Polog

Throughout antiquity, the Polog valley and its main settlements - Oaeneum and Draudacum - were ruled and inhabited by the Illyrian Penestae tribe as well as the Dardanians.

[5][6][7][8] In the period of 800–550 BC, the Dardani broke into Pelagonia via Oaeneum (Tetova) and Draudacum (Gostivar) and pushed the Phrygian Bridges there into the northern hills.

However, Gentius changed sides in 169 BCE and allied himself with Perseus of Macedon, leading his army to a victory over the Romans in Uskana by way of Oaeneum in the Polog region.

[12] Serbian medieval sources also make a distinction between a "lower" and "upper" Polog but most commonly they refer to "the two Pologs", the region was put under firm control of the Serbian state in the reign of King Milutin where the first cases of pronoia in the Serbian state were recorded[13] Some of the earliest recorded settlements in Polog are from the 11th century with only one having the rank of city, Gradec, other settlements recorded in the 13th century are Tetovo, Banica/i, Rečica, Lisec, Točil, Leskov- jane, Nerašte, Radeevo.

[15] Between the years 1348–1353, Albanians are mentioned by Serbian king Stefan Dušan as farmers and soldiers in the district of Tetovo within the Polog region.

[19] After the expulsion of up to 70,000 Ottoman Muslims from the former Sanjak of Nish in 1877–1878, several families of Albanian Muhaxhirs settled in the Pollog Valley region.

In Lower Pollog, these migrants settled in: Gorno Sedlarce, Rakovec, Žerovjane, Radiovce, Tenovo, Lukovica, Sedlarevo and Gurgurnica.