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Prekali was an Albanian tribe of the Middle Ages. Their origin was probably in the Dukagjin highlands of northern Albania. Since the 16th century, the Prekali tribe gradually became part of other communities in that region.
Prekali was a community based on kinship ties that can be traced back to one progenitor. In that sense, it was a bashkësi (union of brotherhoods), but not a fis, as for a tribe to be a fis it has to have exclusive communal property rights in a given territory, which is part of their hereditary community. Their name comes from the Albanian personal name Preka. In the cadaster of Venetian Shkodra, there were two villages named Prekal on the modern Albania-Montenegro border and most of their inhabitants held the patronymic Prekali, an indication that the villages were communal settlements of this tribe. The village of Gaduçi was also mostly inhabited by this tribe. Prekali nën shkallë, headed by pronoiar Jonema Prekali was near the Buna river between the villages of Pentari and Luarzë. Prekali in the mountains (Prekali në mal) headed by Andrea Prekali was on the right bank of the river. Gaduçi headed by Gjin Prekali was near Velipoja in the settlement of Malkolaj. [1]
In the defter of the Sanjak of Scutari in 1485 Prekali appears spread throughout the lands north-east of Shkodër and Drisht. The village of Gur i Zi in which the tribe held property in 1416, appears as also having the name Prekal in 1485, an indication of their settlement there. A century later, in the defter of 1582, their village near the plains of the Buna river appears under two names Shul Prekala or Gjergj Bardhi. [2]
A branch of Prekali was on the process of becoming a feudal family in the early 15th century. For example, in the 1416-17 cadaster one of them Petro Prekali appears as ducal citizen of Balec. [3] Others in the cadaster appear as pronoiars recognized by Venice in villages of the area. Many others lived in villages throughout the region south of Shkodra. The Ottoman conquest of the country stopped this feudalization process and as many in northern Albania, their community underwent a retribalization of social relations. [4] In this period, the village Prekal appears which still exists today on the banks of the river Kir in the municipal unit of Postribë. Of the five brotherhoods of this village, the Lekçaj (also known as Ulqaj) are descendants of the Prekali founders. The other four descend from Shoshi, which is about 20km north of Prekal. [2]
Tuzi is a small town in Montenegro and the seat of Tuzi Municipality, Montenegro. It is located along a main road between the city of Podgorica and the Albanian border crossing, just a few kilometers north of Lake Skadar. The Church of St. Anthony and Qazimbeg's Mosque are located in the centre of the town. Tuzi is the newest municipality in Montenegro, having been an independent municipality since 1 September 2018.
The Bushati were a prominent Ottoman-Albanian family that ruled the Pashalik of Scutari from 1757 to 1831.
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.
Mrkojevići is a historical tribal 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.
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.
Shkreli is a historical Albanian tribe and region in the Malësia Madhe region of northern Albania and is majority Catholic. With the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, part of the tribe migrated to Rugova in Western Kosovo beginning around 1700, after which they continued to migrate into the Lower Pešter and Sandžak regions.
Krasniqi is a historical Albanian tribe and region in the Accursed Mountains in northeastern Albania, bordering Kosovo. The region lies within the Tropoje District and is part of a wider area between Albania and Kosovo that is historically known as Gjakova highlands. Krasniqi stretches from the Valbona river in the north to Lake Fierza in the south and includes the town Bajram Curri. Members of the Krasniqi tribe are also found in Kosovo and Northern Macedonia.
Lohja is a historical Albanian tribe located in a small area of the same name in Malësia, northern Albania.
Bukumiri was an Albanian tribe (fis) that lived in present-day central and south-eastern Montenegro. They were semi-nomadic pastoralists whose social organization was based on kinship around brotherhoods of common patrilineal ancestry. Over time they began to settle permanently and in the 15th and 16th centuries they formed their own settlements mostly in Montenegro, but a few branches also in northern Albania. In later years, branches of Bukumiri are also found in Sandžak and Kosovo.
Trieshi is a historical Albanian tribe (fis) and region in Montenegro above the right bank of the Cem river near the Albanian border in Tuzi Municipality. It is part of the region of Malësia.
Kryethi was an Albanian tribe (bashkësi) of the Middle Ages in the coastal areas of northern Albania and southern Montenegro.
Mataguzi was an Albanian tribe in the Middle Ages in southern Montenegro, on the northern shores of Lake Skadar. Their area of settlement included the modern village of Mataguži which takes its name from the tribe.
Gruemiri is a small historical Albanian tribe (fis) in the former municipality of Gruemirë in the region of Malësia.
Kakarriqi was an Albanian tribe (fis) of the Middle Ages. They inhabited the Mbishkodër plain, stretching up into the grasslands of Zeta.
Reçi is a historical Albanian tribe. It is located in the ethnographic region of Malësia northern Albania. The historical heartland of the tribe is the village of Reç in Malësia, but place names linked to them also appear on settlements such as Reč in Ulcinj where a part of them also lived.
Mavriqi was an Albanian tribe (fis) that lived in the Middle Ages. They were the anas tribe of the Shala valley, being gradually expelled by the incoming Shala. The tribe gave its name to the modern village of Nënmavriq as well as to a number of micro-toponyms in the highlands of northern Albania.
The Marsheni were an Albanian tribe of the Middle Ages that inhabited areas of northern Albania and south-eastern Montenegro. The modern settlement of Marshej to the north-east of Koplik and immediate south-east of Gradec in Kastrat takes its name from the tribe.
The Rrjolli is a historical Albanian tribe (fis) and region in Malësia of north Albania. The tribal region is centred along the banks of the Rrjoll river that stems from Mount Bishkaz and empties into Lake Shkodër. The Rrjolli tribe is not a traditional fis in the sense of a community that claims paternal descent from one common ancestor; rather, it is polyphyletic. During the Ottoman period it formed a single bajrak.
The Plani are a historical Albanian tribe (fis) and region in Pult of north Albania. The Plani tribe is not a traditional fis in the sense of a community that claims paternal descent from one common ancestor; rather, it is polyphyletic. During the Ottoman period it formed a single bajrak.
The Lepuroshi were a historical Albanian tribe (fis) that inhabited the ethnographic region of Rrjolli in Malësia, northern Albania, during the Middle Ages.