Đerzelez Alija or Gjergj Alia (also spelled Djerzelez Alija) is a popular legendary hero in epic poetry and literature in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in northern Albania. Muslims from Bosnian Krajina modeled the poetic image of Alija Đerzelez after the image of Serbian (Christian) Prince Marko, based on the historic person Ali Bey Mihaloğlu. Songs about Đerzelez Alija were transmitted by bilingual singers from South Slavic milieu to northern Albanian milieu, where he is known as Gjergj Elez Alia.
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Name
The most popular spelling of the name is Đerzelez Alija, while there are many variants, such as Serbo-Croatian: Đerđelez Alija (Djerdjelez Alija), Albanian: Gjergj Elez Alia, Turkish: Gürz Ilyas, and Hungarian: Gerz Ilyas.
His name is derived from the Turkish word gürzi (mace) and means warrior with the mace.
Historical background
Some historians believed that epic figure of Đerzelez was inspired by Ali Bey Mihaloglu an Ottoman military commander in 15th century and the first sanjakbey of the Sanjak of Smederevo. According to Ottoman census of 1485 he was in charge for nahiya of Dobrun near Višegrad as his timar (land grant). There is a turbe (mausoleum) in the village of Gerzovo (near Mrkonjić Grad, Bosnia and Herzegovina) which according to legend is his burial place.
The first written record of the epic figure of Đerzelez (in the form of "Ali-beg") was a form of South Slavic bugarštica (long form epic and ballad poem), The Marriage of Vuk the Dragon-Despot, recorded by Đuro Matei at the end of 17th or beginning of 18th century. In songs recorded in the Erlangen Manuscript, Đerzelez is mentioned in the form of "Turk elder Balibeg".
Đerzelez was an epic hero of the Bosnian Krajina (frontier region) from the end of 15th century. Songs which emerged in South Slavic milieu were transmitted by bilingual singers to Albanian milieu, Đerzelez from Bosnian songs became Gjergj Elez Alia in Albanian songs. He is one of many Muslim heroes of South Slavic poetry who exists in Albanian poetry.
South Slavic folklore and literature
Ottoman historian and chronicler Ibn Kemal (1468–1534) wrote about his popularity in folk songs in Bosnia.
Some of the poems which include the name of Đerzelez in their titles are:
Đerzelez is one of the main characters of many other poems without his name in their title, like:
Bosnian Muslims modeled the poetic image of Đerzelez after the image of Serbian (Christian) ruler Marko Kraljević (Prince Marko). According to the legend, Đerzelez also has an epic horse (sometimes called Šarac, as the horse of Marko) and he is a good friend of fairies who help him when he is in danger. Legend says that he was killed during his prayer (salat) because he did not want to interrupt it despite being aware that he would be killed.
Ivo Andrić, the 1961 winner of the Nobel Prize in literature, wrote Put Alije Đerzeleza [The Journey of Alija Đerzelez], published in 1920, after two fragments (Djerzelez at the Inn and Djerzelez on the Road) were published in 1918 and 1919.
One of the oldest houses in Sarajevo, "The House of Alija Đerzelez", is named after him. There are streets in several towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bihać, Gračanica, Zenica, etc.) named after him.
Albanian folklore
In Albanian folklore, Gjergj Elez Alia was a great warrior. The song Gjergj Elez Alia was recorded by Bernardin Palaj and Donat Kurti in Nikaj (Tropojë District) and published in Tirana in 1937. The song is usually sung accompanied by the lahuta (gusle), or occasionally with çifteli, by the rapsodi (performer). The song is part of the larger cycle of the Albanian Songs of the Frontier Warriors (Albanian: Këngë Kreshnikësh or Cikli i Kreshnikëve) that crystallized in the 17th and 18th centuries and recorded in written form in the first decades of 20th century by the Franciscan priests Shtjefën Gjeçovi and Bernardin Palaj. Although they were transmitted from South Slavic milieu of Bosnia they are not simply translated from Serbo-Croatian, but have independently evolved in the northern Albanian highlands.