The Sancak of Prizren in the 15thand 16th Century

The sancak of Prizren is one of the few sancaks in the Balkans that for most of its existence did not have an integral territory. It was divided into two disconnected areas. Southern one covered the wider surroundings of Prizren and the regions of north-eastern Albania and was inhabited by mixed Albanian-Serb-Vlach population. Northern one stretched over the area between the rivers Lim and Ibar and was inhabited by Serb-Vlach population. Prizren, the center of sancak, the town with a long tradition and the capital during the reign of Tsar Dušan, eventually became a typical oriental town which economic progress can be attributed to a favorable position at the crossroads of important trade routes. This paper presents a summary of our findings on the formation and development of the sancak of Prizren in the 15th and 16th century. Based on Tapu Tahrir and Maliye defters, and other Ottoman and Western sources, we have attempted to point out the changes in the sancak’s size, the general features of the settlements, the ethnic and religious composition of the population and main demographic and economic trends