The Suma are a historical Albanian tribe (''fis'') and tribal region in

Pult Pult or Pulat ( sq-definite, Pulti or Pulati), is a region in northern Albania. It is bordered by the Malësia Region to its north and by the Dukagjin Highlands to its east and its south. The region has traditionally been inhabited by the Plani ...

of north

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. During the Ottoman period it formed a single ''

bajrak The ''bajrak'' (pronounced or , meaning "banner" or "flag") was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Administrative division, territorial unit, consisting of villages in mountainous frontier regions of the Balkans, from which military recruitment was base ...

'' (military-administrative unit).

Geography

Suma tribal territory is situated in the mountainous

region in the district of Shkodra, and is located around 20 km northeast of the city itself. It is on the western side of the upper Kir river. Suma tribal territory borders Kiri to the east, Xhani to the north,

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 west, and Drishti to the south. Their main settlement is the village of Bruçaj (known previously as Suma).

Origin

The majority of the Suma tribe believes that they hail from

Mirdita Mirdita is a region of northern Albania whose territory is synonymous with the historic Albanian tribe of the same name. Etymology The name Mirdita derives from a legendary ancestor named Mir Diti from whom the tribe claims descent. Other ...

, and that their ancestral forefathers are from the Oroshi tribe; therefore, the Suma are related to the Shoshi and

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 an ...

tribes. They would split into multiple branches in Bojët e Sumës, a location that is situated near the church of Xhani. Another part of Suma claims to have arrived from the tribal territory of the Kuči in eastern

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

. According to oral tradition these brotherhoods trace their ancestry back to two brothers; ''Dol'' and ''Pyl Kuçi''. Dol is considered to have been the founder and forefather of Gurra and Dajcë, while Pyl founded Bukmirë. This oral tradition may in fact reflect their origin from the historical

Bukumiri Bukumiri (alternatively, ''Bukmiri'') was an Albanian tribe (''fis'') that lived in present-day central and south-eastern Montenegro. They were semi-nomadic pastoralists whose social organization was based on kinship around brotherhoods of common ...

tribe.

History

In 1332, a ''Demetrius Suma'' was recorded. A 1335 document of

Tsar Dušan Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

mentions a certain ''Petrus Suma'' and ''Marcus Suma'' living in the ''Albanian katun of

Tuzi Tuzi ( cnr, Tuzi/Тузи, ; sq, Tuz or ''Tuzi'') is a small town in Montenegro and the seat of Tuzi Municipality, Montenegro. It is located along a main road between the city of Podgorica and the Albanian border crossing, just a few kilometers n ...

''. Historically, the tribe has been of a Catholic majority with a substantial Muslim minority. An Austro-Hungarian census of 1918 recorded 95 households with a total of 641 inhabitants living in the settlements of Suma and Shakota as well as their surroundings. In 1911, the Suma tribe attempted an anti-Ottoman uprising but suffered retaliation from Ottoman troops, who plundered the village and burnt down many homes - the Suma tribe was destitute at this point. In 1685, a certain ''D. Luca Summa'' from Shkodra had his poem published in the

Cuneus Prophetarum ''Cuneus Prophetarum'' ( sq, Çeta e profetëve, en, The Band of the Prophets) is a philosophical, theological and scientific treatise written by Pjetër Bogdani, an Albanian philosopher, originally published in Padua in 1685 in Albanian and La ...

Pjetër Bogdani Pjetër Bogdani (1627 – 6 December 1689), known in Italian as ''Pietro Bogdano'', was the most original writer of early literature in Albania. He was author of the Cuneus Prophetarum (''The Band of the Prophets''), 1685, the first prose work o ...

References

Sources

*{{cite book , last1=Elsie , first1=Robert , title=The Tribes of Albania: History, Society and Culture , date=Apr 24, 2015 , publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing , isbn=9780857725868 , url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Robert_Elsie_The_Tribes_of_Albania?id=bbeKDwAAQBAJ Tribes of Albania