Mirdita

{{for|the municipality in northern Albania|Mirditë}}
{{short description|Mountainous region in northern Albania; historic Albanian tribe}}
{{Albanian tribes sidebar}}
[[File:Overview of Albanian tribes, Franz Seiner, 1918.jpg|thumb|Albanian tribes as of 1918 from Franz Seiner. Mirdita is located in section 6-10.]]

'''Mirdita''' is a region of northern [[Albania]] whose territory is synonymous with the historic [[Tribes of Albania|Albanian tribe]] of the same name.

== Etymology ==
The name Mirdita derives from a legendary ancestor named Mir Diti from whom the tribe claims descent.<ref name="Elsie214222">{{harvnb|Elsie|2015|pp=214, 222.}}</ref> Other alternative folk etymologies have been presented. Another folk etymology links the word to the Albanian greeting "mirëdita" meaning hello, "good day".<ref name="Elsie214"/>

==Geography==
Historically Mirdita was the largest tribal region of Albania in terms of geographic spread and population.<ref name="Elsie213219"/> The region is situated in northern Albania, and it borders the traditional tribal areas of Puka (Berisha, Kabashi, Qerreti) in the north; the Lezha highlands (Vela, Bulgëri, Manatia, Kryeziu) in the west and southwest; the northern Albanian coastal plain of Lezha and Zadrima between the [[Drin (river)|Drin]] and Mat rivers in the west; the river Mat and region of Mat in the south and the area of the Black Drin river in the east.<ref name="Elsie213"/> The traditional areas and settlements of Mirdita are: Bisak, Blinisht, Breg, Doç, Domgjon, Fregna, Gojan, Gomsiqja, Gryka e Gjadrit, Gjegjan, Kaçinar, Kalor, Kashnjet-Kaftali, Kashnjet, Kalivaç, Kalivarja, Kimza, Kisha e Arstit, Korthpula-Kaftalli, Korthpula, Konaj, Kushnen, Lumbardhë, Mesul, Mnela, Ndërfana, Orosh, Qafa e Malit, Rras, Sukaxhia, Sërriqja, Shkoza, Spaç, Shëngjin, Tejkodra, Tuç, Ungrej, Vig, Vrith and Xhuxha.<ref name="Elsie219"/>

The current district of Mirdita is located within the Mirdita tribal region that contains the Lesser and Greater Fan rivers.<ref name="Elsie213"/> The largest town and administrative centre of the modern period is Rrëshen, and other significant settlements exist in the area such as Rubik, Orosh, Blinisht, Kaçinar, Kalivaç, Kurbinesh, Perlat and Spaç.<ref name="Elsie213"/>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Mirditë District, Albania - panoramio.jpg|Munella Mountain, Mirdita
File:Rrëshen, Albania 2017-04 Downtown 02.jpg|Town centre in Rrëshen, Mirdita
File:Rrëshen, Albania 2017-04.jpg|[[Cathedral of Jesus Saviour of the World, Rrëshen|Rrëshen cathedral]], Mirdita
File:Fan Valley at Reps.jpg|Fan Valley at Reps, Mirdita
File:Snow in Mirdita (WPWTR17).jpg|[[Durrës-Kukës Highway]] or Rruga e Kombit (Nation's highway) linking Albania with Kosovo passes through Mirdita
</gallery>

== History ==

=== Origins ===
[[File:Domgjoni, Albania - panoramio.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Traditional house, Domgjon village in Mirdita]]
The Mirdita tribe claimed descent from a legendary ancestor named Mir Diti, the son of Dit Miri and the grandson of Murr Deti known also as [[Murr Dedi]].<ref name="Elsie222"/> The brother of Mir Diti was Zog Diti, the ancestor of the Shoshi tribe and the Shala tribe were descendants from another brother Mark Diti.<ref name="Elsie222"/> The male children of Mir Diti who were Skanda (Skana), Bushi, Qyqa and Lluli (Luli) formed the core of the Kushneni, Oroshi and Spaçi tribal units during the sixteenth century.<ref name="Elsie222"/> Overall the Mirdita tribe was more of a federation of different tribal sources with not all fis (clan or tribe) claiming descent from a common male ancestor although the Kushneni, Oroshi and Spaçi and Tusha did trace their origins in those terms.<ref name="Elsie222"/> Local Mirdita traditions claim that the Dibrri bajrak is mixed and has southern Albanian [[Tosks|Tosk]] origins.<ref name="Elsie240">{{harvnb|Elsie|2015|p=240.}}</ref>

According to the oral history of tribe, the Mirdita along with the ancestors of the Shala and Shoshi tribes originated from the area of Mount [[Paštrik|Pashtrik]] (on the modern Kosovo-Albania border) and lived under a Bulgarian chieftain.<ref name="Elsie222"/> In the early history of the Mirdita there exists evidence of Orthodox influence in what later was a Catholic tribe.<ref name="Elsie222"/> The arrival of the Ottomans in the region pushed the tribes from Pashtrik toward the westward direction of the mountains.<ref name="Elsie222"/> During the time of Skanderbeg around 1450 and after the Ottomans captured Shkodër, the Mirdita fled to their original homeland and returned in 1750 to their present location.<ref name="Elsie222">{{harvnb|Elsie|2015|p=222.}}</ref>

===Ottoman period ===
Mirdita is for the first time cited in 1416 as a surname for 2 families living in the village of ''Mensabardi'' which was located very near Shkodër, the patriarchs of these 2 families were Jon Mirdita and Petër Mirdita.<ref>''Regjistri i Kadastrës dhe i Koncensioneve për rrethin e Shkodrës 1416-1417,'' përgatitur nga Injac Zamputti, Tiranë: Akademia e Shkencave e Republikës Popullore Socialiste të Shqipërisë, Instituti i Historisë, 1977. p. 280.</ref> Later research done by Milan Šufflay showed that these 2 families migrated from the area of the rivers Mat and Fan where historical Mirdita was located.<ref>Shuflaj M., ''Serbë dhe shqiptarë'', përkthyer nga Hasan Çipuri, Tiranë: Toena, 2004,p.82, ISBN 99927-1-854-4</ref>
After this period the word Mirdita is cited as Mirdita in an Ottoman document of 1571 and in a report by [[Marino Bizzi]] the tribal name appears as Miriditti in 1610.<ref name="Elsie213">{{harvnb|Elsie|2015|p=213.}}</ref> In a letter from 1621 by Albanian bishop [[Pjetër Budi]] it is written as Meredita, in the ecclesiastical reports of [[Pjetër Mazreku]] (1634) as Mireditta, bishop Benedetto Orsini Ragusino (1642) as Miriditi and Pietro Stefano Gaspari (1671) as Miriditi.<ref name="Elsie214"/> In a 1689 Italian map by cartographer [[Giacomo Cantelli|Giacomo Cantelli da Vignola]] it's noted as Mirediti and an ecclesiastical report of 1703 by archbishop [[Vicko Zmajević|Vićenco Zmajević]] as Meredita(i).<ref name="Elsie214"/> The area of Mirdita was also known earlier by the name Ndërfandina meaning land between the two Fan rivers.<ref name="Elsie214"/>

In comparison to other Albanian tribes the military organisation of Mirdita was better developed and they used their forces to resist incursions from the Ottomans and others in the area and also deploying it for pillaging and raiding.<ref name="Elsie221">{{harvnb|Elsie|2015|p=221.}}</ref> In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century they were ruled by kapedan (captain) Prenk Llesh who died fighting the Ottomans and succeeded by his son Prenk Doda Tusha who partook in wars on side of the Ottomans against the Greeks who were fighting for independence.<ref name="Elsie227"/> He was succeeded by his younger brother Nikolla Tusha or Kola Doda Tusha whose uncle Llesh i Zi (Black Llesh) took over, a man with a reputation for bravery and cruelty.<ref name="Elsie227"/> Llesh i Zi fought with the empire against the Greeks and later in 1830 backed Mustafa Bushati in his fight against them assisting him at the siege of Shkodër until its capture by the Ottomans in November 1831 who exiled him to [[Yannina|Yanina]].<ref name="Elsie227"/> His nephew Nikolla was appointed kapedan and he partook in Ottoman military expeditions against the Montenegrins gaining the admiration and support of Grand Vezir [[Reşid Mehmed Pasha]] who appointed him in the imperial vanguard at the [[battle of Konya]] against Egyptian forces.<ref name="Elsie227"/> The sons of Lleshi i ZI attempted a coup and Nikolla had them murdered leading to a blood feud within the family.<ref name="Elsie227">{{harvnb|Elsie|2015|p=227.}}</ref> By the 1860s, the kapedan of Mirdita was [[Bib Doda Tusha]] and ran into difficulties with the Ottoman Empire over an alleged involvement in an uprising and from fellow tribesmen who refused to recognise him as leader after he had not paid them wages for their participation in the [[Crimean War]].<ref name="Elsie228"/> Dying in 1868 he was succeeded by his young son [[Prenk Bib Doda Tusha]].<ref name="Elsie228">{{harvnb|Elsie|2015|p=228.}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Cikut.jpg|Malet e Shënjtit (holy mountains) close to Orosh
File:Steinmetz Orosh.jpg|The [[Territorial Abbey of Orosh|St Alexander church of Orosh]] in 1903
File:Ad144.jpg|Processional cross at the Church of St Alexander in Orosh, Mirdita (1890s)
File:Ovg1912.057.jpg|Young Mirdita man near a cross (1912)
File:Orosh_Church,_Mirditë,_Albania_2018-04_01.jpg|The rebuilt new church of Orosh
</gallery>

In the late Ottoman period, the Mirdita tribe were all devoutly Catholic, had 2,500 households and five bajraktars (chieftains).<ref name="Gawrych32"/><ref name="Elsie214">{{harvnb|Elsie|2015|p=214.}}</ref> In times of war the Mirdita could mobilise up to 5,000 irregular troops when expected by the Ottoman state.<ref name="Gawrych32"/> A general assembly of the Mirdita met often in [[Orosh]] to deliberate on important issues relating to the tribe.<ref name="Gawrych32"/> The position of hereditary prince of the tribe with the title ''Prenk Pasha'' (Prince Lord) was held by the Gjonmarkaj family.<ref name="Gawrych32"/> Apart from the princely family the [[Franciscan]] Abbot held some influence among the Mirdita tribesmen.<ref name="Gawrych32"/> Within the [[Sanjak of Shkodër]], the Mirdita were fiercely independent and the most powerful tribe of the province.<ref name="Gawrych32"/> Alexandre Degrand, the French consul who served in Shkodër during the 1890s noted that for the past twenty years only seven outsiders had been to Orosh with one being the Ottoman [[Vali (governor)|vali]] (governor) of the sanjak.<ref name="Gawrych32">{{harvnb|Gawrych|2006|p=32.}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Ad130.jpg|Women from Mirdita (1890s)
File:Ad131.jpg|Men from Mirdita (1890s)
File:Kst1908.035.jpg|Kulla (fortified tower house) in Perlat, Mirdita (1908)
File:Durham 2543.jpg|Mirdita male mountain guides and female porters (1908)
File:Msg059.jpg|150 Mirdita fighters enter Durrës to support prince [[William, Prince of Albania|Wied]] (May 1914)
</gallery>

[[File:Ad139.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The Ottoman kaimakam of Mirdita, [[Marka Gjoni]], Don Domenico, and other armed Mirdita tribesmen (1890s)]]
During the [[Great Eastern Crisis]], Prenk Bib Doda as hereditary chief of the Mirdita initiated a rebellion in mid-April 1877 against government control and the Ottoman Empire sent troops to put it down.<ref name="Gawrych40">{{harvnb|Gawrych|2006|p=40.}}</ref> Following the revolt Doda was exiled and after the [[Young Turk Revolution]] (1908) was allowed home where his return was celebrated by tribesmen and the new government expected him to secure Mirdita support for the Young Turk regime.<ref name="Gawrych160">{{harvnb|Gawrych|2006|p=160.}}</ref> During the [[Albanian revolt of 1910]], Ottoman forces and their commander [[Mahmud Shevket Pasha]] briefly visited Mirdita during their wider campaign to quell the uprising within the region.<ref name="Gawrych178">{{harvnb|Gawrych|2006|p=178.}}</ref> During the [[Albanian Revolt of 1911]], [[Terenzio Tocci]], an [[Arbëreshë people|Italo-Albanian]] lawyer who had spent year with the tribe gathered the Mirditë chieftains on 26/27 April in [[Orosh]] and proclaimed the independence of Albania, raised the [[flag of Albania]] and declared a provisional government.<ref name="Gawrych186"/> After Ottoman troops entered the area to put down the rebellion, Tocci fled the empire abandoning his activities.<ref name="Gawrych186">{{cite book|last=Gawrych|first=George|title=The crescent and the eagle: Ottoman rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874–1913|year=2006|location=London|publisher=IB Tauris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wPOtzk-unJgC&q=Merdita|isbn=978-1-84511-287-5|pages=186}}</ref>

In the latter half of the 19th century, there was a cholera outbreak in the region of Mirdita, Albania which caused some clan members to migrate elsewhere. At least one Mirdita member fled to what is current day Ulcinj, Montenegro.

=== Independent Albania ===
[[File:Prenk Bib Doda.png|thumb|130px|left|Prenk Bib Doda (1900s)]]
During the [[Balkan Wars]], [[Independent Albania|Albania]] became independent and Mirdita was included in the new country.<ref name="Elsie232"/> Prenk Bib Doda with hopes of claiming the Albanian throne gave strong support to government of Ismail Qemali in Vlorë.<ref name="Elsie232"/> After World War One Doda was assassinated in 1919 near the marshes of Lezha and as he was childless, a relative [[Marka Gjoni]] claimed the position of kapedan.<ref name="Elsie232"/> Many of the Mirdita leaders refused to acknowledge him and he lacked popularity among the tribe due to issues of cowardice shown during the war.<ref name="Elsie232"/> By 1921 Marka Gjoni received money from Belgrade and rebelled against the new 'Muslim' Albanian government and he declared a "[[Republic of Mirdita|Mirdita Republic]]" at Prizren in Yugoslav territory on 17 July 1921.<ref name="Elsie232"/> Recognised by [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]] and supported by [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] the attempted statelet was put down by Albanian troops on 20 November 1921.<ref name="Elsie232"/> Marka Gjoni fled to Yugoslavia which after some time he was allowed to return to Albania and in Mirdita was active in local affairs for a few years before his death.<ref name="Elsie232">{{harvnb|Elsie|2015|p=232.}}</ref>

His son Gjon Markagjoni became the next kapedan and reached an understanding with the Albanian state, later being given prominent government ministries to lead.<ref name="Elsie232233">{{harvnb|Elsie|2015|pp=232–233.}}</ref> During the Second World War he collaborated with Italian and later German military forces occupying Albania and by 1944 fled to Italy.<ref name="Elsie233"/> His son became the next kapedan and with his Mirdita fighters later fled to the Luma region continuing an anti-communist struggle.<ref name="Elsie233">{{harvnb|Elsie|2015|p=233.}}</ref> In early 1946 he was killed in his sleep by his brother in law hoping for a reprieve from communist forces who in turn was killed by Mark's brother.<ref name="Elsie233234">{{harvnb|Elsie|2015|pp=233–234.}}</ref> Mark's son, Gjon Markagjoni (1938-2003) spent his years in a communist internment camp, as did other members of the Gjonmarkaj family.<ref name="Elsie234"/> With the collapse of communism in Albania (1992), the position of Prince of Mirdita or kapedan has become a memory of a long ago past.<ref name="Elsie234">{{harvnb|Elsie|2015|p=234.}}</ref>

== In literature ==

In the English Translation (Robert Elsie, Janice Mathie-Heck) of the Albanian National Epic ''The Highland Lute'' by Gjergj Fishta, the Mirdita Tribe, as well as other northern tribes, is mentioned.

The glossary entry for Mirdita is written as:

{{quote|Northern central Albanian tribe and traditional tribal region. The Mirdita region corresponds broadly to the present District of Mirdita, though, as tribal land, it originally referred more specifically to the mountains north of Blinisht. The name was recorded in 1571 as ''Mirdita'' and in 1610 as ''Miriditti'' and is often said to be related to Alb. ''mire dita'' 'good day,' though this is probably a folk etymology. Mirdita is traditionally a staunchly Catholic region, with its religious centre at the church of Saint Alexander in Orosh."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fishta, Elsei, Mathie-Heck|first=Gjergj, Robert, Janice|title=The Highland Lute|publisher=I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd.|year=2005|isbn=1-84511-118-4|pages=443}}</ref>}}

== Ethnography ==

Traditionally Mirdita consisted of three bajraks (clans or tribes): Kushneni, Oroshi and Spaçi that claimed an origin from a legendary brother of Shoshi and Shala.<ref name="Elsie219"/> Being related to the three bajraks they did not practice endogamy with the Shoshi and Shala tribes and instead intermarried with the Dibrri and Fani bajraks. Together these bajraks of Dibrri, Fani, Kushneni, Oroshi and Spaçi composed the larger Mirdita tribal unit.<ref name="Elsie213219">{{harvnb|Elsie|2015|pp=213, 219.}}</ref> The Mirdita tribe had a flag with a white hand upon a red background and the five fingers represented the bajraks.<ref name="Elsie219"/> During 1818, the bajraks of Ohri i Vogël (Little Ohri) composed of Bushkashi, Kthella and Selita seceded from the Mat tribal region located south of Mirdita and four bajraks of Rranza, Manatia, Bulgëri and Vela from the Lezha highlands.<ref name="Elsie219"/> Altogether after 1818 the Mirdita tribal region was made up of twelve bajraks.<ref name="Elsie219">{{harvnb|Elsie|2015|p=219.}}</ref>

During the [[First World War]] occupation of Albania, Austro-Hungarian authorities conducted the first reliable census (1918) of the area and Mirdita had 2,376 households and 16,926 inhabitants.<ref name="Elsie218">{{cite book|last=Elsie|first=Robert|title=The Tribes of Albania: History, Society and Culture|year=2015|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-0-85773-932-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-EzWCQAAQBAJ&q=Mirdita+Tribe|pages=218}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://hikingmirdita.com/ Mirdita Tourism Portal]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirdite}}

[[Category:Albanian regions]]
[[Category:Historical regions in Albania]]
[[Category:Albanian ethnographic regions]]
[[Category:Mirditë| ]]