Overview of Albanian tribes, Franz Seiner, 1918

Lohja is a historical Albanian tribe located in a small area of the same name in

Malësia Malësia e Madhe ("Great Highlands"), known simply as Malësia ( sq, Malësia, cnr, / ), is a historical and ethnographic region in northern Albania and eastern central Montenegro corresponding to the highlands of the geographical subdivision ...

, northern Albania.

Geography

Lohja is a small region situated in the Malësia e Madhe District, near

Dedaj Dedaj is a settlement in the former Shkrel Municipality, Shkodër County, northern Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Eu ...

, about 12 km north of

Koplik Koplik (also known as Koplik i Poshtëm) is a town and former municipality in the northwestern tip of Albania. At the 2015 local government reform, it became a subdivision, and the seat of the municipality Malësi e Madhe. It was the seat of the ...

. It borders on the historical regions of Kastrati to the west and north, and on

Reç Reç (also known as Reç i Poshtëm) is a settlement in the former Shkrel municipality, Shkodër County, northern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Malësi e Madhe. Notable people *Bekim Balaj ...

and

Rrjolli The Rrjolli is a historical Albanian tribe (''fis'') and region in Malësia of north Albania. The tribal region is centred along the banks of the Rrjoll river that stems from Mount Bishkaz and empties into Lake Shkodër. The Rrjolli tribe is not a ...

to the south. It includes the settlements of Lohë e Sipërme (Upper Lohja) and Lohë e Poshtme. Many families from Lohja over the centuries have moved to the central settlement of

, where they form part of the local population. After 1990, Lohja saw heavy emigration and depopulation. Less than 500 people live today in upper and lower Lohja.

History

Lohja first appears in historical record in the form of ''Loho'' who is mentioned in 1348. In the cadaster of Shkodra (''Scutari'') in 1416-7 Lohja (''Logoa'') appears as a village of eight households. The surnames of its inhabitants are all different, an indication that the village was not a settlement based on kinship ties in contrast to other settlements of

Albanian tribes The Albanian tribes ( sq, fiset shqiptare) form a historical mode of social organization (''farefisní'') in Albania and the southwestern Balkans characterized by a common culture, often common patrilineal kinship ties tracing back to one progeni ...

that appear in the cadaster. The cadaster also reveals that part of lower Lohja was identified as part of Rrjolli at that time but was part of Lohja administratively. One of the three households in that area was headed by a Jon Gruda. Oral tradition in lower Lohja has maintained that it traces its origin partly to the Old Gruda tribe. As an anthroponym, it doesn't appear in Lohja, but in one of the bigger settlements around Shkodra, in Grizhë, where ''Andrea Lochoy'' is found. After the 1479, most of northern Albania fell under Ottoman control. In the first Ottoman defter in 1485, Lohja appears as a village of 40 households. Among the first local

timar A timar was a land grant by the sultans of the Ottoman Empire between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, with an annual tax revenue of less than 20,000 akçes. The revenues produced from the land acted as compensation for military service ...

holders of Shkodra after 1479 an Ali Aga Loha-zade is mentioned. He descended from Lohja, but can't be identified with a specific historical figure who converted to Islam. Lohja itself in 1582 had 31 households and 21 unmarried inhabitants, all Catholic except for one household. The late 16th century also saw the formation of 3/4 major brotherhoods of upper Lohja today. The first brotherhood, the Vukcaj were locals of Upper Lohja. The other three: Ivaj, Kocaj and Ulgjokaj trace their origin from the three brothers Koc, Ul and Iv Gjoka possibly from Koja.

Giuseppe Valentini Giuseppe Valentini (14 December 1681 – November 1753), nicknamed ''Straccioncino'' (Little Ragamuffin), was an Italian violinist, painter, poet, and composer, though he is known chiefly as a composer of inventive instrumental music. He studied ...

proposed an alternative origin from the Drekali brotherhood of Kuči (about 6 km north of Koja), which itself came from Berisha. Their sister was married into a brotherhood of lower Lohja. Some of the families of lower Lohja come from different neighbouring areas. These include Shllaku,

Shala Shala (Šala) was a Mesopotamian goddess of weather and grain and the wife of the weather god Adad. It is assumed that she originated in northern Mesopotamia and that her name might have Hurrian origin. She was worshiped especially in Karkar a ...

, the Pulati region and Gruda. The Lohja tribe had a population of some 2,500 in the last years of the 19th century.

References

Bibliography

*{{cite book , last1=Zamputi , first1=Injac , title=Regjistri i kadastrēs dhe i koncesioneve pēr rrethin e Shkodrës 1416-1417 , date=1977 , publisher=Academy of Sciences of Albania , url=https://www.academia.edu/33718705/AKADEMIA_E_SHKENCAVE_E_REPUBUKES_TE_SHQIPERISE , pages=66-8 , accessdate=29 January 2020 , ref=Buda Tribes of Albania Malësia