Kastrati (tribe)

Administratively, the region is located in the Malësi e Madhe District, part of the Kastrati municipal unit.

[4] Kastrati tribal territory is divided into two sub-regions: the mountainous Katund i Kastratit and the lowland Bajzë area.

[8] In the Ottoman period, some villages like Kamicë-Flakë were put under the bajrak (military administrative unit) of Kastrati, but are not part of this region.

Dedli had six sons with two wives - three of them were called Pal, Jer and Gor, which correspond to the names of the villages Palaj, Jeran and Goraj in Kastrati territory.

The elder of the Old Kastrati was that impressed by their upbringing that he asked to be the godfather of Dedli's grandson and thereby bring peace to the two sides.

Another legend states that Detal Bratoshi had arrived from the Kuçi region with his 7 sons - Nar/Ndoc, Pal, Ivan, Jer, Gor, Gjon and Ali - and it follows a similar narrative to that of the dinner table.

Nonetheless, what is known is that the Kastrati tribe held assemblies (Kuvend) in the village of Bajzë, specifically within the Frashni Cave (Shpella e Frashnit); each assembly was attended by the bajraktar (flagbearer; tribe leader), four chiefs (Krena), 24 elders and a man from each house.

[3][10] Kastrati is first mentioned in 1403 when its leader Alexius - head of three villages - appears to be awarded gifts by the Venetian governor of Scutari.

In 1883, the Kastrati, Hoti, Gruda and Shkreli tribes formed another pact to prevent the delimitation of the expanded Montenegrin borders.

[24] A punitive expedition was carried out in the Hoti, Gruda and Kastrati regions by the Ottomans under Hafiz Pasha on June 10.

[25] Ded Gjo Luli of Hoti, Smajl Martini of Gruda and Dod Preçi of Kastrati did not surrender and hid in the mountains as fugitives.

[27] In later negotiations with the Ottomans, an amnesty was granted to the tribesmen with promises by the government to build one to two primary schools in the nahiye of Kastrati and pay the wages of teachers allocated to them.

[25] On May 26, 1913, a delegation from the chiefly families of the Hoti, Gruda, Kelmendi, Shkreli and Kastrati tribes met Admiral Cecil Burney of the international fleet and petitioned against the annexation of Hoti and Gruda tribal territory by Montenegro.

[28] Eventually, due to the influence of Austria-Hungary, the region of Kastrati was incorporated into the newly formed Kingdom of Albania, although it was agreed with some of the Great Powers that it should be annexed to Montenegro.

In Kosovo, they are notably found in Peja, Gjakova, the village of Karaçeva in Kamenica, and throughout the Gjilan region.

[37] The Kastrati tribe believed that a snake sighted by a wren lost its ability to transform into a kulshedra.

[38] In 1907, the Kastrati were described as kind, gentle, humble and pious by Bosnian Croatian priest Lovro Mihačević, who went on to call them a proud people who enjoy singing heroic songs with the lahuta.