The madrasahs of Skopje

The Balkans is a geography where many states struggled to establish dominance in history. Since Skopje was the center of Kosovo province during Ottomon period, it is one of the leading cities of Turkish Culture such as Bursa. Skopje, which joined Ottoman Union by the conquest of Yiğit Bey in 1392 came out out of the hand of Ottoman by Bucharest Treaty in 1913. After the conquest of Skopje, Turks were migrated from Anatolia to make it Turkish homeland and many constructions were built through foundations in order to develop the city such as mosques, masjids, inns, Turkish baths, madrasahs, lodges, zaviyas and hanikahs. It was aimed to raise the people who will take judicial & administrative duties as well as necesseary religious service to the state & society and increasing welfare and cultural level of the society through establishment of the madrasahs here. Sometimes educational constructions were built in that context by the sultan or statesmen and sometimes by philantropists such as Gazi İshak Bey, Gazi İsa Bey, Yahya Paşa, Mustafa Paşa, Lonca, Tütünsüz, Sultan Murad and Meddah madrassahs. One of the famous scholars of Ottoman era and the writer of Tevarih-i Al-i Osman served here even wrote some of his works here as well as Tasköprülüzade Ahmet Efendi. Moreover, some scholars who had been educated in Skopje served here such as Mustafa Efendi, Şücaüddin İlyas Efendi and Hasan Fehmi Efendi. Many scholars who got diploma from madrasahs of Skopje taught in deep-rooted madrasahs of Istanbul, Edirne and Bursa for this reason there is an organic connection between Skopje and other cities. In this study, the madrassahs which were established in the city center of Skopje during Ottoman era were examined. As a result of the research, it has been concluded that there are 21 madrasahs contrary to what is known. None of these educational constructions have survived to the present day. However, some of the foundation works belonging to Ottoman era have survived and in usable condition. Key Words: Skopje, Madrassa, Ottoman Empire, The Balkans, Macedonia.