovo in the 16th century, namely with the establishment of a new urban core in the south of Kosovo (Kaçanik) that brought innovation with new monuments and professions as well as with new elements in Kosovo's cuisine

In recent years, we have books that attract attention through promotions, regardless of their value, and we have valuable books that pass in silence without being investigated, although their authors are historians of our institutions who are known outside the Pristina-Skopje-Tirana triangle. Thus, several years had to pass until the Austrian historian Oliver Schmit came to us this year at the International Seminar on Albanian Language, Literature and Culture and mentioned three Kosovar historians who bring innovation, among them Ylber Hysa. Of course, Y. Hysa does not deal with textbooks or a sponsored topic, but he really deals with serious tracing and enriches our historiography with original contributions. Such is his book "Shafrani in Kaçanik" that came out in Pristina (Bard Books, 2019) with a foreword by Ag Apolloni and remained unexplored in the Pristina-Skopje-Tirana triangle despite the innovations it brings us.

As it appears from the title, the book deals with the economic, social and cultural history of Kosovo in the 1506th century, namely with the establishment of a new urban core in the south of Kosovo (Kaçanik) that brought innovation with new monuments and professions as well as with elements of new in the kitchen of Kosovo as saffron, which was known only on the tables of rich families outside of Kosovo, but now in Kaçanik it was served for free on the tables of the Imaret in Kaçanik, which was built by Sinan Pasha Topojani (1596-XNUMX), who deservedly called "Founder of Kaçanik". Sinan Pasha was among the well-known figures of the XNUMXth century as he was the only one who held the position of sedriazem five times with the Ottoman Empire and was vali in several countries in the Middle East (Egypt, Syria etc.) where he left many monumental works including two cities in Syria (Qutayfa north of Damascus and Sa'sa south of Damascus).

As such, Sinan Pasha attracted a lot of attention from historians, among them the French historian Jean Paul Pascual, who devoted a large space to him in his book on the development of Damascus in the 1985th century, which was published in 1922. of Y. Hysa seems like a Kosovar version for Kaçanik because both historians have a methodological approach: how to illuminate the economic, social and cultural history based on the waqf documents? However, the pioneer of this approach for us was Hasan Kaleshi (1976-1960), who received his doctorate in 1973 and his dissertation (which was published in Pristina in 2012 and 1965) inspired us early with this new approach in our studies. Y. Hysa himself relied on Kalesh's study "The Grand Vizier Koxha Sinan Pasha, his endowments and their endowments" which was published in 23 in the magazine "Albanological Traces" which contains a critical edition of the endowment related to Kaçanik which was legalized on July 1586, 2009. Indeed, Y. Hysa treated this topic in the book "Albanians and others" (XNUMX), and now he treats it in a more extensive way, based on sources and studies in different languages (Albanian, Serbo-Croatian, English and German) to bring us a different story of Kaçanik.

From the very beginning of the book (pg. 9) Y. Hysa does not deny that he is not the first to deal with Sinan Pasha's waqf in Kaçanik, but he treats it differently than if it were a waqf that brought us the only "fortification-city built from the ground up in Kosovo during the Ottoman rule", for which his vakufnam (legalized on 23. 7. 1586) has been preserved, which "unravels many facts of a historical, legal, economic and cultural nature". 

Further, the author talks at length about the founder Sinan Paşe Topojani (- 1596), distinguishing him from Sinan Paşe Vila (second from Luma) who set up a waqf in Prizren with the beautiful mosque that still distinguishes the city today, and showing the rich career as a military commander, as vali in several countries and as the only one who became five times grand vizier (sedriazem) in the Ottoman Empire, leaving many monuments in several countries.

On the other hand, in the chapter "Two Kaçaniks", which now reflect the "old Kaçanik" and the "new Kaçanik", the author highlights some Dardanian and Roman traces around, especially the Roman cobblestones in the gorge of Kaçanik and the Roman station in Kaçanik. old. However, Sinan Pasha for the new fortress-city went below, where Nerodima and Lepenci meet and where the gorge that separates Sharr from Karadak begins. Y. Hysa notes how this new position reflects Sinan Pasha's strategic sense as a commander and statesman because the gorge dominates an important segment of the old Nish-Shkope road that continues to Thessaloniki. Relying on the notes of the traveler F. Caney from 1579, it turns out that there the passage of this road was very dangerous for travelers and merchants, so the need was felt for such an enterprise that would bring insurance for this regional road and the flourishing of new residence.
For his residence, the author had a first-hand source (the vakufnama), which shows all the new economic-social and cultural facilities that were built then and became the basis of the new city. 

In order to better understand the nature of the waqf, we must bear in mind that the waqf consists of two types of objects: objects that provide free services to the population (mosque, madrasah, teqe, inn, imaret/popular kitchen, etc.) as well as economic objects that are used for rent and cover the costs of the first facilities. Thus, based on this source, it appears that Sinan Pasha built in Kaçanik and the surrounding area: a mosque, a madrasah, two inns, a hammam, an imaret, 27 mills and others. In these facilities, 37 new professions were now presented with 60 employees, which the author presents separately with their salaries (pp. 57-60).

Among these facilities we had an innovation: the imaret or popular kitchen offered free food twice a day to students, the poor in Kaçanik and its surroundings, employees in the new facilities as well as travelers who stop and rest in Kaçanik. This new establishment, which appeared earlier in Skopje and was the first in Kaçanik/Kosovo, attracted the interest of European travelers as they enjoyed free food and more.

For this very reason, Y. Hysa focuses through this new institution on the changes in Kosovo cuisine with new elements that became permanent, hence the title of this book. One of these elements is rice, which was not only consumed in Kosovo, but also cultivated later in the Balkans, which the author talks about at length in the chapter "Rice as a strategic food" (pp. 97-100). On the other hand, the other innovation was the presentation of saffron in the food offered in the Kaçanik imarate, which reflected a great significance, because saffron was a symbol of the tables of rich families in the Orient and later in Europe, and now it was offered to everyone for free with the dessert called Zerde, originating from Persia, in which saffron is its essence and appearance, about which the author talks more in the chapter "Zerde more than dessert".

With these significant data, we can say that in this book by Y. Hysa, we do not have repeated big themes, but he focuses on a small space (Kaçaniku) with a new approach (based on the vakufnama of 1586) to them presented a lesser-known story to the new generation of historians.