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Berisha (tribe)

Berisha (tribe)

Berisha is a historical Albanian tribe located in the region of Pukë in northern Albania, that is, one of the Malësor (or Malissori) tribes. Berisha is a Catholic tribe, said to be the oldest of all northern Albanian tribes. First mentioned in the 17th century, oral tradition traces their genealogy to the 14th century. A part of the tribe migrated to Kosovo and Skopska Crna Gora during the Ottoman period. Today, the surname Berisha is common in Kosovo Albanians.

Geography

The historical tribal area of the Berisha is located in the Pukë district, south of the Drin, west of Fierza, in northern Albania. The centre is the Sapaç river basin, flowing into the Drin. Berisha traditionally borders with Dushmani and Toplana to the west, Bugjoni to the north, Iballja to the east and Kabashi to the south.[1] The main settlements are Berisha e Vogël (Lower Berisha), Shopël and Berisha e Epërme (Upper Berisha).[1]

History

In 1348, Emperor Stefan Dušan mentions "Berisha's Field" as being near Mushtisht in Kosovo.[2] Marin Barleti in his book published in 1508, mentions two Berisha brothers as notable generals of Skanderbeg.[3] In 1691 the name Berisa is recorded on a map of Francesco Maria Coronelli.[4] Baron Nopcsa established that most of the Albanian tribes trace their origin to the 1450–1650 period.[5] It was claimed by Nopcsa that the name dated back to at least 1510.[6] According to Elsie, it is said that the earliest tribe is the Berisha,[5] whose genealogy tradition reaches back to 1360–70.[4] Edith Durham recorded at the beginning of the 20th century that members of Berisha and Merturi tribe claimed they were the oldest highlands tribe,[7] which is accepted as accurate.[8]

In 1841, Nikola Vasojević estimated the Berisha to number 16,000, out of whom 4,000 men-at-arms, but Elsie notes that this very high number probably includes neighbouring tribes.[4] The Austro-Hungarian census in Albania (1918) recorded 171 households with 1,013 inhabitants of Berisha.[4] It was later said that the population was 2,300.[4]

Some members of the Berisha tribe migrated to Kosovo, mostly to the region of Gjakova, and converted to Islam. According to British intelligence report, the reason for this migration was the small size of the territory this tribe controlled.[9] The feast of the Catholic Berisha who lived in villages around Peć was the Assumption of Mary (to which they refer to as Zoja e Berishes, or Zoja e Alshiqes, because the Alshiqi are the most numerous).[10] The family name Berisha is derived from the name of the tribe and is particularly common among Albanians in Kosovo.[11] In the 1920s, the whole Berisha tribe in Kosovo, under the leadership of Azem Galica, revolted against the authorities of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.[12]

Anthropology

The Berisha are Catholic.[4] As opposed to other tribes of Puka, the Berisha were a fis, a community aware of blood-ties and common history back to an ancestor.[4] According to Elsie, they were indeed the only tribe that developed from a common ancestor in the Dukagjin region south of the Drin.[4]

According to local tradition, the tribe's legendary ancestor is a Kol Poga, the son of Pog Murri and grandson of Murr Deti.[6] According to Konstantin Jireček, the ancestor of the Old Kuči, Grča Nenadin (a Mrnjavčević), would be an ancestor of the Berisha tribe.[13] There are Berisha who claim that they hail from Kuči and were originally Orthodox, while others claim that only a part of the Berisha originate from Kuči.[14] Marko Miljanov wrote that the Kuči and Berisha were "regarded close", allegedly because the Berisha ancestors settled from Kuči;[15] if not kin by blood, Montenegrin and Albanian tribes regarded closeness in original or home territory from where someone "came". Therefore, the Kuči were "kin" to Kastrati, Berisha and Klimenti because their distant ancestor once, ostensibly, settled from Kuči.[16] The Berisha tribe and the Vušović family from Velika (in Montenegro) are taken to be kin.[17][18] According to some stories the Arrnji tribe in Luma is an offshoot of the Berisha.[19] The Berishë region in Pukë has 4 families, all named after sons of the tribe's ancestor: Tetaj, Maroj, Deskaj, Doçaj.

It is one of seven tribes of the Pukë highland and one of twelve tribes mentioned in the Kanun.

Notable people

By birth
  • Sali Berisha, former president and prime-minister of Albania[4]

  • Gezim Berisha [31] , Albanian-American entrepreneur and venture capitalist.

  • Ndoc Mark Gega (1830–1907), Albanian rebel

  • Nikola Berisha, Albanian general in the 15th century[3]

By descent
  • Atifete Jahjaga, first female president of Kosovo[20]

  • Ramush Haradinaj, former KLA leader and current prime-minister of Kosovo[21]

  • Hasan Prishtina, former prime-minister of Albania[22]

  • Ram Binaku, Kosovo Albanian freedom fighter

  • Etrit Berisha, Kosovo Albanian footballer

  • Besart Berisha, Albanian footballer

  • Valon Berisha, Albanian footballer

  • Anton Berisha, Albanian scholar and folklorist

  • Bekim Berisha, Yugoslav wars veteran

  • Rubim Rebisha, Visual Artist

See also

  • Tribes of Albania

  • Berisha surname

References

[1]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgElsie, Robert (2015). The Tribes of Albania: History, Society and Culture. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-78453-401-1., p. 183.
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[2]
Citation Linkgallica.bnf.frLajos Thallóczy; Konstantin Jireček; Milan Šufflay (1913). Acta et diplomata res Albaniae mediae aetatis illustrantia Volumen II. p. 12. Berišin dol, Popov dolCS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[3]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comOliver Schmitt (2009). Skanderbeg: Der neue Alexander auf dem Balkan. Pustet. p. 147. ISBN 9783791722290. Im Herbst 1464 waren Moses von Dibra, Muzaki d' Angelina, Gjin Muzaki, Johann Perlat, Nikola Berisha, Georg Kuka und Johann Manesi, alles wichtige Unterführer Skanderbegs, leichtsinnig in eine osmanische Falle geraten. Üblicherweise hätte sie Skanderbeg auslösen können, doch verweigerte dies Balaban. Die Adligen wurden in Konstantinopel zwei Wochen lang gehäutet
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[4]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.org, p. 184.
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[5]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.org, p. 6.
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[6]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.org, p. 185.
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[7]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comEdith Durham (1987). High Albania. LO Beacon Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-8070-7035-2. Retrieved 12 May 2013. The people of Berisha and Merturi (the tribe on the other side of the Drin) claim to be the oldest tribes of the mountains
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[8]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comI. M. Lewis (1970). History and social anthropology. Taylor & Francis. p. 254. ISBN 9780422718608. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[9]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comMiranda Vickers (1998). Between Serb and Albanian: a history of Kosovo. Hurst & Co. p. 50. Retrieved 12 May 2013. The same British intelligence report cited above states that the small size of the district belonging to the Berisha tribe 'caused many to emigrate, particularly in the direction of Djakovica to the North-West, where they occupy many villages.
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[10]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comBulletin of the Ethnographical Institute. 4–6. Naučno delo. 1957. p. 366. У овим селима Берише славе "Велику Госпу", коју зову "Zoja e Berishes", или "Zoja e Alshiqes" (пошто су Алшићи најбројније Берише)
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[11]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgElsie, Robert (2010) [2004]. Historical Dictionary Of Albania (PDF) (2nd ed.). Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-282-52192-6. OCLC 816372706. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-06., p. 48.
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[12]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comDragi Maliković (2005). Kačački pokret na Kosovu i Metohiji: 1918–1924. Institut za srpsku kulturu. p. 140. Retrieved 12 May 2013. цело албанско племе Бериша било устало против југословенских државних органа под вођством Азема Бејте
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[13]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comKonstantin Jireček (1923). Istorija Srba. Izdavačka knjižarnica G. Kona. p. 58. Retrieved 17 May 2013. По предању, родоначелник Куча био је Грча Ненадин, од чијих пет синова, Петра, Ђурђа, Тиха, Леша и Мара потичу њихова братства. Праотац Кастрата је Крсто, а Шаљана Шако; обојица су тобоже били браћа нареченог Грчина, док би Берише били потомци баш самога Грче.
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[14]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comAkademija nauka i umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine. Balkanološki institut (1959). Djela. p. 96. Retrieved 17 May 2013. Има Бериша који веле да су старином из Куча и да су били православни. Друти веле да је само један Део Бериша од Куча,
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[15]
Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgMiljanov, Marko (1967). Марко Миљанов целокупна дела/Сабрана дјела. II. p. 80.
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[16]
Citation Link//www.worldcat.org/oclc/635033682Jovićević, Andrija (1923). Малесија. Срп. етн. зборник XXVII. SANU. pp. 60–61. OCLC 635033682.
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[17]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comНикола Чупић (1898). Годишњица Николе Чупића. Штампа Државне штампарије Краљевине Југославије. p. 127. Retrieved 18 May 2013. Исто се тако држе за једно племе Берише с Вушовићима из Велике.
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[18]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comBrastvo. 30. Društvo sv. Save. 1939. p. 129. Тако, за једно се племе држе Берише и Вушовићи из Велике.
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[19]
Citation Linkbooks.google.comSir John Linton Myres; Harold St. John Loyd Winterbotham; F. Longland (1945). Albania. Naval Intelligence Division. p. 156. Retrieved 18 May 2013. ARRNJI, a tribe or clan in the Arrn district of Luma, said to be an offshoot of Berisha
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM
[20]
Citation Linkwww.thealbanian.co.uk. The Albanian http://www.thealbanian.co.uk/134225.html. Pra 4 nga politikanët më të rëndësishëm jeni nga një zonë? Nga një zonë, por Ramizi nuk është Berishë, është nga Fshati Kasaj …Hasani dhe Jahjaga janë Berishë. Missing or empty |title= (help)
Sep 29, 2019, 5:43 PM