Vraka

Vraka (Montenegrin and Serbian Cyrillic: Врака; Albanian: Vrakë) is a minor region in Shkodër County in northern Albania. The region includes settlements located on the shore of Lake Scutari, some 7 km north of the city of Shkodër. This ethnographic region is inhabited by Serb-Montenegrins, Podgoriçani (Slavic Muslims) and Albanians; it is the centre of the Serb-Montenegrin community in Albania.

Settlements

During the early 2010s linguists Klaus Steinke and Xhelal Ylli seeking to corroborate villages cited in past literature as being Slavic speaking carried out fieldwork in settlements of the area.[1] Of the Shkodër area exists seven villages with a Slavophone population that speak a Montenegrin dialect.[1]

  • Boriç i Madh - one third of the population is compact and composed of Muslim Podgoriçani.[2]
  • Boriç i Vogël - inhabited by 15 families and the Slavophone families are the only compact group of the Orthodox in Vraka.[2]
  • Gril - the village officially has 1,090 inhabitants or 195 families, while the number of Orthodox Montenegrin families there varies between 2, 3 - 10.[2] An Albanian school exists in Gril along with a newly built Orthodox church that is without a priest.[2] According to Slavophone locals, the Orthodox population moved to Darragjat due to blood feuds related with Montenegro and relocated themselves to the Vraka area such as Gril between 1935-1936.[2] Some Orthodox Montenegrins from the village moved to Montenegro in the 1990s with some thereafter returning back to Gril.[2]
  • Omaraj - in the village only two Orthodox Montenegrin families remain.[2]
  • Kamicë - the village is almost deserted, with five or six minority Orthodox Montenegrin families left, alongside the few Albanian families.[2]
  • Shtoj i Ri - the village has a compact population of 17 Muslim Podgoriçani families.[2]
  • Shtoj i Vjetër - the village has a compact population of 30 Muslim Podgoriçani families.[2]
  • Shkodër (city) - some Orthodox Montenegrin and Muslim Podgoriçani families live there.[3][4][1]

History

Early history

The toponym is Slavic.[5][6] Slavs were known to have inhabited northern Albanian since the early Middle Ages.

More recently, Montenegrins and Serbs began migrating to Vraka in the late 17th century. According to Jovan Erdeljanović, in his book Stara Crna Gora, all descendants of Jovan Martinović, who has been mentioned since 1687, have emigrated to Vraka. From confirmed documents, one of the first families to inhabit the area of Vraka was in 1705 were the Đurčevići from the village of Momče in Kuči. A certain Jerko Đurčević was the only one from his clan in Vraka to convert to Islam. His descendants later became known as the Jerkovići, who are found in the village of Štoj, near Ulcinj.

According to Edith Durham the people of Vraka had fled from Bosnia and Montenegro, because of blood feud. [7]

Modern history

Woman from Vrakë.

In 1909, the Eparchy of Raška–Prizren had 15 protopresbyteriates, the last of which was Skadar, in which the parishes of:[8]

  • Skadar: 105 households in a part of the town Skadar, parish under protojerej Obrad Popović, the Metropolitan's vicar for the Skadar protopresbyteriate. 84 in the other part, with villages Deregnjat, Brdica Bušat, parish under Mihailo Štirkić. Churches in Skadar: Church of St. Nicholas and Church of St. Alexander Nevsky.[8]
  • Vraka: 119 households (villages Novi Borič, Stari Borič, Grilj, Raš, Kule, Omara, Turajlije, Kamenica) with Church in Novi Borič dedicated to Assumption of the Holy Virgin, parish under Petar Mreković.[8]
  • Vranj: 69 households (villages Vranj, Mataluž, town of Tuzi), Church in Vranj dedicated to St. Nicholas, parish under Filip Majić.[8]

In 1918, beside the Serbian Orthodox in Scutari, there were communities in different neighbouring villages such as Vraka, Vramenica, Derigniat, etc., as well as several thousands of Slavic Muslims of Montenegrin and Bosnia-Herzegovina origin.[9] In 1920, the following villages had Serbian majority or plurality: Brch, Basits, Vraka, Sterbets, Kadrum. Farming was the chief occupation of the villages.[10]

Vraka is known for having been the place where poet Millosh Gjergj Nikolla became teacher on 23 April 1933, and it was in this period that he started to write prose sketches and verses.[11] The village of Vraka was at the time entirely inhabited by Serb-Montenegrins. The Serb school in Vrake was destroyed in 1934.[12] Enver Hoxha decided to destroy the Serbian cemeteries and 2 of the Serb temples.[13]

A period of immigration existed between 1925 and 1934. This wave marked the migration of many Serb-Montenegrin families to Montenegro, Serbia proper and Kosovo, leaving their homes in Vraka behind.

In 1992, the Morača-Rozafa Association was established.[14]

During the Yugoslav Wars, there were incidents of violence against the Serb/Montenegrin minority in places like Boriç i Vogël and Boriç i Madh, where the Albanian government also tried to forcibly take land from them.[15] A large group of the Serbian Orthodox left the region in the 1990s, though some 600 of them later returned.[16]

Albanization

The surnames were forcibly changed by the Albanian government, from Slavic into Albanian ones, as part of Albanianization.[17]

Anthropology

The region serves as the centre of the Serb-Montenegrin minority in Albania (as listed in the census). The estimations of the total number of Serb-Montenegrins in the area vary from 1,000 to over 2,000. The community has retained their language, culture and religion. The minority association of the community, the "Morača-Rozafa", represents the interests of this minority in Shkodër.

Families

The surnames were forcibly changed by the Albanian government, from Slavic into Albanian ones, as part of Albanianization.[17] The changed surnames, in Serbo-Croatian transliteration, are indicated with (→)

Serb–Montenegrin families (Vračani)
  • Andrijević brotherhood
    • Andrijević-Obrenović, in Omaraj
  • Ajković brotherhood, in Boriç i Vogël, Kotrobudan
  • Babić brotherhood
  • Banjević brotherhood, in Grilë
  • Banušić (sq. Banushaj)
  • Bašanović brotherhood, in Boriç i Madh, Omaraj
    • →"Beljaj"[17] (sq. Belaj)
  • Berović
  • Bjelanović brotherhood
  • Bulatović
  • Brajović brotherhood (sq. Brajoviq), in Boriç i Vogël, Grilë
    • →"Ferizaj", "Jako", "Jakoja" and "Foljeta", in Grilë[17]
    • →"Foljeta", in Boriç i Vogël[17]
  • Camaljić brotherhood, in Grilë
    • →"Mino", in Grilë[17]
  • Camnić brotherhood, in Grilë
  • Ceklić, in Omaraj
  • Colić
  • Čelebić brotherhood
  • Ćeklić brotherhood
  • Ćorović brotherhood
  • Dambarić brotherhood
    • Popović-Dambarić (sq. "Popaj"), in Boriç i Madh
  • Dragović brotherhood
  • Đergić
  • Đinović brotherhood, in Boriç i Vogël and Grilë
    • →"Ograja" and "Musaja", in Boriç i Vogël and Grilë[17]
  • Đoković (sq. Gjokaj)
  • Đuretić brotherhood
  • Đurčević brotherhood
    • Đurčević, in Grilë
    • Jerković, of the Đurčević brotherhood
  • Gašović brotherhood
  • Gorović brotherhood
  • Hajković brotherhood
    • →"Hajku", in Boriç i Vogël and Grilë[17]
  • Janković brotherhood
  • Kadić brotherhood (sq. Kadija)
  • Kavarić brotherhood, in Kotrobudan
  • Klikovac brotherhood
  • Kontić brotherhood
    • →"Konto", in Boriç i Vogël[17]
  • Kračković brotherhood, in Omaraj
  • Krkotić brotherhood
  • Krstović brotherhood, in Boriç i Vogël, Boriç i Madh, Omaraj and Grilë
    • →"Karanaj"[17]
    • →"Nikola" and "Nikolaj" (sq. Nikolla/j), in Grilë[17]
    • →"Nikolaj" (sq. Nikollaj), in Boriç i Vogël[17]
  • Krstić
  • Lambulić brotherhood, in Grilë
  • Lukačević (sq. Llukaçeviq)
  • Mačkić, in Omaraj
  • Majić brotherhood, in Boriç i Vogël
  • Matanović brotherhood (sq. Matanoviq), of the Kaluđerović brotherhood, in Boriç i Vogël, Boriç i Madh, Grilë
    • Matanović-Vujović, in Boriç i Madh
    • →"Ceklaj"[17]
  • Marković brotherhood, hailing from Piperi, in Omaraj
  • Martinović brotherhood, in Boriç i Vogël, Boriç i Madh
    • →"Matanaj"[17]
    • →"Šuto" (sq. Shuto), in Boriç i Vogël[17]
  • Mikulić brotherhood, in Boriç i Madh
  • Milogorić brotherhood, in Omaraj
  • Mrenović brotherhood, in Boriç i Madh
  • Mrkaljević (sq. Merkulaj)
  • Musić
  • Nikić brotherhood, in Omaraj
  • Nikolić (sq. Nikollaj)
  • Pavlović brotherhood
  • Pejović brotherhood, in Boriç i Madh
  • Pelević brotherhood, in Boriç i Madh
  • Pelčić/Peličić/Peljčić brotherhood in Grilë
    • →"Šeljčaj", in Grilë[17]
  • Pešović brotherhood
  • Pešukić brotherhood
  • Popović brotherhood, in Boriç i Madh, Grilë
    • →"Popaj", in Boriç i Madh[17]
  • Racković brotherhood
  • Radičković brotherhood, in Grilë
  • Radović brotherhood
  • Radulović brotherhood
  • Radusinović brotherhood
  • Radušinović
  • Raičević/Rajčević brotherhood (sq. Rajçeviq)
  • Redinović brotherhood
  • Rešetar brotherhood
  • Roganović brotherhood
  • Sekulić brotherhood, in Boriç i Vogël
    • →"Haškaj", in Boriç i Vogël[17]
  • Senić brotherhood, in Boriç i Madh
  • Stanić brotherhood
  • Stanković brotherhood
    • →"Ymeri", originally Stanković
  • Stajkić brotherhood, in Boriç i Vogël
  • Šabanović brotherhood, in Boriç i Vogël
    • →"Dritaraj", in Boriç i Vogël[17]
  • Šoć brotherhood, in Kotrobudan
  • Špićanović brotherhood
  • Šunjević brotherhood
  • (sq. Suti), in Boriç i Madh
  • Uskoković brotherhood
  • Vujačić brotherhood
  • Vukčević brotherhood
    • Vukčević-Vesnić, in Boriç i Vogël
  • Vučković
  • Vučinić
  • Vučić brotherhood, in Omaraj
  • Zlatičanin brotherhood, in Boriç i Vogël, Grilë
    • in Boriç i Vogël
    • →"Krsto", "Krstaja" and "Faticaj", in Grilë[17]
  • Žarić brotherhood, in Boriç i Vogël
  • Žigić
  • "Brojaj"
  • "Zefaj" (originally Đonović)
  • "Goraj"
  • "Maçaj"
  • "Mlloja"
  • "Imeri"
  • "Umeri"
Podgoriçani families
  • Piranić (→Piranaj, Pirani), in Boriç i Madh[17]
  • Pepić (→Pepaj, Pepa), in Boriç i Madh[17]
  • Lekić (→Lekiqi, Leka), in Boriç i Madh[17]
  • Tuzović (→Tuzi), in Boriç i Madh[17]
  • Kerović (→Keraj), in Boriç i Madh[17]
  • Osmanagić (→Osmani), in Boriç i Madh[17]
  • Bibezić (→Bibezi), in Boriç i Madh[17]
  • Goković (→Gokovi), in Boriç i Madh[17]
  • Salagić (→Salagaj), in Boriç i Madh[17]
  • Ferizović (→Ferizi), in Boriç i Madh[17]
  • Beganović (→Begani), in Boriç i Madh[17]
Albanian families
  • Marđonović, Catholics from Šestan, in Omaraj

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2 3 Steinke, Klaus; Ylli, Xhelal (2013). Die slavischen Minderheiten in Albanien (SMA). 4. Teil: Vraka - Borakaj. Munich: Verlag Otto Sagner. ISBN 9783866883635. p. 9. "Am östlichen Ufer des Shkodrasees gibt es heute auf dem Gebiet von Vraka vier Dörfer, in denen ein Teil der Bewohner eine montenegrinische Mundart spricht. Es handelt sich dabei um die Ortschaften Boriçi i Madh (Borić Veli), Boriçi i Vogël (Borić Mali/Borić Stari/Borić Vezirov), Gril (Grilj) und Omaraj (Omara), die verwaltungstechnisch Teil der Gemeinde Gruemira in der Region Malësia e Madhe sind. Ferner zählen zu dieser Gruppe noch die Dörfer Shtoji i Ri und Shtoji i Vjetër in der Gemeinde Rrethinat und weiter nordwestlich von Koplik das Dorf Kamica (Kamenica), das zur Gemeinde Qendër in der Region Malësia e Madhe gehört. Desgleichen wohnen vereinzelt in der Stadt sowie im Kreis Shkodra weitere Sprecher der montenegrinischen Mundart. Nach ihrer Konfession unterscheidet man zwei Gruppen, d.h. orthodoxe mid muslimische Slavophone. Die erste, kleinere Gruppe wohnt in Boriçi i Vogël, Gril, Omaraj und Kamica, die zweite, größere Gruppe in Boriçi i Madh und in Shtoj. Unter den in Shkodra wohnenden Slavophonen sind beide Konfessionen vertreten... Die Muslime bezeichnen sich gemeinhin als Podgoričani ‘Zuwanderer aus Podgorica’ und kommen aus Zeta, Podgorica, Tuzi usw."
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Steinke & Ylli 2013 p. 20. "Außer in Boriçi i Madh und auch in Shtoj, wo die Slavophonen eine kompakte Gruppe innerhalb des jeweiligen Ortes bilden, sind sie in anderen Dorfern zahlenmäßig bedeutunglos geworden."; p. 103. "Boriçi i Madh - Borić Veli. Das Dorf besteht zu einem Drittel aus muslimischen Slavophonen. Zusammen mit Shtoj bildet Boriçi i Madh die größte kompakte Ansiedlung von den Podgoricanen in Vraka."; p. 108. "Boriçi i Vogël - Borić Mali / Stari / Vezirov. Mit ungefahr 15 Familien bilden die Slavophonen von Boriçi i Vogël die einzige kompakte Gruppe der Orthodoxen in Vraka."; p. 111. "Gril - Grilj. In Gril leben offiziell 1.090 Einwohner bzw. 195 Familien. Die Angaben über die Zahl der orthodoxen Familien der montenegreschen Minderheit schwanken zwischen zwei bis drei und zehn. Hier befindet sich die die albanische Schule für Vraka und ferner eine neugebaute orthodoxe Kirche, die freilich keinen Priester hat. Die orthodoxen Einwohner sollen zunächst wegen der Blutrache von Montenegro nach Daragjat und von dort 1935-1936 nach Vraka gezogen sein, wie VK angbit. Er ist auch einer der wenigen Rückkehrer, der am Anfang der 1990-er nach Montenegro ging und wider zurückkam."; p. 117. "Kamica - Kamenica. Das Dorf ist fast verlassen, und heute wohnen dort nur noch fünf bis sechs orthodoxe Familien der Minderheit und einige hinzugekommene albanische Familien."; p. 126. "Omaraj - Omara. In Omaraj wohnen nur noch zwei orthodoxe Familien der Minderheit."; p. 131. "Shtoji - Štoj. In Shtoj i Vjetër leben heute ungefähr 30 und in Shtoj i Ri 17 muslimische Familien, d.h Podgoričaner."
  3. Tošić, Jelena (2015). "City of the 'calm': Vernacular mobility and genealogies of urbanity in a southeast European borderland". Southeast European and Black Sea Studies. 15 (3). doi:10.1080/14683857.2015.1091182. pp. 394–395. "As noted above, the vernacular mobility term ‘Podgoriçani’ (literally meaning ‘people that came from Podgoriça’, the present-day capital of Montenegro) refers to the progeny of Balkan Muslims, who migrated to Shkodra in four historical periods and in highest numbers after the Congress of Berlin 1878. Like the Ulqinak, the Podgoriçani thus personify the mass forced displacement of the Muslim population from the Balkans and the ‘unmixing of peoples’ (see e.g. Brubaker 1996, 153) at the time of the retreat of the Ottoman Empire, which has only recently sparked renewed scholarly interest (e.g. Blumi 2013; Chatty 2013)."
  4. Gruber, Siegfried (2008). "Household structures in urban Albania in 1918". The History of the Family. 13 (2). doi:10.1016/j.hisfam.2008.05.002. p. 142. "Migration to Shkodra was mostly from the villages to the south-east of the city and from the cities of Podgorica and Ulcinj in Montenegro. This was connected to the independence of Montenegro from the Ottoman Empire in the year 1878 and the acquisition of additional territories, e.g. Ulcinj in 1881 (Ippen, 1907, p. 3)."
  5. Zeitschrift für Balkanologie. R. Trofenik. 1992. Vrakë SH. Flowing into Lake Shkodër. Also village toponym Vrakë. Slavic toponym.
  6. Благоје В. Марковић (1990). "Врака и Врачани". Још од катастра 1416., без промјене до 1933. помињу се села: Раш и Куле [...] Јована рашког атарима села Раша и Пула око којих je и по броју и по врсти остало највише споменичких остатака: зидина, зараслих кућних темеља, земљаних хумки "главица", гробаља на неколико мјеста, стародревних стабала дрвећа. На једном од великих млинарских брестова атара села Куле Црногорци су 1912. поставили осматрачницу погледа на штојски фронт и ка Скадру.[14] О густини насељености положају ширем смислу, у старих Врачана забиљежио сам предање: "От старога Громира ("Громир кећ") преко Раша и св. Јована до Дришта (Дриваст) могла je мачка с куће на кућу да мине а да земљу не такне". [...] Арнаутско село "Раш Мали" - топоним, спуштен je на мјесто врачкога Раша, те, сада, древни Раш се назива "Раши вогељ". По неким вијестима наш Раш je срушен и планиран изнова, а св. Јован "Црквина", служи у друге сврхе. [...] Село Раш [...] Село Куле
  7. Edith Durham. p. 24.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Ljubomir Durković-Jakšić, Prilozi za istoriju Srpske pravoslavne crkve u Skadru i okolini
  9. André Radovitch; Radovan Boshković; Ivo Vukotić (1919). The Question of Scutari. Impr. "Graphique". p. 8.
  10. Great Britain. Admiralty (1920). A Handbook of Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and Adjacent Parts of Greece. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 403.
    The following villages are in whole or part occupied by Orthodox Serbs — Brch, Borich, Basits, Vraka, Sterbets, Kadrum. Farming is the chief occupation.
  11. Robert Elsie (2005). Albanian Literature: A Short History. I.B.Tauris. pp. 132–. ISBN 978-1-84511-031-4.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
  13. "Srbi u Albaniji jedna od najugroženih manjina u svetu" (in Serbian). Arhiva.srbija.gov.rs. 1998-09-17. Retrieved 2013-02-11.
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-06-15. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
  15. Daily Report: East Europe, Issues 136-146. 1995.
  16. Carl Skutsch (7 November 2013). Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities. Routledge. pp. 64–. ISBN 978-1-135-19388-1. One subgroup of Christian-Orthodox faith once lived in the area of Vrakë of the district of Shkodër in the north, until a large group thereof emigrated in early 1990 to the then-Yugoslav Federation, although about 600 later returned.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Šćepanović 1990.
  18. Tirana. Instituti lartë shtetëror i bujqësisë (1970). Buletin i Shkencave Bujqësore. Vasil Shanto» Vrakë të rrethit të Shkodrës
  19. Narodni muzej-Beograd (1994). Zbornik Narodnog muzeja. 15. p. 13.
  20. Burovic, K. (2011-01-23), "Doprinos Srpsko-Crnogorske manjine u istoriji Albanskog naroda", Novinar Online, Sva Albanija posebno poznaje Perlata Redžepi, Branka Kadića i Jordana Misju, afirmirani kao Tri heroja Skadra (Tre heronjt e Shkodrës)9), koji su 22.VI.1942. godine poginuli sred Skadra, a boreći se u okruženju protiv italijanskih fašističkih okupatora. Sami su Albanci njihovu borbu do poslednje kapi krvi okarakterisali kao „epope legjendare, një nga epizodet më heroike të Luftës sonë Nacionalçlirimtare”(Legendarna epopeja, jedna od najherojskih epizoda naše Narodno-oslobodilačke borbe”)10), koju su opevali i u pesme. U toj veleslavnoj epopeji samo je Perlat Redžepi Albanac. Branko Kadić (1921-1942, posle rata progašen za Narodnog Heroja) i Jordan Misja su pripadnici srpsko-crnogorske nacionalne manjine.
  21. Sanja Lubardić. "Život Srba u Albaniji, Razgovor sa Pavlom Brajovićem, predsednikom Udruženja Srba u Albaniji" [Life of Serbs in Albania, Conversation with Pavle Brajović, President of the Association of Serbs in Albania]. Pravoslavlje, 996 (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 2014-04-13.

Sources

Journals
  • Marko Lopušina (1998). Svi Srbi sveta: vodič kroz dijasporu. IP PRINCIP.
  • Zlatičanin, Blagoje (2011). "Crnogorci iz Vrake na stalnoj Golgoti" (PDF). Matica, ljeto/jesen 2011.
  • Aleksandar Deroko, "U Bodinovoj prestonici. Putopisne arhitektonske zabeleške iz Skadra - grada Rosava - i okoline", Starinar, Beograd 1930,129-151.
  • Благоје В. Марковић, "Врака и Врачани", Расколник (Горњи Милановац), 1969/5, стр. 58-60.
  • Лазар Рогановић, "Под туђима сунцем (Врака и Врачани)", И дио, Титоград 1978, 18.
  • Aleksandar Deroko, "U Bodinovoj prestonici. Putopisne arhitektonske zabeleške iz Skadra - grada Rosava - i okoline", Starinar, Beograd 1930,129-151.
  • Burovic, K. (2011-01-23), "Doprinos Srpsko-Crnogorske manjine u istoriji Albanskog naroda", Novinar Online
Symposia
  • Становништво словенског поријекла у Албанији/Stanovništvo slovenskog porijekla u Albaniji. Зборник радова са међународног научног скупа одржаног на Цетињу 21, 22. и 23. јуна 1990. године. Titograd: Историјски институт СР Црне Горе. 1991 [1990].
    • Bošković, Branko (1991) [1990]. Насељавање Врачана у Метохији, њихов прогон и растур. Становништво словенског поријекла у Албанији. Titograd: Историјски институт СР Црне Горе.
    • Drašković, Aleksandar (1991) [1990]. Nacionalne manjine u Albaniji poslije Drugog svjetskog rata. Становништво словенског поријекла у Албанији. Titograd: Историјски институт СР Црне Горе.
    • Lakić, Zoran; Žugić, Tomislav (1991) [1990]. Положај југословенских мањина у Албанији 1945-1990. Становништво словенског поријекла у Албанији. Titograd: Историјски институт СР Црне Горе.
    • Marković, Blagoje V. (1991) [1990]. Врака и Врачани. Становништво словенског поријекла у Албанији. Titograd: Историјски институт СР Црне Горе.
    • Šćepanović, Slobodan (1991) [1990]. Најновији демографски и други подаци о Враки. Становништво словенског поријекла у Албанији. Titograd: Историјски институт СР Црне Горе.
    • Извештаји руског конзула Ивана Степановича Јастребова из Скадра о словенском живљу и њиховим црквама у Албанији у другој половини XIX века
    • Српско-православна скадарска општина у XIX и почетком XX века
    • Црногорска штампа о словенском становништву у Албанији (1871-1918)
    • Српске школе у Скадру и Враки и албанска просвјетна политика тридесетих година XX вијека
    • Црногорска штампа о словенском становништву у Албанији 1918-1938.
    • Српске школе у Албанији
    • Југословенско-албански односи 1945-1948. и наше мањине у НР Албанији
    • Присуство припадника народа из Црне Горе на тлу Албаније и проблеми двовласничких имања 1945-1948. године

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