Gusinje is traversed by the Vermosh River into which pours the Vruja Creek as it moves eastwards towards Plav.

[7] In 1330, the toponym Hotina Gora (mountains of Hoti) in the Plav and Gusinje regions on the Lim river basin in 1330.

[8][10] In historical record, Gusinje appears in 1485 in the defter of the sanjak of Scutari as a village in the vilayet of Plav, a hass-ı hümayun (imperial domain) that stood directly under the Ottoman Sultan.

[12] Gusinje stood at the intersection of the Ottoman trade routes between northern Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo.

Thus, the trade that passed through Gusinje generated much wealth for the Sultan and the Ottoman officials who were granted taxing rights.

Venetian diplomat Mariano Bolizza who travelled in the region reported that at the end of 1612 the building of the fortress of Gusinje - near which the modern town developed - was completed.

The fortress was built at the request of Sem Zaus, the Ottoman bey of Podgorica who wanted to stop the attacks of Kelmendi and to be able to travel freely in his domain.

The fortress was also designed to stop the movement of the Kuči and Triepshi tribes in the Upper Lim valley.

In 1614, Mariano Bolizza reported that the village of Gusinje had 100 households and a garrison of 237 men under Belo Juvanin.

[13] In time despite Ottoman expeditions and relocations of these communities in Sandžak, Kelmendi and other tribes like Kuči, Triepshi, Shala and Hoti came to form many of the historical neighbourhoods (mahalla) of Gusinje of today.

The descendants of the communities although initially Christian, willingly or forcefully converted to Islam, largely by the middle 18th century.

The strongest family in the Gusinje region at the end of the 17th century were the Shabanagaj (now also known as Šabanagić) of Gruemiri.

Shaban Aga, their eponymous ancestor was the son-in-law of Sulejman Pasha Bushati, sanjakbey of Shkodra.

[15] Central Ottoman administration collapsed in the decades to come and the Pashalik of Shkodra emerged as a regional power.

[8] As the Ottoman Empire disintegrated in the long 19th century already in the Treaty of San Stefano, Gusinje and Plav were awarded to the independent Principality of Montenegro.

Gusinje was developing as a commercial town at the time, but still remained outside properly established rule of Ottoman law.

The Albanians of Gusinje opposed the decisions of the treaty and sent telegrams of protest to the embassies of the Great Powers.

The Albanians in the two regions reacted against the final decision in favor annexation and formed the League of Prizren.

[18] A noted figure of the League of Prizren was Ali Pasha Shabanagaj, a landowner and military commander from Gusinje.

Ismail Omeraga, was a leading commander the Gusinje volunteers who died in the battles for the defense of Plav-Gusinje in Qafa e Pravisë.

The battle became a point of reference in the Albanian National Awakening and set a precedent about the need of armed struggle to defend other areas.

The oldest preserved mosque in the town is Čekića džamija or xhamia e Cekajve built by the Cekaj brotherhood of Triepshi.

[25] The Slavic dialect of Gusinje and Plav shows very high structural influence from Albanian.