Ermal Nurja - Ottoman Archival Sources and the Demographic History of Albania

In this panel, Ermal Nurja will present the rich potential of Ottoman archival sources for the study of Albania’s demographic history. Drawing on the vast holdings of the Ottoman Archives in Istanbul, he will explore how direct and indirect records of the Ottoman administration make it possible to reconstruct detailed demographic data on Albanian territories and populations in their regional, religious, and social diversity. The presentation will trace the value of these sources across the main historical periods, from the first Ottoman expansions in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to the modernizing reforms of the Tanzimat era, when more systematic models of population registration began to emerge.