Shllaku
Shllak (definite Albanian form: Shllaku), is a tribe and region of Northern Albania, east of Shkodër.[1][2] Members of Shllaku tribe are Catholics.[3] The habitat corresponds to today's Shllak Municipality near Shkodër.
Geography
The historical region of Shllaku corresponds to Shllak. The tribal region borders the Shkreli, Dushmani and Toplana tribal regions to the north.
Anthropology
According to tradition, the Toplana, Shllaku as well as the Gashi can trace their lineage back to 1450 when a certain Gabeti or Gabeta is said to have come from ((Vasojevići (in Montenegro) to Albania.[4] A study published in 1911 described the Shllaku as of a darker complexion than other northern Albanian tribes.[5] When he arrived in Shllaku he came across the original native population who were the ancestors of the Kolë Pep Fura family and whose last male descentad died about 1900. The original population of Shllaku was called Lorehic and is said to be related to the family of the same name in Guri i Zi on the plain of Shkodër. Gabeti had two sons: Gjergj Gabeti who was the ancestral of the Mëgulla tribe, and Can Gabeti who was the ancestral of the Shllaku tribe[6] In 1922 this tribe had a population of 1,500.[3]
Shlaku tribe consists of about three hundred houses, all Christian. It is an offshoot of the tribe of Toplana. A third of it lives by charcoal-burning, the others by keeping goats. There is very little cultivable land.
History
The earliest available record of the name of the tribe is 'Scelacu' from 1641. According to Elsie, the tribe believes it is a branch of the Toplana tribe.[3]
In 1877 Ottoman soldiers from Shllaku attack Montenegro.[7]
Notable People
- Bernardin Palaj - Franciscan cleric
See also
References
- ↑ Ekmečić 1989, p. 119.
- ↑ Haralampie Polenakoviḱ (1976). Bigorski naučno-kulturni sobiri: 1974-1975. Misla. p. 28. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
а потоа: Крај, Скадарските Брда, Дукаѓин, Постриба, Шљак, Никај-Мертури, Гаковечка Мале- сија, Косово итн.;
- 1 2 3 Elsie, Robert (2010) [2004], Historical Dictionary Of Albania (PDF) (2 ed.), Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, p. 416, ISBN 9781282521926, OCLC 816372706
- ↑ Zemaljski muzej u Bosni i Hercegovini 1911, p. 373: "Топлана и Шлаку могу као и Гаши своју лозу проследити и до 1450, када су како се вели, дошли из Васојевића у Албанију"
- ↑ Zemaljski muzej u Bosni i Hercegovini 1911, p. 370.
- ↑ Robert Elsie.
- ↑ NIN.: Nedeljne informativne novine. Politika. 1991. p. 70. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
Sources
- Milorad Ekmečić (1989). Stvaranje Jugoslavije 1790-1918. Prosveta. p. 119. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
...Темоли, Шлаку, Пука, Мертури, Бериша, Тхаћи, Малази, Миридити.
- Zemaljski muzej u Bosni i Hercegovini (1911). Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja u Bosni i Hercegovini. Zemaljska štamparija. pp. 370–373. Retrieved 21 May 2013.