Who are the Pelasgians?

The Pelasgians are an outdated theory usen mainly by Albanians and Greeks mainly in the 19th century to say they are the same people.

Here's an example:

The Pelasgians are a broad term used by classical authors to denote the autochthonous, pre-Indo-European inhabitants of Greece and the southern Balkans in general.

However, there is no evidence about the possible language, customs and existence of the Pelasgians as a distinct and homogeneous people and thus any particular connection to this population is unfounded.

This theory was developed by the Austrian linguist Johann Georg von Hahn in his work "Albanesische Studien" in 1854. According to Hahn, the Pelasgians were the original proto-Albanians and the language spoken by the Pelasgians, Illyrians, Epirotes and ancient Macedonians were closely related. In Hahn's theory the term Pelasgians was mostly used as a synonym for Illyrians. This theory quickly attracted support in Albanian circles, as it established a claim of predecence over other Balkan nations, particularly the Greeks. In addition to establishing "historic right" to territory this theory also established that the ancient Greek civilization and its achievements had an "Albanian" origin.

In contemporary times with the Arvanite revival of the Pelasgian theory, it has also been recently borrowed by other Albanian speaking populations within and from Albania in Greece to counter the negative image of their communities.

Herodotus considered the Pelasgians to be "barbarian," noting that he was unsure of the language they spoke, which suggests that they likely were not related with the Ancient Greeks. This implies that the Pelasgians were culturally and linguistically distinct from the Greeks of his time.

Well, the conclusion is that this theory is rejected by scholars today and is not accepted in academic circles, as it lacks credible historical and archaeological evidence. It is often viewed as a nationalistic myth rather than a legitimate part of ancient history.