By Dod Progni
Memorie.al / The Nikaj tribe consists of the villages: Lekbibaj, Peraj, Gjonpepaj, Curraj i Poshtëm, Curraj i Epërm, Qeresh, and Kuq. It stretches from the right bank of the Mertur River and the Kuq River, to the east and northeast, to the Kapon mountain, the T’thermes pass, Guri i Fushës Madhe, and the Ndërmajnes pass, to the west and northwest, continuing north with the mountains of Kakia, the Boshit pass, the Zezë peak, and up to the Dashit trail. To the south, the territories of Nikaj extend like a wedge between the villages of Palc and Tetaj, which belong to the Mertur tribe. Archaeological evidence shows that this geographical area, which today belongs to the Nikaj tribe, has been inhabited since the late Bronze Age, around 1200-1000 BC. It is also attested that, even in the medieval period, these gorges and alpine slopes were inhabited by Albanians. The ruins of several churches, cemeteries, or toponyms related to the ancestral inhabitants of Nikaj are still preserved here today.
Among the best known are the Church of Vargu and the cemeteries near it, as it is said in documents: “a town and an episcopal see: of Pult.” The Church of Luzaja in Curraj i Poshtëm, also an “ex-episcopal see,” the cemeteries in the Susaj neighborhood of Lekbibaj, the ruins and old cemeteries in Paplekaj, the church and cemeteries of Shioku in Gjonpepaj, the cemeteries of the Mavriqi in Kalbs and Marin, on both sides of the Curraj River, etc. The inhabitants of Nikaj are convinced that these cemeteries do not belong to the ancestral generations of their tribe, but to another population that had no blood ties with them.
However, the Nikaj have preserved and worshiped them as holy places, with the conviction that they belonged to an Albanian population of the Christian faith. Swearing in the church of Vargu, Paplekaj, or Luzaja was of extraordinary importance for the inhabitants of Nikaj. Until recent times, these have been places of gatherings and the annual traditional oaths taken by the villagers of Curraj i Poshtëm, Lekbibaj, Gjonpepaj, etc.
From documented Slavic, Ottoman, and Catholic Church sources of the 14th-18th centuries, we learn that during this period in the territory of today’s Nikaj, Albanians formed several villages, for which documents often use the term “village” (village). Regardless of the term, the “village” in our highlands had the meaning of settled agricultural and pastoral settlements and not of wandering pastoral organizations, as some Serbo-Slavic “researchers” have tried to classify them for their perverse racist purposes.
The village of Nikijtë appears to have been formed as early as 1330. Again, in 1485, Nikijte is mentioned with 7 houses, and in 1582, without noting the number of houses. While in the years 1628, 1671, and thereafter, until the end of the 18th century, in this same territory, the village with the name Nikajni (Nikaj) appears to have been formed. Luzaja is simply mentioned as a village as early as 1335 and later, this same one in 1529, with 30 hearths, continuing until 1634, when it finally appears with 8 houses and 40 Christian souls.
Kuqa in 1582, before it had the name of the Kuq neighborhood in Curraj i Epër, Zhush in 1485 (today Nderzhush-a neighborhood of the village of Lekbibaj), Vargu, on September 20, 1529-1536 and in 1628, appears again, but abandoned as a village and destroyed as a monastery. Pjaja e Mavriqit in 1634, a village with 25 houses and 220 souls, which continued to exist actively in Curraj i Epërm, is neighboring Nikaj, until 1774. All these villages that are located in the territory of today’s Nikaj have different faces and connections with the Nikaj tribe, but the place of formation of Nikaj can only be sought in Nikijte or Nikajni.
The reason is simple: Firstly, these two are patronymic names formed from a person’s name, which was called Nikë-Nika, similar to the Nikaj. Secondly, their location is determined somewhere within the territory of today’s Nikaj. In search of the genesis of the Nikaj tribe, it has been said that; “the Nikaj tribe was formed before the later expansion of the village of Nikijte, which is mentioned in Ottoman documents in 1485, and its settlement was in a newly inhabited territory.”
We think that this is neither the origin nor the path of the formation of this tribe. As stated above, the village of Nikijtë is documented as being formed in Pult as early as 1330, which means that the headman of the Nikijte – Nika, must have lived several decades before 1330, i.e., about 700 years ago. From here it follows that, from this time until today, more than 23 generations must have been born. However, from the genealogical tree of the Nikaj tribe (accurately worked by Franz Nopcsa) in 1908 and from our research to extend this tree to today’s youngest generation, it turns out that no fraternity of Nikaj reaches more than 15 generations, without being united with Nikë, the first of the tribe.
Counting 30 years for each generation, it turns out that Nika-the father, the first of the Nikaj tribe, must have entered this, around 1500-1550. It may be an interesting coincidence that this Nikë, from whom the Nikaj tribe was formed, was first the cause, precisely in the territory of the former Nikijte, but it is not possible that this one has a similarity and blood ties with the first father of the Nikijte, even though he was also called Nikë, but as we mentioned, he had lived a long time before, in 1330. Consequently, today’s Nikaj are not the descendants of the Nikijte, whom we last mentioned in 1582. So the question arises: Who was the first from where that Nikë, who became the headman of the Nikaj tribe, came from?
In Nikaj and Krasniqe, the legend has circulated that the Nikaj and Krasniqja are brotherly tribes. In fact, it is said that they have blood ties with the Albanian Hoti tribe and with the Vasojeviqi of Montenegro. According to this legend, the brothers Kras Keci, Nik Keqi, and Vas Keqi were the fathers and first of the tribes of Krasniqja, Nikaj, and Vasojeviq. To escape the Slavic assimilating wave, the first two left their homeland and settled in Dushaj i Epërm, on the left bank of the Valbona River, near the village of T’pla of Krasniqe. The Vasojeviqi, who stayed in Montenegro, became Orthodox and were Slavicized. The Krasniqi preserved their Albanian nationality, but in the 18th century, they became Muslim.
While the Nikaj, who separated from Krasniqe to make their home in their current territories, preserved their Albanian nationality and the Old Catholic faith. The truth of this legend is doubtful, due to the fact that the name “Hrsato,” from which the name Krasniqe is derived, cannot be determined from a toponym “Krast,” as the tradition of the place says, but from the word “hrasto,” which in Slavic means “oak.” What must be accepted as true is the statement of Prof. Eqrem Çabej that; “all three of these tribes are of Albanian origin.” From here it follows that; neither was the first of the Nikaj a Nikoviq.
About the formation of the Nikaj tribe and its connections with Krasniqe, there is another oral tradition, which is known and believed more than the previous one. According to it; the first of the Nikaj was Nikë Mekshi. This was the brother of Kolë Mekshi, from whom the Kolmekshaj of Krasniqe were formed, who ethnographically include the villages; Shoshan, Kocanaj, Dragobi, Bradoshnice, Degë, Murataj, with half of the village of Margegaj. For this reason, the Nikaj and Krasniqe, especially the Kolmekshaj, as two brothers, do not enter into marriages between them. In fact, the fraternities of Kolmekshaj do not number more than 15-16 generations, from the youngest generation today, to their first father, Kolë Mekshi, the brother of Nikë Mekshi.
Even the Qokaj and Vukaj fraternities, of the village of Shoshan, who belong to Krasniqe, connect their generations with the Qokaj and Vukaj of Curraj i Epërm – Nikaj tribe, in the 11th-12th generation. The Metaliaj of Dragobi-Krasniqe tribe, do not go more than 10-11 generations, without being united with the fraternities of Curraj i Epërm. Knowing these tribal connections better, Father Shtjefën Gjeçovi, in 1917, made an attractive category; “The Curraj of Dragobia.” Anthropological studies also shed light on the kinship ties of Nikaj with Krasniqe. Franz Nopcsa and Edith Durham, say that from an anthropological point of view; “The Nikaj differ from many tribes of Northern Albania, such as Mertur, Shale, Shosh, Toplanë, Mirditë, Pukë, etc.”
Similarly, our well-known anthropologist, Aleksandër Dhima, groups the Nikaj into the anthropological type of the Malësia e Vogël, along with Krasniqe, Gash, etc. The most credible conclusion that emerges from this data is that the first father, from whom the Nikaj tribe was formed, was Nikë Mekshi. After he separated from his brother Kolë Mekshi, he left Krasniqe and settled somewhere in the territory of today’s Nikaj. To determine the time and place where the Nikaj tribe originated, we return again to the documentary sources of the 14th-17th centuries. We have argued above that the Nikaj tribe is not identified with the village of Nikijte, which Serbian documents mention as being formed as early as 1330. While Nikë Mekshi, the first father of the Nikaj tribe, lived at least two centuries after the village of Nikijte was formed.
It would be more acceptable to think that; the Nikaj tribe originated in the village of Nikajni, which the reporter Don Vincenti, in 1628, notes in Pult i Epërm, according to the alignment Brisë, Salcë, Palc, Nikajni, Zhush, Luzanja, Blaka, Rajnë, etc. While in the report of Gjeç Bardhi, in 1634, light is also shed on the location of Nikaj when it is said that; “the church of Bjaka is only 6 miles away from Nikaj.” The Bjaka of that time was a village with 20 houses and 230 souls, and was located “in a forested territory with chestnuts.” It refers to today’s village of Tetaj. In this case, the document coincides with the oral saying which says; “The first territories of Nikaj were in Paplekaj i Epërm,” where the ruins of an old church and the cemeteries around it are still preserved today.
The distance between the church of Paplekaj i Epërm and the ruins of the church of Bjaka, which are still visible today in Tetaj, is about 9.6 km. Approximately in the same place, Sh. Gaspëri also localizes the Nikaj, in 1671, when he says that; “The Nikaj of Bjakë, are separated by a small river.” But he defines the distance between the church of Shnaprenda in Bjakë and Nikaj as about 9 miles. It seems he had in mind the distance between the church of Bjaka and that of Shioku in Gjonpepaj, or some other one above, where the Nikaj may have been temporarily displaced, due to war, because in the same report, in 1671, this author says: “The village of Nikaj was ruined and looted by the Turks a little earlier and was in great poverty.”
The arrival of Nikë Mekshi’s family from Krasniqe and their settlement in Paplekaj i Epërm, where the Nikaj tribe took root and grew, must have occurred at least a few decades before 1628, since in 1628, they had managed to form a village, with the name of their headman, Nikë-Nikaj. The documents and sources of the 17th-20th centuries show that; the Nikaj have not moved from the region, with the exception of sporadic cases, when individuals or specific families, for strong reasons, such as blood feuds, etc., were forced to emigrate outside the tribe, to become everything within the Albanian territories. On the other hand, in no case does it appear that within this period, about 400 years, any group of people came and became permanent residents in the territory of the Nikaj tribe.
Even the Kapiti, as some researchers affirm, came from Vajush i Shkodrës, before the Nikaj, around the years 1416-1500. After the arrival of the Nikaj and their growth, (most of the Kapit) were forced to leave for Guci, where they still live today. The small part that did not leave has coexisted for centuries in harmony and understanding with the Nikaj, thanks to the ties of godparenthood with the closest neighbors, Peraj and Gjonpepaj, and marital ties with the other fraternities of Nikaj. During the 17th-18th centuries, the Nikaj, like all the other inhabitants of Pult, went through countless difficulties. To the extremely serious economic situation was added the continuous war against the expeditions and clashes with the Ottoman feudal lords, who came with military forces to kill, plunder, and subjugate the disobedient highlanders.
However, the Nikaj were not subjugated, they did not move from their lands, but stood in defense of their land, freedom, Albanian customs and traditions, and their Catholic faith. They grew, strengthened, and became one of the most famous tribes and “bajraks” (flag-bearers) of Northern Albania. From a “katund-tribe,” the Nikaj, with 35 houses and 300 souls in 1671, after 100 years, in 1771, reached 119 houses, with 849 souls. But now “tribe” in the sense of a self-governing unit, which was distinguished from its main neighbor, Mertur, because, as Gjon Logoreci says in 1771, “The Nikaj are another tribe and come from a different blood than those of Palc and Salca…”! This becomes even clearer in 1775, when the Nikaj were separated from Palc and Salca also from a diocesan point of view, forming the first parish of Nikaj.
Around the years 1867-1870, the Nikaj had 240 houses, with 2,360 souls, and between the years 1905-1910, they grew to 266 houses and about 2,400 souls, to reach 320, in September 1917. What should be emphasized is the fact that; the process of population and societal growth with the continuous and strong preservation of collective memories for the blood ties between the villagers, fraternities, households, families, and all members of the tribe. In the oral tradition that is still preserved in the memory of many Nikaj inhabitants, it is said that; the growth of the Nikaj tribe was due to the increase of the households of the three grandsons of Nikë Mekshi, the sons of Bibë Nikë: Lekë Bibë, Kolë Bibë, and Mark Bibë. From these, the three main “legs” of the Nikaj tribe were formed. The branch of Kolë Bibë was territorialized to the north and northeast of the initial settlement “Paplekaj i Epërm,” where the villages of Peraj and Gjonpepaj were formed.
From the descendants of Për-Kolë Bibë and the Peraj were formed. While from those of Gjon Pep Kolë, the village of Gjonpepaj was formed. The branch of Lekë Bibë from Paplekaj i Epërm, expanded further south, to Paplekaj i Poshtëm, as well as to the early villages of Zhush and Varg, forming a single village, with the name of Lekë Bibë (Lekbibaj). Lekbibaj consists of two large fraternities: Nikprendaj and Paplekaj. The branch of the youngest brother, Mark Bibë, expanded to the east and northeast of the tribe, in a larger area than the first two, including Curraj i Poshtëm and Curraj i Epërm. Entirely between 1634 and 1670, this branch spread to the old village, Luzaje. With the addition of households and families, according to some data, in the years 1660-1670, the first three houses of this branch appear, which settled in Curraj i Epërm, where the Pjajet e Mavriqit lived.
From the descendants of Mark Bibë, who populated Curraj i Poshtëm and Curraj i Epërm, two large fraternities were formed; Nikbibaj and Prebibaj, who came from Nikë Bibë-Marku and Prend-Bibë-Marku. As we said above, the name Nikaj was held only by one village, where its inhabitants had blood ties among them and came from a common father, who was called Nikë Mekshi. Rightly, the population of Nikaj and their expansion is the territory of the initial village, the name “Nikaj,” could not be inherited by only one fraternity or village of this tribe. All the fraternities and villages that were formed had an equal connection with their common father, Nikë. Therefore, his name did not remain in a single village, but became the name of the entire tribe.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of houses, according to the main fraternities of the Nikaj tribe, was; Peraj, 50 houses, Gjonpepaj, 32 houses, Nikprendaj, 40 houses, Paplekaj, 30 houses, Nikbibaj, 50 houses, and Prebibaj: 30 houses. From a document of the time, it appears that the history and forced formation of the Nikaj tribe, from a numerical and territorial point of view, was long and difficult. For many years, the Nikaj lived as neighbors with the people of Luzaja, Pjaja e Mavriqit, Vargu, Zushi, Kapiti, etc. The population growth of the Nikaj and others created economic hardship for everyone. The area of cultivable land and pastures was quite limited. This made it impossible to continue the good neighborly relations and coexistence of the Nikaj with the inhabitants who did not belong to this tribe.
In these circumstances, someone would leave and someone would stay. The Nikaj would grow numerically organized and self-governed, based on customary leaders and they dominated over the others. Thus, in 1582, only 4 houses were left in Vark, which would leave by 1628, when Varkau appears uninhabited. Later, the Luzaj also left, clearing the way for the descendants of Mark Bibë. Until 1771, the Pjajet e Mavriqit “very good people but with no kinship, as blood ties with the Nikaj,” lived in good neighborly relations with the latter. Precisely this year, 43 families of Pjaja, as it is said in a document, have fled to the high slopes of the mountains because, they were falling on the necks of the Nikaj.
During the late 1773-1774, the Pjajet e Mavriqit, after a famine, finally left Curraj i Epërm, leaving behind only the toponyms; such as “Vada e Mavriqit,” “Vorret e Mavriqit,” “Prroi i Gjovelit,” “Ara e Gurit të Dodës,” “Lumi i Pjasë,” “Pusterri i Pjasë,” etc., which are related to these inhabitants of Albanian ethnicity and Catholic faith. Regarding the migrations of the early inhabitants, it is appropriate to note the fact that; the population of the Nikaj and Mertur tribes, with a rare exception, such as the case with the Mavriqet, does not preserve any memory of armed conflicts between them and the early inhabitants of this region.
Coexistence was established peacefully, as both parties of the tribe and on the side, were Albanians, with similar language, traditions, and culture. Above all, they were fellow fighters, against the same enemy, the occupying Turks. However, for the reasons mentioned above, most of the early population, such as; the Luzaj, Pjajeshët, Mavriqët, Blakçorët, and a part of the Kapit, left for the Albanian territories of the Dukagjin Plain, Kosovo, etc. They went back to where their great-grandparents had come from centuries before. About these movements of Albanians, the well-known Albanologist Pukevill, has expressed himself very accurately and beautifully, when he says: “This people of heroes who were so much forced to find refuge in their own impenetrable mountains, to preserve their freedom, watched from above the empires that were born and died, to then descend to regain and abandon.”
For the relief of the territory, especially for the mountain pastures, there have been cases where the Nikaj have also entered into conflicts with neighboring tribes, Mertur and Shalë. With the latter, the conflicts have been longer and fiercer. The Shalë controlled almost all of today’s Nikaj mountain pastures. It took a long time to win them to the current borders that separate the Shalë from the Nikaj. They talked, and elders were also consulted, to argue each side’s right over the mountain pastures, but blood was also shed. This long, painful conflict was closed only at the end of the 19th century, after an armed clash between the two tribes, near the Qafa e Ndërmanjës, where the “bajraktar” of the Shalë was killed, precisely in the place called; “The Bajraktar’s Cross.”
At an altitude of 1580 m, where the “bajraktar” was killed, the “border” was also established between Nikaj and Shalë. According to the Canon of the Mountains, it is a model; “blood border.” During the 19th century, the Nikaj tribe was clearly contoured from a territorial and organizational point of view within the current borders, becoming a prominent and influential tribe among the tribes and “bajraks” of Malësia e Gjakovës. It played an important role in the liberation wars against the Ottoman occupiers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The population growth and the increase of households led to the formation of new, smaller fraternities, which were offshoots of the larger fraternities. Their headmen, after whom these fraternities were named, were descendants of the brothers Kolë, Lekë, and Mark Bibë. Generally, the new fraternities inherited the cultivable lands and pastures of their ancestors. This has made the territorial community, the village or neighborhood, in some cases, coincides with the tribal community. Grouped by villages, until the 1950s-1960s of the 20th century, the fraternities known to the Nikaj tribe were in the village of Peraj, Gjonpalaj, Përpalaj, Martincamaj, Neçaj, Përvataj, and Kolbucaj. In the village of Gjonpepaj: Dakaj, Doçaj, Gjergjndreaj, Marvataj, Ndrepepaj, and Stakaj. The Kapiti that goes with Gjonpepaj, consists of the fraternities: Niklekaj and Dedaj.
In the village of Lekbibaj: Paplekaj, Pecnikaj, Imeraj, Rosaj, Susaj, Meshaj, and Aliaj. In Curraj i Poshtëm: Nikmartinaj, Hasmartinaj, and Zhivanaj. The latter is a fraternity and attached to the tribe. It is thought to have a connection with the early population of Luzaja. In Curraj i Epërm with about 100 houses in 1932, there were these fraternities: Përpepaj, Nikbibaj, Prebibaj, Mrishaj, Qokaj, Malndreaj, Gecaj, and Ndrevataj. It is thought that Ndrevataj, comes from the Pjajet e Mavriqit, as they have no blood ties with the other fraternities of the tribe. This fraternity, just like the Zhivanaj, is attached to the tribe.
Although the fraternities of the Nikaj tribe grew and spread out over a relatively large geographical area and distance from each other, their families, households, and individuals, preserved strong blood ties from generation to generation, both within the fraternities and within the entire tribe. The expression of these ties is strict exogamy and is applied in marital ties. Until 1972, in the entire Nikaj tribe, with 451 families, there was no marital connection within the tribe. Memorie.al
