Albanians in Montenegro

In the Middle Ages, Albanians in present-day Montenegro lived in the highlands of Malësia-Brda (both terms mean highlands), around Lake Scodra and coastally in the area known as Albania Veneta. Tuzi, a key Albanian settlement today, is mentioned in 1330 in the Dečani chrysobulls as part of the Albanian (arbanas) katun (semi-nomadic pastoral community) of Llesh Tuzi (Ljesa Tuzi in the original), in an area stretching southwards from modern Tuzi Municipality along the Lake Skadar to a village near modern Koplik. This katund included many communities that later formed their own separate communities: Reçi and his sons, Matagushi, Bushati and his sons, Pjetër Suma and Pjetër Kuçi, first known ancestor of Kuči.[17] In the 1330 chrysobulls, the Hoti tribe is mentioned for first time in Hotina Gora (mountains of Hoti) in the Plav and Gusinje regions on the Lim river basin.[18]

In the Middle Ages, the area of Crmnica shows a strong symbiosis of Slavic and Albanian populations.[16] In the second half of 15th century, the Slavic anthroponymy of Crmnica was frequently followed by the Albanian suffix -za. This phenomenon doesn't appear in such widespread form in any other area of Montenegro except for Mrkojevići to the south of Crmnica. It has been interpreted as the result of gradual, centuries-long adoption of Slavic culture by an Albanian-speaking population.[19]

Albanians in Cetinje, Principality of Montenegro, 1906

In 1565 the Kelmendi rose up against the Ottomans and appear to have done so together with the Kuči and Piperi.[20][21] In 1596, an uprising broke out in the Bjelopavlići plain, which then spread to the Nikšić, Drobnjaci Piva and Gacko. It was suppressed due to lack of foreign support.[22]

In 1613, the Ottomans launched a campaign against the rebel tribes of Montenegro. In response, the tribes of the Vasojevići, Kuči, Bjelopavlići, Piperi, Kastrati, Kelmendi, Shkreli andi Hoti formed a political and military union known as “The Union of the Mountains” or “The Albanian Mountains” .In their shared assemblies, such as the The leaders swore an oath of besa to resist with all their might any upcoming Ottoman expeditions, thereby protecting their self-government and disallowing the establishment of the authority of the Ottoman Spahis in the northern highlands. Their uprising had a liberating character. With the aim of getting rid of the Ottomans from the Albanian territories[23][24]

In the 1614 Convention of Kuçi, 44 leaders mostly from northern Albania and Montenegro took part to organize an insurrection against the Ottomans and ask for assistance by the Papacy.[25][26] That same year, the Kelmendi along with the tribes of Kuči, Piperi and Bjelopavlići, sent a letter to the kings of Spain and France claiming they were independent from Ottoman rule and did not pay tribute to the empire.[27][28]

In 1658, the seven tribes of Kuči, Vasojevići, Bratonožići, Piperi, Klimenti, Hoti and Gruda allied themselves with the Republic of Venice, establishing the so-called "Seven-fold banner" or "alaj-barjak", against the Ottomans.[29]

A Franciscan report of the 17th century illustrates the final stages of the acculturation of some Albanian tribes in Brda. Its author writes that the Bratonožići (Bratonishi), Piperi (Pipri) , Bjelopavlići (Palabardhi) and Kuči (Kuçi):" nulla di meno essegno quasi tutti del rito serviano, e di lingua Illrica ponno piu presto dirsi Schiavoni, ch' Albanesi " (since almost all of them use the Serbian rite and the Illyric (Slavic) language, soon they should be called Slavs, rather than Albanians)[30]

In 1685 the Mainjani tribe participated in the Battle of Vrtijeljka on the side of the Venetians. The battle resulted in defeat.[31]

In 1688 the tribes of Kuçi, Kelmendi and Pipri rose up and captured the town of Medun, defeating 2 Ottoman counter-assaults and capturing many supplies in the process before retreating.[32]

British author Rebecca West visited the town of Kolašin in the 1930s where she learned that in the 18th century, Catholic Albanians and Orthodox Montenegrins lived in peace. In 1858, however, several Montenegrin tribes attacked the town and killed all inhabitants who kept their Albanian identity or who were Muslim.[33]

On October 26, 1851, the Arnaut chieftain Gjonlek from Nikšić was traveling with 200 Arnauts, given the task of defending Ottoman Albanian interests. They were attacked by Montenegrin forces from Gacko. On November 11, 1851, Montenegrin forces numbering 30 crossed the Moraca river and attacked the Albanian Ottoman citadel, under Selim Aga, with 27 men. Five were killed and four wounded while Selim Aga pulled back, wounded, into his house. The next morning, he returned to counter the Montenegrins. The Pasha of Scutari immediately began gathering troops.[34]

In 1877, Nikšić was annexed by the Montenegrins in accordance with the Treaty of Berlin.[35][36] American author William James Stillman (1828-1901) who traveled in the region at the time writes in his biography of the Montenegrin forces who, on the orders of the Prince, began to bomb the Studenica fortress in Nikšić with artillery. Around 20 Albanian nizams were inside the fortress who resisted and when the walls breached, they surrendered and asked Stillman if they were going to be decapitated. An Albanian accompanying Stillman translated his words saying they were not going to be killed in which the Albanians celebrated.[37] Shortly after the treaty, the Montenegrin prince began expelling the Albanians from Nikšić, Žabljak and Kolašin who then fled to Turkey, Kosovo (Pristina)[38] and Macedonia.[39] The Montenegrin forces also robbed the Albanians before the expulsion.[40] After the fall of Nikšić, Prince Nicholas I wrote a poem of the victory.[41] After the territorial expansion of Montenegro towards the Ottoman territories in 1878, Albanians for the first time became citizens of that country. Albanians that obtained Montenegrin citizenship were Muslims and Catholics, and lived in the cities of Bar and Ulcinj, including their surroundings, in the bank of river Bojana and shore of Lake Skadar, as well as in Zatrijebač.[42]

On the eve of conflict between Montenegro and the Ottomans (1876–1878), a substantial Albanian population resided in the Sanjak of İşkodra.[43] In the Montenegrin-Ottoman war that ensued, strong resistance in the towns of Podgorica (majority Muslim at the time, with a substantial portion being Albanian) and Spuž toward Montenegrin forces was followed by the expulsion of their Albanian and Slavic Muslim populations who resettled in Shkodër.[44] [44] These populations resettled in Shkodër city and its environs.[45][46] A smaller Albanian population formed of the wealthy elite voluntarily left and resettled in Shkodër after Ulcinj's incorporation into Montenegro in 1880.[46][45]

On January 31, 1879, Montenegrin teacher Shcepan Martinovied informed the government of Cetinje that the Muslims of Nikšić desired a school.[47] The Ottomans had opened schools in Nikšić , among other neighboring regions, in the 17th and 18th century.[48]

In 1879, Zenel Ahmet Demushi of the Geghyseni tribe, fought with 40 members of the family against Montenegrin forces led by Marko Miljanov in Nikšić .[49] The conflict intensified in 1880 when the Albanian irregulars fought under Ali Pash Gucia against the Montenegrin forces led by the brother of Marko Milajnov, Teodor Miljanov, the battle lasting five hours, according to letters written by two local Albanians from Shkodër who participated in the battle.[50]

The Battles for Plav and Gusinje were armed conflicts between the Principality of Montenegro and Ottoman irregular armies (pro-Ottoman Albanian League of Prizren) that broke out following the decision of the Congress of Berlin (1878) that the territories of Plav and Gusinje (part of former Scutari Vilayet) be ceded to Montenegro. The conflicts took place in this territory between 9 October 1879 and 8 January 1880. The following battles were fought: the Velika attacks (9 October–22 November 1879), the Battle of Novšiće (4 December 1879) and the Battle of Murino (8 January 1880).

In 1880 a battle was fought between the Ottoman forces of Dervish Pasha and Albanian irregulars at the region of Kodra e Kuqe, close to Ulcinj. The area of Ulcinj had been handed over to Montenegro by the Ottomans after the Albanians previously fought against the annexions of Hoti and Grude.[51] The Great powers instead pressured the Ottomans to hand over the area of Ulcinj, but also here the Albanians refused. Eventually the Great powers forced the Ottomans to take actions against the League of Prizren, ending the resistance and successfully handing over the town of Ulcinj to Montenegro.[52][53]

In 1899, the government in Montenegro arrested Albanians in Nikšić and Danilovgrad out of fear that the Malesori would attack the Young Turks in the region, and the captives were held for more than six months in prison.[54]

The Bulgarian foreign ministry compiled a report about the five kazas (districs) of the sanjak of the Novi Pazar in 1901-02. According to the Bulgarian report, the kazas of Akova and Kolašin were almost entirely populated by Albanians. In the kaza of Akovo there were 47 Albanian villages which had 1,266 households, whereas Serbs lived in 11 villages which had 216 households.[55] The town of Akova (Bijelo Polje) had 100 Albanian and Serb households. The kaza of Kolašin had 27 Albanian villages with 732 households and 5 Serb villages with 75 households. The administrative centre of the kaza, Šahovići, had 25 Albanian households. [56]

The Plav–Gusinje massacres (1912–1913) occurred between late 1912 and March 1913 in the areas of the modern Plav and Gusinje municipalities and adjacent areas. More than 1,800 locals, mostly Muslim Albanians from these two regions were killed and 12,000 were forced to convert to Orthodoxy by the military administration put in charge of these regions by the Kingdom of Montenegro which had annexed them during the First Balkan War.[57][58]

After the Balkan Wars, new territories inhabited by Albanians became part of Montenegro. Montenegro then gained a part of Malesija, respectively Hoti and Gruda, with Tuzi as center, Plav, Gusinje, Rugovo, Peja and Gjakova.[42] During World War I, Albanian immigrants from Nikšić who had been expelled to Cetinje sent a letter to Isa Boletini saying that they risked starving if he did not send them money for food.[59]

During the Serbian army's second occupation of Rožaje, which took place in 1918-1918, seven hundred Albanian citizens were slaughtered in Rožaje (Sandžak). This was also done in order to quell uprisings in the Plav and Gusinje districts, which resulted in a large influx of Albanians migrating to Albania.[60][61]

With the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after World War I, Albanians in Montenegro became discriminated. The position would improve somewhat in Tito's Yugoslavia. In the mid-twentieth century, 20,000 Albanians lived in Montenegro and their number would grow by the end of the century. By the end of the 20th century the number of Albanians began to fall as a result of immigration.[42]

During the Second World War, Chetnik forces based in Montenegro conducted a series of ethnic cleansing operations against Muslims in the Bihor region. In May of 1943, an estimated 5400 Albanian men, women and children in Bihor were massacred by Chetnik forces under Pavle Đurišić.[62] The notables of the region then published a memorandum and declared themselves to be Albanians. The memorandum was sent to Prime Minister Ekrem Libohova whom they asked to intervene so the region could be united to the Albanian kingdom.[63]

The Bar massacre was the killings of an unknown number of mostly ethnic Albanians from Kosovo Yugoslav Partisans in late March or early April 1945 in Bar, a municipality in Montenegro, at the end of World War II. Yugoslav sources put the number of victims at 400[64] while Albanian sources put the figure at 2,000 killed in Bar alone.[65] According to Croatian historian Ljubica Štefan, the Partisans killed 1,600 Albanians in Bar on 1 April after an incident at a fountain.[66] There are also accounts claiming that the victims included young boys.[67] Other sources cited that the killing started en route for no apparent reason and this was supported by the testimony of Zoi Themeli in his 1949 trial.[68] Themeli was a collaborator who worked as an important official of the Sigurimi, the Albanian secret police.[69] After the massacre, the site was immediately covered in concrete by the Yugoslav communist regime and built an airport on top of the mass grave.[67]

On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck Albania. In Montenegro, Albanians from Ulcinj were involved in a major relief effort sending items such as food, blankets, diapers and baby milk through a local humanitarian organisation Amaneti and in Tuzi through fundraising efforts.[70]

Of the 24 municipalities in the country, 2 have an ethnic Albanian majority.

Emblem	Municipality	Area km² (sq mi)	Settlements	Population (2011)		Mayor
				Total	%
	Ulcinj Ulqin	255 km2 (98 sq mi)	41	19,921	70.66%	Ljoro Nrekić (DPS)
	Tuzi Tuz	236 km2 (91 sq mi)	37	12,096	68.45%	Nik Gjeloshaj (AA)
—	2	—	78	32,017	—	—

The historical Albanian tribes which exist in Montenegro up to the modern era are: Hoti, Gruda, Trieshi, Koja.[71]

Other Albanian tribes also existed in the past, but either formed other tribes or assimilated into the neighbouring Slavic population. Examples include Mataruge and Španje in Old Herzegovina, Kryethi and Pamalioti around the city of Ulcinj, Mahine above Budva, Goljemadi in Old Montenegro, as well as tribes who inhabited the Brda area, including Bytadosi, Bukumiri, Malonšići, Macure, Mataguzi, Drekalovići, Kakarriqi, Rogami, Kuçi, Piperi, Bratonožići, Vasojevići and Bjelopavlići, the latter five now identifying as Slavic.

According to the 2003 census, 73.37% of Albanians living in Montenegro were Muslim and 26.08% were Roman Catholic.[72] The religious life of Muslim Albanians is organized by the Islamic Community of Montenegro, comprising not only Albanians, but also other Muslim minorities in Montenegro.[73] Catholic Albanians, generally living in Malesija, Šestani and some in the Bar and Ulcinj municipalities, are members of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bar, whose members are mainly Albanians, but which also includes a small number of Slavs. The current archbishop, Zef Gashi, is an ethnic Albanian.[73]

Albanians in Montenegro speak the Gheg Albanian dialect, namely the northwestern variant, while according to the 2011 Census, there are 32,671 native speakers of the Albanian language (or 5.27% of the population).[4]

According to Article 13 of the Constitution of Montenegro, Albanian language (alongside Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian) is a language in official use, officially recognized as minority language.[74]

The government of Montenegro provides Albanian-language education in the local primary and secondary schools. There is one department in the University of Montenegro, located in Podgorica, offered in Albanian, namely teacher education[42]