Ethnicity Albanian | Place of origin Northern Albania | |
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Current region | ||
Shkreli is a historical tribe (and region) in Northern Albania (see Malësia). With expansion of the Ottoman Empire, part of the tribe migrated to Rugova beginning in ca. 1700, after which they continued to migrate into the Sandžak region (today in Serbia and Montenegro). The Shkreli tribe converted into Islam in the 18th century, while the Shkreli in Sandžak (known as Škrijelj/Serbian: Шкријељ) over time were Islamized and today declare Bosniak ethnicity. There are minor families which still adhere to Christianity (most of whom are Catholic, the rest Orthodox).
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A former municipality of Shkrel used to encompass the tribe's settlement, today part of the Malësi e Madhe municipality. Shkreli areas borders Kastrati region to the northwest, Boga and Plani tribes to the east, Lohja to the south.
There is also a village named Škrijelj in Sandžak who are said to be fis with the Shkreli. The tribal name has been adopted as a surname by some descending families, in both Albania and former Yugoslavia.
Anthropology
Origin
There are various theories on the origin of the Shkreli. Several anthropologists and historians have recorded various founding oral traditions.
Genetics
History
The name of the tribe was first recorded in 1416 as Shkreli. Some other earlier forms include Scarglieli (1614) or Scrielli (1703). Scarglieli was mentioned by Mariano Bolizza in 1614, being part of the Sanjak of Scutari. It was Roman Catholic, had 20 houses, and 43 men at arms commanded by Gion Poruba.
Before converting to Islam in the 18th century, most of them professed Catholicism, and many have continued professing it until today, especially in Kosovo and southeastern Montenegro (Ulcinj). The descendants of this tribe in Kosovo have mostly maintained the Albanian language as their mother tongue and bear similar varieties to the surname: (predominantly Muslim) and Shkrel/Shkryeli (predominantly Catholic). On the other hand, descendants of the tribe professing the Eastern Orthodox faith have remained until today. According to Marko Miljanov their slava was Saint Nicholas Day. The patron saint of Albanian part of the tribe is Saint Nicholas.
Emigration
A part of the Shkrel tribe was probably endangered by other tribes in Albania, thus has emigrated to different locations: the Montenegro seaside, to Sandžak and to Rugova gill (located in northwestern Kosovo near Peć). Some of the Rugova Shkrels moved to the territory of Rožaje and Tutin in 1700, after the Great Serb Migration. They founded the village named Škrijelje (as they continued residing in Sandžak, by appropriating the yat vowel from the Slavic languages, the surname deviated from Shkrel to Škrijelj). Later in the century they populated the Lower Pešter region and the city of Novi Pazar. Skrijeljs continued to migrate from Rugova to the territory of Pešter until the 19th century. The vast majority of Škrijelji were assimilated by the Slavic population in the Sandžak region. However, in the villages of Boroštica and Gradac at the Upper Pešter plateau, they managed to maintain the original Albanian language until today. After the Second World War and especially with the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars they began migrating to Western Europe, United States of America and Australia.
Today, people bearing the surname Škrijelj live in the following locations: