Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Drekale

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Noble family
  
Drekalović

Children
  
Lale Drekalov

Successor
  
Lale Drekalov

Reign
  
Second half of the 16th century

Religion
  
Roman Catholic Orthodox Christianity

Drekale (Serbian Cyrillic: Дрекале) was according to tradition the chieftain (vojvoda, "duke") of the Kuči tribe and founder of the Drekalović brotherhood which produced the chieftains of Kuči for three centuries.

Contents

Name

Drekale is derived from the archaic Slavic Verb dreka (as in derati se) "to scream, shout, outcry". Drekavac, literally "the screamer", was the name for a mythological creature in Serbian folklore, a bogeyman (registered in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro). According to Rovinski, Drekale is the Albanian-language corruption of Andrej; that being his actual name.

History

Drekale was elected the position of vojvoda ("duke") of the Kuči tribe probably in the second half of the 16th century, based on the proposal of Dreca Dedin. According to a story, vojvoda Žijo Peralov of Kosor married his daughter to Drekale. Their descendants were to be known as Drekalović.

There are several stories on his origin.

  • One story has Drekale as the "son of a Mrnjavčić and the daughter of Klimenti vojvoda Martin". This would mean that he was a descendant of the Old Kuči.
  • Local legends tell that Drekale was Skanderbeg's grandson, baptized as a Serbian Orthodox Christian. There are three different versions of this connection. Two of them say that Drekale (Andreja) was the son of Skanderbeg's daughter Mara and a father from the Klimenti or Bratonožići tribe. In reality Skanderbeg never had a daughter. According to the third version, Drekale was a son of Skanderbeg's son Ivan (Gjon). The connection of Drekale with Skanderbeg, as well as assertions that he was of Albanian origin is widely disputed, since it was impossible for Skanderbeg's great-grandson to be alive in the second half of the 16th century.
  • According to Edith Durham Drekale descent from Berisha.

    • Legends about the progenitor of the Kastrati say that it was Drekale's brother who had come from Kuči, while Đ. Slijepčević stressed that it was more likely that the progenitor came from Kuči but descended from some other family as Drekale in fact had no brothers.

    Legacy

    Drekale is commemorated in literature and oral traditional poetry, such as Vojvoda Drekale and Vuk of the Klimente.

    Marko Miljanov wrote about Drekale and his descendants in his works. Simo Matavulj extensively discussed about Drekale in one of his novels.

    References

    Drekale Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA