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Plav Плав Plavë | |
---|---|
Town and municipality | |
![]() Panorama of Plav | |
Coordinates: 42°36′N19°56′E / 42.6°N 19.94°E | |
Country | ![]() |
Region | Northern Montenegro |
Municipality | ![]() |
Settlements | 14 |
Government | |
• Mayor | Nihad Canović (SD) |
• Ruling party | SD – DPS – BS – AA |
Area | |
• Town and municipality | 328 km2 (127 sq mi) |
Population (2011 census) | |
• Density | 28/km2 (70/sq mi) |
• Urban | 3,717 |
• Rural | 5,364 |
• Municipality | 9,081 |
Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Postal code | 84325 |
Area code | +382 51 |
ISO 3166-2 code | ME-13 |
Car plates | PL |
Climate | Cfb |
Plav (Cyrillic : Плав; Albanian : Plavë) is a town in Montenegro in the northern region. It has a population of 3,717 (2011 census). Plav is the centre of Plav Municipality (population of 9,081 following the formation of Gusinje Municipality).
The name Plav (Плав) is derived from Slavic plav, "a flooded place" (poplava, "flood"). [1] [2]
Plav is located at the foot of the Accursed Mountains range, adjacent to the springs of the river Lim.
The area contains many lakes and the most known is Lake Plav, one of the largest in this region. The lakes Hrid and Visitor are mountain lakes, and Visitor is noted for its floating island.
Plav is also renowned for its karst wells, among which are Ali Pasha of Gucia Springs and Oko Skakavica. Villages in the municipality include Gusinje.
The toponym Hotina Gora (mountains of Hoti) in the Plav and Gusinje regions on the Lim river basin in 1330 is the first mention of the Hoti name in historical records in the chrysobulls of Dečani. Šufflay considers this region as the original area of settlement of Hoti from which they moved southwards. [3] [4]
The Ottoman census organised in 1582-83 registered the Plav nahiyah within the Sanjak of Scutari with 18 villages; according to historian Milan Vasić all inhabitants had personal names with a Slavic character, and no Muslim name was present. [5] [ need quotation to verify ]
According to a 16th-century travel record by Antonio Bruni, the inhabitants of the Plav region are partly Albanian and partly Serbian, with a large proportion belonging to historical Albanian and Montenegrin tribes such as the Piperi, Kuči, Kelmendi, and Bjelopavlići. [6]
After the Serbian-Venetian nobleman Mariano Bolizza in Cattaro (Kotor), who wrote the Relazione e descrizione del sangiacato di Scutari ("Relations and Description of the Sanjak of Scutari") in 1614 Plav was mostly inhabited by Albanians under the command of Sem Zaus (Cem Çaushi) of Podgorica. [7]
The two strongest feudal families in the Plav-Gusinje region (~90 km to the northeast of Gruemirë) trace their origin to Gruemiri. The Rexhepagaj of Plav, Montenegro (now, Redžepagić-Rexhepagiqi) moved to Plav in the beginning of the 1650s where their ancestor took the Muslim name Veli when he converted. Rexhep Aga who gave the name to the family was a great-great-grandson of Veli. The Shabanagaj (now also known as Šabanagić) were related via marriage with the Bushati family of Shkodra. Shaban Aga, their eponymous ancestor was the son-in-law of Sulejman Pasha Bushati, sanjakbey of Shkodra. He was sent in Gusinje as the commander of the fortress around 1690. [8] The Shabanagaj family owned large estates in Berane. Ali Pasha of Gusinje, commander of the League of Prizren was a Shabanagaj and Jashar Rexhepagiq, pedagogue in Kosovo, was a Rexhepagaj. Many other families in Plav also trace their origin to different historical tribes who migrated to the area. The Ferri (Ferović), Kërcaj (Krcić), Kuçi (Kuč), Medunaj (Medunanjin), Shabaj (Šabović), Toskaj (Toskić) descend from Kuči/Kuçi; the Canaj (Canović), Musajt (Musič), Rekaj (Reković), Mekuli (Mekulović) and Rugova (Rugovac) descend from Kelmendi; the Shahmanaj (Šahmanović) from Triesh; the Begani (Beganović), Kasumi (Kasumović), Shalunaj (Šaljunović) from Shala; Basha (Bašič) and Hoxhaj (Hodžić) from Berisha; the Kastrat and Hot families from Kastrati and Hoti respectively. [9]
In 1878, following the Treaty of Berlin, the city of Plav was ceded to Montenegro by the Ottoman Empire despite being considered by Albanian leaders as Albanian territory.Soon after however, armed resistance by the forces of the League of Prizren and their victory against Montenegrin troops at Battle of Novšiće (1879) prevented the implementation. Ottomans had to cede Ulcinj to Montenegro after pressure from the Great Powers in 1881. Plav onlybecame part of Montenegro after the First Balkan War in 1912. [10]
The entry of the Montenegrin army in 1912-13 and the Yugoslav army after 1919 in Plav-Gusinje was accompanied by repressive policies against the local population.The Montenegrin army captured the region and entered Plav on 19 October and 20 October. Its entry was followed by a period of harsh military administration which until March 1913 had caused up to more than 1,800 killings of mostly local Muslim Albanians and 12,000 forced conversions to Christian Orthodoxy. [11]
In 1919, an Albanian revolt, which later came to be known as the Plav rebellion rose up in the Plav, Gusinje and Rozaje districts, fighting against the inclusion of Sandzak in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. [12] [13] [14] As a result, during the Serbian army's second occupation of Plav, which took place in 1919, Serb forces attacked Albanian populations in Plav and Gusinje, which had appealed to the British government for protection. About 450 local civilians were killed after the uprising was quelled. [15] These events resulted in a large influx of Albanians migrating to Albania. [16] [17]
Plav is almost entirely Muslim and either Slavic-speaking or Albanian-speaking. The Slavic dialect of Gusinje and Plav shows very high structural influence from Albanian. Its uniqueness in terms of language contact between Albanian and Slavic is explained by the fact that most Slavic-speakers in today's Plav are of Albanian origin, representing a case of an Albanian-speaking population shifting to a Slavic-speaking one. The dialect of Albanian that Plav speaks is northwestern Gheg at the west of Plav, and northeastern Gheg at the east of Plav. [18] [19]
In the area of the Plav municipality there are 13 sports clubs and societies that are actively engaged in sports and competitions. Some are in the First Montenegrin league and some in the Second Montenegrin league.[ citation needed ]
Sport clubs:
Plav is administrative centre of Plav Municipality, which in 2011 had a population of 9,081, mostly Bosniaks, with a smaller minority of Albanians and other groups. The town of Plav itself has 3,717 citizens.
Historical population:
Ethnicity | Number | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Bosniaks | 2,806 | 75.50% |
Albanians | 341 | 9.17% |
Montenegrins | 182 | 4.90% |
ethnic Muslims | 175 | 4.71% |
Serbs | 165 | 4.44% |
Other | 48 | 1.29% |
Total | 3,717 | 100% |
Plav is twinned with:
Gusinje is a small town in Montenegro in the northern region. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 1,673 and is the administrative center of Gusinje Municipality.
Plav Municipality is one of the municipalities of Montenegro. It is located in northern Montenegro. The center is the town of Plav. In February 2014, the south-western third of the municipality seceded to form Gusinje Municipality.
Albanians in Montenegro are an ethnic group in Montenegro of Albanian descent, which constitute 4.91% of Montenegro's total population. They are the largest non-Slavic ethnic group in Montenegro.
Kelmendi is a historical Albanian tribe (fis) and region in Malësia and eastern Montenegro. It is located in the upper valley of the Cem river and its tributaries in the Accursed Mountains range of the Dinaric Alps. The Vermosh river springs in the village of the same name, which is Albania's northernmost village. Vermosh pours into Lake Plav.
Kuči is a historical tribe (pleme) of Albanian origin and a region in central and eastern Montenegro, north-east of Podgorica, extending along the border with Albania. Processes of Slavicisation during the Ottoman era and onwards facilitated ethno-linguistic shifts within much of the community. As such, people from the Kuči today largely identify themselves as Montenegrins and Serbs, with a minority still identifying as Albanians. In other areas such as the Sandžak, many Muslim descendants of the Kuči today identify as Bosniaks.
Ali Pasha Shabanagaj was an Albanian Muslim military commander and one of the leaders of the League of Prizren. He governed, as an Ottoman kaymakam (sub-governor), an area in what is today eastern Montenegro around Plav and Gusinje. He was commonly known as Ali Pasha of Gusinje. He was the leader of the Albanian irregular troops of the League of Prizren against the Principality of Montenegro at the Battle of Novšiće. He was governor of the area of Plav and Gusinje located in a valley between steep mountains.
Mrkojevići is a historical ethno-local community and region in southwestern Montenegro, located between the towns of Bar and Ulcinj. The region borders Krajina to the east. The Mrkojevići form a distinct ethno-geographical group with their own dialect of the Serbo-Croatian language, while also exhibiting a degree of bilingualism in Albanian. Their customs are distinct from their neighbouring Slavic and Albanian communities, but they also show influence and contacts with them. In the 400-year Ottoman period, the Mrkojevići converted to Islam, which forms an important aspect of their cultural identity.
The Montenegrin–Ottoman War, also known in Montenegro as the Great War, was fought between the Principality of Montenegro and the Ottoman Empire between 1876 and 1878. The war ended with Montenegrin victory and Ottoman defeat in the larger Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. Six major and 27 smaller battles were fought, among which was the crucial Battle of Vučji Do.
Hoti is a historical Albanian tribe (fis) and sub-region of Malësia, a divided area located in northern Albania and southern Montenegro. Its geography is mostly mountainous, but some of its villages are on flat terrain near the banks of Lake of Shkodër.
Bjelopavlići is a historical tribe (pleme) of Albanian origin and a valley in the region of the Brda, in Montenegro, around the city of Danilovgrad.
Vusanje is a village in Gusinje Municipality, Montenegro. According to the 2003 census, the town had 648 inhabitants.
The Sanjak of Scutari or Sanjak of Shkodra was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the Ottoman Empire acquired Shkodra after the siege of Shkodra in 1478–9. It was part of the Eyalet of Rumelia until 1867, when it became a part, together with the Sanjak of Skopje, of the newly established Scutari Vilayet. In 1912 and the beginning of 1913 it was occupied by members of the Balkan League during the First Balkan War. In 1914 the territory of Sanjak of Scutari became a part of the Principality of Albania, established on the basis of the peace contract signed during the London Conference in 1913.
The Battle of Novšiće was a battle for control over Plav and Gusinje fought on 4 December 1879 between forces of the Principality of Montenegro led by Marko Miljanov and local pro-Ottoman forces which included irregulars of the League of Prizren, both commanded by Ali Pasha, the Kaymekam of Gusinje. The League of Prizren consisted mainly of Albanians from Plav and Gusinje in Scutari Vilayet and irregulars from Kosovo Vilayet.
Velika is a village in the municipality of Plav, Montenegro, close to the village of Murino.
The Bratonožići is a historical tribe (pleme) of Albanian origin in the Brda region of Montenegro. It appeared during the Ottoman period and was a captaincy of the Principality of Montenegro in the 19th century. Today, it forms part of northeastern Podgorica Municipality. In Montenegro, the majority of people who trace their origin in Bratonožići identify as Christian Orthodox Montenegrins and Christian Orthodox Serbs. Brotherhoods (bratstvo) from the historical tribe that settled in Bijelo Polje and became Muslims in the Ottoman period identify as Bosniaks. In the 18th century, many families from the region settled in western Serbia. In Kosovo, a part of the Serbs of western Kosovo come from Bratonožići.
Gusinje Municipality is a municipality in northern Montenegro. It is located in the upper Lim valley at an elevation of about 1,000 m (3,000 ft). It was created in 2014, when it split from Plav Municipality. Its center is the small town of Gusinje, and its biggest village in terms of territory is Vusanje. Two of Montenegro's highest mountains overlook Gusinje: Zla Kolata and Visitor. Many of Gusinje's settlements are historically linked with the Albanian Kelmendi tribe (fis). The village of Gusinje developed into a town the 17th century around a fortress built by the Ottomans to contain the Kelmendi. In the 19th century, Gusinje was a developing regional market center. It was engulfed in 1879–1880 in a struggle between the Principality of Montenegro that wanted to annex it and the League of Prizren that opposed it. After the Balkan Wars, Gusinje became part of Montenegro and in 1919 part of Yugoslavia. Today, it is part of Montenegro since its declaration of independence in 2006.
Jakup Ferri was an Albanian fighter from Plav-Gusinje who served as a local leader in the League of Prizren's resistance during the Principality of Montenegro's attempt to subjugate his homeland in 1879. He was distinguished in the Battle of Novšiće, where he died.
Gruemiri is a small historical Albanian tribe (fis) in the former municipality of Gruemirë in the region of Malësia.
The Plav–Gusinje massacres of 1912-1913 occurred between late 1912 and March 1913 in the areas of the modern Plav and Gusinje municipalities and adjacent areas. More than 1,800 locals, mostly Muslim Albanians from these two regions were killed and 12,000 were forced to convert to Orthodoxy by the military administration put in charge of these regions by the Kingdom of Montenegro which had annexed them during the First Balkan War.
Ismail Nikoçi (1876-1919) was an Albanian political activist from Gucia in present-day Montenegro and mayor of that town. He played a significant role in the defense of the national rights of the Albanian ethnic community in Plava-Gucia in the period from its annexation to Montenegro in the Balkans Wars to its final annexation to Yugoslavia in 1919.
Kundruar historikisht që në krye të herës, sipas kapërcejve historikë, Hoti i Kujit si vendbanim i moçëm thjesht me burim shqiptar dokumentohet, përkatësisht daton që moti, në Krisobulën e Deçanit, që nga viti 1330, ku përmenden hotjanët në malet në jug të fushës së Plavës ("Hutina Gora"), sot Malet e Hotit, të cilat sipas mendimit të M. Shuflajt duhet të kenë qenë djepi i fisit Hot.
On the other hand, there are some areas, particularly in Montenegro, where Albanian-speaking populations have shifted to Slavic-speaking ones, such as the tribes of Piperi and Kuči, the Slavic Muslim populations in Plav/Plavë and Gusinje/Gucia, and perhaps with the Mrković.