Although claimed by the Ottomans, the area was de facto independent with the Montenegrin tribes, with the support of the Metropolitanate of Cetinje, constantly waging wars against Turks.

[1] In Ottoman Turkish, it was known as the "Vilayet of the Black Mountain" (vilâyet-i Kara Dağ[2] or "Vilâyeti Karadağ";[3] Serbo-Croatian: вилајет Црна Гора, vilajet Crna Gora[4]).

[7] The Montenegrin tribes, with support of the Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Cetinje, fought guerilla wars against the Ottomans with some degree of success.

The Montenegrins fought and won two important battles at Lješkopolje, in 1604 and 1613, under the leadership and command of Metropolitan Rufim Njeguš.

During the Great Turkish War, in 1685, Suleiman, Pasha of Scutari, led a contingent that approached Cetinje,[8] and on the way clashed with hajduks in Venetian service under the command of Bajo Pivljanin at the hill of Vrtijeljka (in the Battle of Vrtijeljka), where they annihilated the hajduks.