Toplana (region)

Toplana is a region of Northern Albania whose territory is synonymous with a minor historic Albanian tribe of the same name. It is part of the Malësia region.[1] Toplana is also used as a surname, for people claiming ancestry from it.

Albanian bayraks as of 1918 from Franz Seiner. Toplana located in section 62, between Dushmani, Shkreli, Mërturi, and Berisha. Name does not appear on the map, but inside the legend.

During the late Ottoman period, the tribe of Toplana was exclusively Catholic and it was a famous Albanian tribe.[1] Toplana possessed a reputation among other Albanian tribes of being the wildest Catholic tribe due to the high number of fatalities caused by blood feuding.[1] In the survey of death statistics between 1894-1904 the violent death rate was 42.3%.[2]

Geographically, Toplana is a small region situated in the Malësia e Madhe District, near Fierzë, north of Pukë. It borders on the traditional tribal regions of Dushmani to the south, Shkreli to its west, Mërturi to its north and Berisha to the east.

The parish church of Toplana was built in 1696, on the mountainside by the river Drin. In 1672 the village of Toplana and its surroundings were indicated to have five churches, which were "without vestments or furnishings".[2]

References
  1. Gawrych, George (2006). The Crescent and the Eagle: Ottoman rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874–1913. London: IB Tauris. pp. 31-32. ISBN 9781845112875.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. The Tribes of Albania: History, Society and Culture Elsie, R. 2015. London : I.B. Tauris
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