Gjergj Elez Alia or Đerzelez Alija is a legendary character found in the epic poetry and literature of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gora, Kosovo and northern Albania.
The legendary character is believed to have been a popular Muslim epic hero of the Bosnian Krajina (frontier region) from the end of the 15th century.
[5] It is believed that epic figure of Đerzelez Alija was inspired by Ali Bey Mihaloglu[6][7] or Gürz Ilyas,[8] an Ottoman military commander in 15th century and the first sanjakbey of the Sanjak of Smederevo.
[12] The legendary character is believed to have been a popular Muslim epic hero of the Bosnian Krajina (frontier region) from the end of 15th century.
[13][14] The myth of Gjergj Elez Ali / Đerzelez Alija has its roots in the origins of common beliefs and a set of interests linked to the preservation of the lineage.
[16][17][15] According to Rašid Durić, Ottoman historian and chronicler Ibn Kemal (1468–1534) wrote about the popularity of Gürz Ilyas in folk songs in Bosnia.
[14] Đerzelez Alija was most popular in the Bosnian Krajina (Frontier) region, where he, as opposed to Albanian tradition, is mostly seen as a Muslim fighting against Christians.
A song of Gjergj Elez Alia was recorded by Bernardin Palaj and Donat Kurti in Nikaj (Tropojë District) and published in Tirana in 1937.
Everyone that passed by stopped to remember his great actions.Ivo Andrić, the 1961 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, wrote Put Alije Đerzeleza (transl.
Aleksej Olesnički tvrdi...da je Đerzelez Alija identičan sa Mihal-oglu Ali begom...[Aleksej Olesnički claims ... that Djerzelez Alija can be identified as Mihal-oglu Ali beg]Prvi spomen Djerzelez Alije u narodnoj pjesmi sačuvao se je kod Bogišića, u bugarštici br.
Pjesmu je zabilježio Đuro Matei pri koncu XVII ili početkom XVIII stoljeća....se Đerzelez pominje pod imenom Ali beg...[The first mention of Djerzelez Alija in peoples poetry was preserved at Bogisic, in bugarstica num 13, which has the name "The Marriage of Vuk the Dragon-Despot".