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Zadrima is an ethnographic region situated in north-western Albania between the cities ofShkodra andLezha, located left of theLower Drin which eventually drains into theAdriatic Sea from near Lezha.
The Zadrima Plain includes villages and settlements administratively split between the modern Shkodra (Vau i Dejës Municipality) and Lezha (Lezhë Municipality) counties. The following belong under the Vau i Dejës Municipality:[1]
While the settlements below come under the Lezhë Municipality:[1]
At the end of the eighteenth century, Zadrima came to also encompass the nearby villages of Vjerdha, Lisna,Gajtani, andRragami. The settlements of the formerGuri i Zi Municipality, located to the immediate north of Zadrima, are traditionally connected to Zadrima due to similarities in traditions, customs, and folk clothing. On the other hand, the villages of Kallmet i Vogël, Kallmet i Madh, and Rraboshta, which are a part of the southern Zadrima Plain, differ in their customs and traditions from the rest of the greater region. Zadrima can be further broken down into three main units: 1) The area borderingMirdita, consisting of villages located on the foothills of the mountains separating the two major ethnographic regions (e.g., Troshan, Fishtë, Nënshat); 2) The villages established on the slopes of hills and mountains located within the core territory of Zadrima (e.g., Paçram, Pistull, Dajç); 3) The villages located on the open plains of Zadrima (e.g., Gramsh, Shelqet, Gjadër).[1]
Zadrima is first recorded in the twelfth century by Byzantine princess and historianAnna Komnene, who refers to the region as highly agricultural and the place of many battles between the Western and Eastern Roman empires. In 1281 the progenitor of theDukagjini family,dux Gjin Tanushi (Ducam Ginium Tanuschium Albanensem),[2] is recorded as ruling over portions of Zadrima, Guri i Zi (Montagne noire),Pulti,Sati, and lands around theFan.[3] Much of Zadrima and the adjacent territories between Lezha and the Fan would consequently be inherited by the Dukagjini, particularly the branch descending from Tanush II Dukagjini.[4] Other than the Dukagjini, the noble families of theBlinishti andZaharia also held lands in Zadrima. The Blinishti of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries initially held the lands between Gjadër in the west and Mali i Shejtit to the east, Arst in the north and Ndërfanda in the south, with their centre in Blinisht.[5] In the fifteenth century it is recorded thatKoja Zaharia had received lordship overSapa andDagnum from the papacy following his conversion to Roman Catholicism from Serbian Orthodoxy in 1414. The Zaharia would continue to rule over much of Zadrima during the medieval and often came into land disputes and conflicts with the Dukagjini whose influence had been primarily limited to Lezha and its environs. Zadrima and Lezha would eventually fall under Venetian occupation.[6]
The demographic history of Zadrima is one of heterogeneity and diversity in regards to geographic origins. The old population of the region, descended from the medieval inhabitants and communities of Zadrima, has largely diminished and represents a negligible percentage of modern families. For example, in the seventeenth century only a handful of native households remained in the village of Mjeda, such as that ofLazër Mati Koja, who descended from the old Zaharia family through Koja's son,Leka. The Ottoman occupation of the region resulted in mass depopulation and movement out of Zadrima, explaining the great reduction in the region's native population.[6] From the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries onwards, Zadrima would come to be repopulated by a number of families and brotherhoods arriving fromMalësia.[7] Examples include a number of the brotherhoods fromGjatore, a quarter in Kallmet, whose ancestors arrived fromVukël inKelmend,[8] as well as theLazër-Ilaj of Pistull who are believed to have come fromHoti. Numerous families from Mirdita andPuka also settled in Zadrima due to their close proximity to the region, which offered better living conditions due to its lowland terrain. Migrations from other nearby territories would also take place, examples including theImeraj of Paçram who descend from theÇelaj ofBushat and theRanxa of Pistull who arrived fromMelgushë.[9]
41°55′16″N19°34′58″E / 41.9211°N 19.5828°E /41.9211; 19.5828
