
Malësia e Madhe ("Great Highlands"), known simply as Malësia ( sq, Malësia, cnr, / ), is a historical and ethnographic region in northern
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
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...
and eastern central
Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = ...
corresponding to the highlands of the geographical subdivision of the
Malësi e Madhe District in Albania and
Tuzi Municipality in Montenegro. The largest settlement in the area is the town 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 kilomete ...
.
Name
''Malësia e Madhe'' is Albanian for "great highlands". It is simply known as ''Malësia'', or in the local
Gheg dialect, ''Malcía'' (). Elsie also describes the region as part of the Northern Albanian Alps. The tribes are commonly called "highlanders", sq, malësorët, malsort,
anglicized
Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...
as "Malissori" or "Malisors".
An
archaic
Archaic is a period of time preceding a designated classical period, or something from an older period of time that is also not found or used currently:
*List of archaeological periods
**Archaic Sumerian language, spoken between 31st - 26th cent ...
term used by foreign travellers in the 1860s was "Malesians".
Geography

The region includes parts of the
Accursed Mountains mountain range (known in Albanian as ) and hinterland of the
Lake Scutari, with valleys of the
Cem river.
The Malësors (Albanian highlanders) live within northern Albania and historically Malësia e Madhe (great highlands) contained five large tribes with four (
Hoti,
Kelmendi,
Shkreli,
Kastrati) having a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
majority and
Muslim minority with
Gruda evenly split between both religions.
Within Malësia e Madhe there were an additional seven small tribes.
During times of war and mobilisation of troops, the bajraktar (chieftain) of Hoti was recognised by the
Ottoman government as leader of all forces of the Malësia e Madhe tribes having collectively some 6,200 rifles during the late Ottoman period.
Malësia e Vogël (small highlands) with seven Catholic tribes such as the Shala with 4 bajaraktars,
Shoshi,
Toplana and
Nikaj
The Nikaj are an historical Albanian tribe (''fis'') and region in the Highlands of Gjakova of north Albania. The Nikaj tribe is a traditional ''fis'' in the sense of being a community that claims paternal descent from one common ancestor, cons ...
contained some 1,250 households with a collective strength of 2,500 men that could be mobilised for war.
Shoshi had a distinction in the region of possessing a legendary rock associated with
Lekë Dukagjini
Lekë III Dukagjini (1410–1481), mostly known as Lekë Dukagjini, was a 15th-century member of the Albanian nobility, from the Dukagjini family. A contemporary of Skanderbeg, Dukagjini is known for the '' Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit'', a code of ...
.
History
During the Ottoman period, when northern Albania was part of the
Sanjak of Scutari, Albanian tribes in Malësia sometimes sided with Montenegrin tribes in fighting the Ottomans. An example is from 1658, when the seven tribes of
Kuči,
Vasojevići,
Bratonožići,
Piperi,
Kelmendi,
Hoti and
Gruda allied themselves with the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...
against the Ottomans. In 1757, the
Bushati family transformed the sanjak into the semi-autonomous
Pashalik of Scutari
The Pashalik of Scutari, Iskodra, or Shkodra (1757–1831), was an autonomous and ''de facto'' independent ''pashalik'' created by the Albanian Bushati family from the previous Sanjak of Scutari, which was situated around the city of Shkodër in ...
. After this, the Albanian tribes sided with the Bushati.
After the Ottoman Empire lost the
Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–78),
Plav and
Gusinje were ceded to Montenegro, which sparked Albanian
attacks in the area organized by the
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
League of Prizren in support of the Ottoman Empire. Later, in the early 20th century, the northern Albanian tribes switched sides against the Ottoman Empire and rose up with Serbian aid
in 1910 and Montenegrin aid
in 1911. The latter began with
a memorandum signed by the Malësian tribal representatives.
The Malësian tribes won
a victory at Deçiq in April 1911. The
Albanian revolt of 1912 led to the
Albanian Declaration of Independence later that year. On May 26, 1913, 130 leaders of
Gruda,
Hoti, Kelmendi,
Kastrati and
Shkreli sent a petition to
Cecil Burney in Shkodër against the incorporation of their territories into Montenegro. Gruda and parts of Hoti came under Montenegrin rule.

During World War II, the northern Albanian tribes were collaborationist and anti-Communist.
Prek Cali led the Kelmendi tribe. Some leaders were persecuted by the
new Communist regime.
Demographics
The region is inhabited by an Albanian majority, divided between
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and
Islam, while a small
Serb-Montenegrin community is present in some villages. The Albanian population ethnographically belongs to the
Ghegs
The Ghegs (also spelled as Gegs; sq, Gegët) are one of two major dialectal subgroups of Albanians (the other being the Tosks) They are also differentiated by minor cultural, dialectal, social and religious characteristics. The Ghegs live in Alba ...
group.
In Montenegro:
*
Albanians - 7,839 (75.8%)
*
Montenegrins
Montenegrins ( cnr, Црногорци, Crnogorci, or ; lit. "Black Mountain People") are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common Montenegrin culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro.
Genetics
Accordi ...
- 823 (8.0%)
*
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, ...
- 627 (6.1%)
*
ethnic Muslims - 635 (6.1%)
*
Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their ...
- 156 (1.5%)
*
Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
- 62 (0.6%)
*Others - 120 (1.2%)
*No Ethnicity Declared - 77 (0.7%)
*Total - 10,339
Culture

Due to its rich culture, the highland region has attracted more attention from anthropologists, artists, writers and scholars than any other Albanian-populated region. It is Malësia that produced what has been considered the national epic of the Albanian people, ''
Lahuta e Malcís
''The Highland Lute'' ( sq, Lahuta e Malcís, original and standard language of the time based on Gheg Albanian) is the Albanian national epic poem, completed and published by the Albanian friar and poet Gjergj Fishta in 1937. It consists of 30 son ...
'' (''The Highland Lute''). Author and
Franciscan
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
friar
Gjergj Fishta
Gjergj Fishta (; 23 October 187130 December 1940) was an Albanian Franciscan friar, poet, educator, politician, rilindas, translator and writer. He is regarded as one of the most influential Albanian writers of the 20th century due to his epic ...
spent 35 years composing this epic poem, in which is chronicled the whole range of the ethnic Albainan cultural experience (e.g. weddings, funerals, historical battles, mythology, genealogy, and tribal law). It is as interesting to modern readers as an anthropological document as it is a magnificent poem.
Anton Harapi, Albania's most distinguished Christian philosopher, dedicated his masterpiece "Ândrra e Pretashit" (The Dream of Pretash), initially called "The Wise Men along
Cemi River" to the people of Malcía.
The oldest Albanian book was written by Malësor Catholic priest
Gjon Buzuku.
Ethnography
In 1908, anthropologist
Edith Durham visited the Malësia region and catalogued her findings in her ethnographic work "High Albania," which was, for nearly a century, the most trusted source of information about the Albanian highlanders. Albanian anthropologist Kolë Berisha wrote, among other books, the four-volumes ethnography entitled "Malcía e Madhe" written between 1900 and 1945.
Tribes

Robert Elsie divided the tribes of Albania in his works according to regions. There were ten tribes that belonged to the Malësia e Madhe in the Northern Albanian Alps.
*
Kelmendi
*
Gruda (in Montenegro)
*
Hoti (partially in Montenegro)
*
Kastrati
*
Shkreli
*
Triesh
*
Koja
The histories of the respective clans (and hence the whole region) are amalgamations of both historical events and genealogies passed along by oral transmission.
Religion
* 84% - Roman Catholic
* 13% - Muslim
* 3% - Eastern Orthodox
Notable people
*
Prek Cali, Kelmendi chieftain
*
Ded Gjo Luli (1840–1915), Hoti chieftain
*
Sokol Baci
Sokol Baci (1837–1920) was the chief of the Gruda, a northern Albanian tribe in the vicinity of Podgorica (now Montenegro). Originally, he had served the Ottoman sultan in his personal guard, but switched sides after he was mistreated, and fo ...
(1837–1920), Gruda chieftain
*
Baca Kurti
Baca Kurti Gjokaj ( 1807–1881) was an Albanian leader who participated in the Battle of Ržanicë against the Principality of Montenegro.
Life
Baca was born around 1807 in the village of Milješ (Milesh) in the Gruda tribal region near the tow ...
(1807–1881), Gruda chieftain
*
Tringe Smajli
Tringë Smajl Martini Ivezaj (1880 – 2 November 1917), known simply as Tringe Smajli, and as Yanitza outside Albania, was an Albanian guerrilla fighter who fought against the Ottoman Empire in the Malësia region. She was the daughter of ...
(1880–1917), Gruda member
*
Nora of Kelmendi
Nora of Kelmendi is a legendary folktale 17th century Albanian woman for her beauty and valor.
She is sometimes referred to as the "Helen of Albania" as her beauty also sparked a great war. She is also called the Albanian Brünhilde too, for s ...
*
Elseid Hysaj
*
Bekim Balaj
*
Armando Broja
*
Rudi Vata
See also
*
Albanians in Montenegro
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. ...
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malesia
Historical regions in Albania
Accursed Mountains
Albanian ethnographic regions
Gegëri
Albanian communities in Montenegro
Regions of Montenegro
Divided regions