Albanians in Romania
[1] An Albanian community inside the Danubian Principalities was first attested in Wallachia under Prince Michael the Brave: a report drafted by Habsburg authorities in Transylvania specified that 15,000 Albanians had been allowed to cross north of the Danube in 1595; Călinești (a village in present-day Florești, Prahova County) was one of their places of settlement, as evidenced in a document issued by Michael's rival and successor, Simion Movilă, who confirmed their right to reside in the locality.
His family originally came from Albania and the wider region of Epirus and was possibly born in North Macedonia, south of the city of Skopje, in Köprülü (present-day Veles).
In all available historical sources, despite the discrepancies about his exact birthplace, he is always referred to as an Albanian, an indication of his origin's role in the patronage networks which supported his political career.
Ghica joined Vasile Lupu, an Albanian emigre who was Voivode of Moldavia and became his most trusted officer and representative in the Ottoman court.
[6] Miron Costin (1633-1691), a contemporary Romanian historian wrote about the clientelist relations in Ottoman hierarchy between figures of the same origin and noted that being of the same origin as him [Ghica] – that is Albanian – voievode Vasile brought him to the court and entrusted him some minor offices, and later [Ghica] reached the position of the Chief Judge of Lower Moldavia.
[11] Lupu's fall brought Ghica to an alliance with another Albanian, the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, Köprülü Mehmed Pasha.
In the Romanian principalities, Mehmed Pasha promoted an 'ethnicity-based patronage system' and chose to appoint Albanians as a means to strengthen his apparatus in the region.
[12] Ion Neculce (1672-1745), another contemporary Romanian historian who continued the tradition of Constin recorded a tale about George Ghica and Mehmed Pasha.
Taking advantage of the defeat of the Ottomans at the Battle of Levice (1664), Grigore fled to Poland and then to Vienna, in search of Habsburg military aid.
[15] His son Grigore II Ghica, well versed in the intricacies of the Ottoman politics due to his rank as Dragoman, succeeded in acquiring the Moldavian throne on 26 September 1726.
[14] The Albanian community was strengthened during the Phanariote epoch, when numerous immigrants opened businesses in a large number of cities and towns, and were employed as bodyguards of Wallachian princes and boyars (being usually recorded as Arbănași, akin to Arvanites, and its variant Arnăuți, borrowed from the Turkish Arnavut).
[2] Aleksandër Stavre Drenova, a resident of Bucharest, authored the lyrics of Albania's national anthem, Hymni i Flamurit, which is sung to the tune of "Pe-al nostru steag e scris Unire", composed by the Romanian Ciprian Porumbescu.
[2] At the time, Albanians were present, alongside other Balkan communities, in Bucharest's commercial life, where many worked as street vendors (specializing in the sale of soft drinks or confectionery items).
