Albanian tribes

The old man of Shoshi (left), the old bajraktar of Nikaj (right), by Edith Durham, early 20th century.

Among Gheg Malësors of the highlands, the fis is headed by the oldest male (kryeplak) and forms the basic unit of tribal society.[14][15] The governing councils consist of elders (pleknit, singular: plak). The idea of law administration is so closely related to "old age", that "to arbitrate" (me pleknue) and (plekní) means both "seniority" and "arbitration".[15] The fis is divided into a group of several closely related houses (mehala) and a main house (shpi). The head of mehala is the krye (lit. "head", pl. krenë or krenët), while the head of the house is the zoti i shpis ("the lord of the house"). A house may be composed of two or three other houses with property in common under one zot.[16]

Traditional head-shaves in Kastrati and Shkreli by Edith Durham, early 20th century.

A political and territorial unit consisting of several clans was the bajrak (standard or banner).[14] The leader of a bajrak, whose position was hereditary, was referred to as bajraktar (standard bearer).[14] Several bajraks composed a tribe, which was led by a man from a notable family, while major issues were decided by the tribe assembly whose members of the tribe were male.[17][14] The Ottomans implemented the bayraktar system within northern Albanian tribes, and granted some privileges to the bayraktars (banner chieftains) in exchange for their obligation to mobilize local fighters to support military actions of the Ottoman forces.[18][19] Those privileges entitled Albanian tribesmen to pay no taxes and to be excluded from military conscription in return for commitment to military service as irregular troops; however few served in that capacity.[19] Malisors viewed Ottoman officials as a threat to their tribal way of living and left it to their bajraktars to deal with the Ottoman political system.[20] Officials of the late Ottoman period noted that Malisors preferred that their children learn the use of a weapon and refused to send them to government schools that taught Turkish, which was viewed as a form of state control.[21] Most Albanian Malisors were illiterate.[20]

Portraits of Lambro the Suliote, and the old Balouk-Bashee of Dervitziana by Charles Robert Cockerell, published in 1820.

In southern Albania, the social system is based on the house (shpi or shtëpi) and the fis, which consists of a patrilineal kinship group and an exogamous unit composed of members with some property in common.[22] The patrilineal kinship ties are defined by the concept of "blood" (gjak) including moral and physical characteristics that are shared by all the members of a fis.[22] The fis generally consists of three or four generations sharing a common ancestor, while the tribe, fara or gjeri, is much smaller than a northern Albanian fis.[23] The members of a fara have a common ancestor who is the eponymos founder of the village.[24] The political organization is communal; every neighbourhood sends a representing elder (plak) to the governing council of the village (pleqësi), who elect the head of the village (kryeplak).[25]

The Albanian term farë (definite form: fara) means "seed" and "progeny". In northern Albania it had no legal use, whereas in southern Albania, fara was used legally instead of the term fis of the northerners until the beginning of the 19th century, to mean a politically autonomous tribe and a 'brotherhood' (Gheg Alb. vëllazni; Tosk Alb. vëllazëri; or Alb. bark, "belly"). Attestations of these forms of social organization among southern Albanians are reported by Leake and Pouqueville when describing the traditional organization of Suli (between 1660 and 1803), Epirus, and of southern Albania in general (until the beginning of the 19th century). Pouqueville in particular reported that each village (Alb. katun) and each town was some kind of autonomous republic composed of farë brotherhoods. In other accounts he mentioned the 'great farë' tribes, each having their polemarchs. These chiefs had boluk-bashis (platoon commanders),[26] analogus to the northern fis, the bajraktarë and the krenë (chieftains) of the vëllazni, respectively.[27]

View of Albanian Palikars in Pursuit of an Enemy by Charles Robert Cockerell, published in 1820.[28]

Unlike the northern Albanian tribes, the lineage groups of southern Albanians did not inhabit a closed region, but constituted ethnographic islands located on mountains surrounded by a farming environment. One of the centres of these lineage societies was based in Labëria in the central mountains of southern Albania. A second centre was based in Himara in southwest Albania. A third centre was based in the Suli region, located far south in the middle of a Greek population. The tendency to build segmentary lineage organizations of these mountain communities increased with the degree of their isolation, causing the loss of the tribal organization of the Albanian highlanders in southern Albania and northern Greece since the 15th century, during the period of the Ottoman dominion. Afterwards, these lineage segments increasingly became the basic political, economic, religious, and predatory units of social organization.[23]

According to Pouqueville these forms of social organizations disappeared with the dominion of the Ottoman Albanian ruler Ali Pasha, and definitely ended in 1813.[29] In the Pashalik of Yanina, in addition to the Sharia for Muslims and Canon for Christians, Ali Pasha enforced his own laws, allowing only in rare cases the usage of local Albanian tribal customary laws. After annexing Suli and Himara into his semi-independent state in 1798, he tried to organize the judiciary in every city and province according to the principle of social equality, enforcing his laws for the entire population, Muslims and Christians. To limit blood feud killings, Ali Pasha replaced blood feuds (Alb. gjakmarrje) with other punishments such as blood payment or expulsion or the death penalty.[30] Ali Pasha also reached an agreement with the Kurveleshi population not to trespass their territories, which at that time were larger than the area they inhabit today.[31] Continualy since the 18th century, blood feuds and their consequences in Labëria have been limited principally by the councils of elders.[30]

The mountain region of Kurveleshi represents the last example of a tribal system among southern Albanians,[32][33] which was regulated by the Code of Zuli (Kanuni i Papa Zhulit/Zulit or Kanuni i Idriz Sulit).[33] In Kurvelesh the names of the villages were built as collective pluralia to designate the tribal settlements. For instance, Lazarat is a toponym that refers to the 'descendants of Lazar'.[34]

Shkreli tribesmen. Photo taken by William Le Queux before 1906.

The northern Albanian tribes are fiercely proud of the fact that they have never been completely conquered by external powers, in particular by the Ottoman Empire. This fact is considered as orthodox on a heritage and historical level by the tribes. In the 18th century the Ottomans instituted the system of bajrak military organization in northern Albania and Kosovo. From the Ottoman perspective, the institution of the bajrak had multiple benefits. Although it recognized a semi-autonomous status in communities like Hoti, it could also be used to stabilize the borderlands; in their new capacity, these communities would defend the borders of the empire as their own territory. Furthermore, in times of rebellion the Ottomans could use the office of head bajraktar to divide and conquer the tribes by handing out privileges to a select few. On the other hand, autonomy of the borderlands was a source of conflict as the tribes tried to increase their autonomy and minimize involvement of the Ottoman state. Through a series of conflicts and renegotiation a state of balance was found between Ottoman centralization and tribal autonomy. Hence, the Ottoman era is marked by both continual conflict and the formalization of socio-economic status within Ottoman administration.[18]

Members of the tribes of northern Albania believe that their history is based on the notions of resistance and isolationism.[35] Some scholars connect this belief with the concept of "negotiated peripherality"; throughout history the territory that northern Albanian tribes occupy has been contested and is peripheral. Northern Albanian tribes often exploited their position and negotiated their peripherality in profitable ways, which also affected their national program; its significance and challenges are different from those in southern Albania.[36] Such peripheral territories are zones of the dynamic creation of culture, where it is possible to manipulate regional and national histories to the advantage of certain individuals and groups.[37]

A fortified tower (kullë) in Theth used as a safe haven for men involved in blood feuds.

Malisor society used tribal law and participated in the custom of bloodfeuding.[38] Ottoman control mainly existed in the few urban centres and valleys of northern Albania but was minimal or almost non-existent in the mountains, where Malisors lived an autonomous existence according to kanun (tribal law) of Lek Dukagjini.[39] Western Kosovo was also an area where Ottoman rule among highlanders was minimal to non-existent and government officials would ally themselves with local power holders to exert any form of authority.[12] Western Kosovo was dominated by the Albanian tribal system where Kosovar Malisors settled disputes among themselves through mountain law.[12] In a period without stable state control, it was the tribe who tried its members. The usual punishments were fines, exile or disarmament. The house of the exiled member of the tribe would be burned. Disarmament was regarded as the most embarrassing verdict.[40]

The Law of Lek Dukagjini (kanun) was named after a medieval prince Lekë Dukagjini from the fifteenth century who ruled in northern Albania and codified the customary laws of the highlands.[20] Albanian tribes from the Dibra region governed themselves according to the Law of Skanderbeg (kanun), named after a fifteenth century warrior who fought the Ottomans.[41] Disputes would be solved through tribal law within the framework of vendetta or blood feuding; the activity was widespread among the Malisors.[42] In situations of murder, tribal law stipulated the principle of koka për kokë (a head for a head) where relatives of the victim are obliged to seek gjakmarrja (blood vengeance).[20] Nineteen percent of male deaths in İşkodra vilayet and 600 fatalities per year in Western Kosovo were from murders caused by vendetta and blood feuding during the late Ottoman period.[43]

A Shala men, photo taken by Edith Durham before 1909.

Besa is a word in the Albanian language meaning "pledge of honour", "to keep the promise".[44] Besa is an important institution within the tribal society of the Albanian Malisors, and is one of the moral principles of the Kanun.[41][45] Albanian tribes swore oaths to jointly fight against the government and in this respect the besa served to uphold tribal autonomy.[41] The besa was used to regulate tribal affairs both between and within tribes.[41] The Ottoman government used the besa as a way to co-opt Albanian tribes into supporting state policies or to seal agreements.[41]

During the Ottoman period, the besa would be cited in government reports of Albanian unrest, especially in the tribes.[46] The besa formed a central place within Albanian society in order to generate military and political power.[47] Besas held Albanians together, united them and would wane when the will to enforce them dissipated.[48] In times of revolt against the Ottomans, the besa functioned as a link among different groups and tribes.[48]

Besa is an important part of personal and familial standing and is often used as an example of "Albanianism". Someone who breaks his besa may even be banished from his community.

Albanian Malisors in an early 20th postcard.

During the Great Eastern Crisis, Prenk Bib Doda, hereditary chieftain of Mirdita initiated a rebellion in mid-April 1877 against government control and the Ottoman Empire sent troops to put it down.[49] Montenegro attempted to gain support among the Malisors even though it lacked religious or ethnic links with the Albanian tribesmen.[50] During the Eastern Crisis and subsequent border negotiations in April 1880, Italy suggested that the Ottoman Empire give Montenegro the Tuz district, containing mainly Catholic Gruda and Hoti populations, which would have split between them both countries.[51] With Hoti this would have caused tensions and instability because of their traditionally having precedence over the other four tribes during peace and war.[51] The tribes affected by the negotiations swore a besa (pledge) to resist any reduction of their lands and sent telegrams to surrounding regions asking for military assistance.[51]

During the late Ottoman period Ghegs often lacked education and integration within the Ottoman system, even though they had autonomy and military capabilities.[42] Those factors gave the area of Gegënia an importance within the empire that differed from Toskëria.[42] Still many Ottoman officers thought that Ghegs, in particular the highlanders, were a liability instead of an asset. They were commonly referred to as a "wild" (Turkish: vahşi) and backward people living poverty and ignorance for 500 years, and hostile to civilisation and progress.[52] In areas of Albania were Malisors lived, the empire only posted Ottoman officers who had prior experience in other tribal regions of the state like Kurdistan or Yemen that could bridge cultural divides with Gheg tribesmen.[53]

Under Sultan Abdul Hamid II, Ottoman officials were posted to Albanian populated lands. Some Albanians strongly disproved of blood feuding, seeing it as inhumane and uncivilised, and an unnecessary waste of life that created social disruption, lawlessness and economic dislocation.[54] To resolve this problem, Ottoman officials formed Blood Feud Reconciliation Commissions (musalaha-ı dem komisyonları) that produced results with limited success.[46] In the late Ottoman period, due to the influence of Catholic Franciscan priests, some reduction of blood feuding among Albanian highlanders was achieved. For instance, guilt was restricted to the offender or their household and one tribe accepted the razing of the offender's home as compensation for the offense.[46] Ottoman officials viewed the violence committed by Malisors in the 1880s-1890s as a tribal problem not related to nationalism or religion.[38] They also noted that Albanian tribesmen who identified with Islam did so in name only and lacked knowledge of the religion.[55]

Men of the Shkreli tribe at the feast of Saint Nicholas at Bzheta in Shkreli territory, 1908.

In the aftermath of the Young Turk Revolution in 1908 the new Young Turk government established the Commissions for Reconciliation of Blood Feuds that focused on regions such as İpek (Pejë) and Prizren.[56] The commissions sentenced Albanians who had participated in blood feud killing. The Council of Ministers allowed the Commission to continue their work in the provinces until May 1909.[56] After the Young Turk Revolution and subsequent restoration of the Ottoman constitution, the Hoti, Shala, Shoshi, and Kastati tribes made a besa (pledge) to support it and stop blood feuding with other tribes until November 6, 1908. However, Albanian tribes that showed enthusiasm had little knowledge of what the constitution would do for them.[57]

During the Albanian revolt of 1910, Malisors such as the Shala tribe fought against Ottoman troops that were sent to quell the uprising and disarm the population by collecting guns and replacing the Law of Lek with state courts and laws.[58] Malisors planned further resistance and Albanian tribes living near the border fled into Montenegro while negotiating terms with the Ottomans for their return.[58] The Ottoman military commander Mahmud Shevket concluded that the Bajraktars had become Albanian nationalists and posed a danger to the empire compared to previous uprisings.[59]

The Albanian revolt of 1911 was begun during March by Catholic Albanian tribesmen after they returned from exile in Montenegro.[60] The Ottoman government sent 8,000 troops to quell the uprising and ordered that tribal chieftains stand trial for leading the rebellion.[60] During the revolt, Terenzio Tocci, an Italo-Albanian lawyer gathered the Mirditë chieftains on 26/27 April 1911 in Orosh and proclaimed the independence of Albania, raised the flag of Albania and declared a provisional government.[58] After Ottoman troops entered the area to put down the rebellion, Tocci fled the empire abandoning his activities.[61] On 23 June 1911 Albanian Malisors and other revolutionaries gathered in Montenegro and drafted the Greçë Memorandum demanding Albanian sociopolitical and linguistic rights with signatories from the Hoti, Gruda, Shkreli, Kelmendi and Kastrati tribes.[60] In later negotiations with the Ottomans, an amnesty was granted to the tribesmen with promises by the government to: build roads and schools in tribal areas, pay wages of teachers, limit military service to the Istanbul and Shkodër areas, grant the right to carry weapons in the countryside but not in urban areas, appoint bajraktar relatives to certain administrative positions and compensate the Malisors returning from Montenegro with money and food.[60] The final agreement was signed in Podgorica by both the Ottomans and Malisors during August 1912. The highlanders had managed to thwart the centralist tendencies of the Young Turk government.[60]

The last tribal system of Europe in northern Albania stayed intact until 1944 when Albanian communists seized power, ruling the country for half a century.[4] During that time the tribal system was almost eradicated by the communists.[4] After the collapse of communism in the early 1990s, northern Albania underwent demographic changes in tribal areas, sometimes becoming depopulated.[62] Much of the population seeking a better life, moved either abroad or to Albanian cities such as Tiranë, Durrës or Shkodër; populations historically stemming from the tribes have become scattered.[62] Locals that remained in northern Albanian areas have maintained an awareness of their tribal identity.[62]

Malësia e Madhe, in the Northern Albanian Alps between Albania and Montenegro, historically has been the land of ten bigger and three smaller tribal regions.[63] Two of them, Suma and Tuzi, came together to form Gruda in the 15th to 16th century. The people of this area are commonly called "highlanders" (Albanian: malësorë).

The Dukagjin Highlands includes the following tribes:[70]

There are six tribes of the Gjakova Highlands (Albanian: Malësia e Gjakovës) also known as Malësia e Vogël ("Lesser Malësia"):[77]

The "seven tribes of Puka" (Albanian: shtatë bajrakët e Pukës), inhabit the Puka region.[83] Durham said of them: "Puka group ... sometimes reckoned a large tribe of seven bairaks. Sometimes as a group of tribes".[84]