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TheRrjolli is a historicalAlbanian tribe (fis) and region inMalësia of northAlbania. The tribal region is centred along the banks of the Rrjoll river that stems from Mount Bishkaz and empties intoLake Shkodër. The Rrjolli tribe is not a traditionalfis in the sense of a community that claims paternal descent from one common ancestor; rather, it is polyphyletic. During theOttoman period it formed a singlebajrak (military-administrative unit).
The name of the tribe, their region and their river seems to be derived from theLatinrivulus, meaning 'river'.[1]
The Rrjolli tribal region is located around 15 km east ofKoplik. Rrjolli borders theShkreli to the north, thePlani,Xhani,Suma andMëgulla past Mount Bishkaz to the east, and theLohja,Reçi andGrizha tribes to the northwest. Most of the Rrjolli settlements are located on the left side of the river, along the northern slopes of Mount Maranaj.[1] The Rrjolli tribe occupies the Rrjoll valley between Mali i Kurrilës to the west, Tarabosh to the north, Mali i Bishkazit and Maranaj to the east.[2]
Rrjolli is not a tribe of common patrilineal ancestry, it is made up of different brotherhoods and lineages. According toGiuseppe Valentini, Rrjolli can be divided into two main groups: the brotherhoods who arrived from the tribal territory of theKuči in easternMontenegro during the 16th or 17th century, and theanas who represent the native population of the region. Among theanas are theÇangaj,Keqani,Kokaj,Toskaj, andVitaj.[3] Alternatively, the French consul Hyacinthe Hecquard (1814–1866) recounted an oral tradition which maintained that the Rrjolli trace their ancestry back to two families fromDrisht. The legend states that the two families had fled Drisht prior to the Ottoman siege of the citadel in hopes of escaping persecution and conversion toIslam.[4]
Several Albanian tribes inhabited Rrjolli during theMiddle Ages up until the Ottoman period, when they were grouped into a single military-administrative unit. These include the Egçi (Egreshi),Lepuroshi, and Linaj (Feralinaj). The Dara tribe also inhabited Rrjolli in the Middle Ages. The Dara family was one of the first to migrate fromAlbania toItaly andGreece afterSkanderbeg's death. When they migrated toGreece they named their settlementDara after their own surname. The Dara family in southern Italy exist as a part of theArbëreshë community inPalazzo Adriano, a town inSicily.Gabriele Dara, was anArbëreshë politician and poet of the 19th century. He is regarded as one of the early writers of theAlbanian National Awakening.
In theVenetiancadastre of 1416-17 forScutari and its environs, Rrjolli (Rioli) appears as a settlement split between the administrative authority of Bolca (now inReçi) andLohja (Logoan). The village had a total of 11 households and was not inhabited by a singlefis, in the part within Bolca a branch of theShkreli had settled while in the part under Lohja a branch of theGruda (Jon Gruda) was settled. In the latter part of the village a certainMihal Viti is recorded and was likely an ancestor of the modern Vitaj brotherhood. In the same register, the settlement ofBishtrrjolla is also attested as led byStefan Spani and with 9 households. Among those, two of the households were from theMarsheni tribe (Dabesej andPetro Marsheni) while one also belonged to theHoti (Radogost Hoti).[5]
Rrjolli appears again in the Ottomandefter of 1485 for theSanjak of Scutari. In the register, it appears as the village ofRijol which had 32 households and produced a total of 1510ducats per annum. The personal names recorded are overwhelmingly Albanian in character. LikewiseBisht Rjola (alternatively,Barsh) is also recorded, this time with 15 households, two of which were still from the Marsheni (Gjin andMarin Marshejni). Other villages now within Rrjolli, such asKurta andLepurosh, are recorded in the register.[6]
Rrjolli (Riolo) appears in a report of 1671 written by Stefano Gaspari as a settlement with 20 homes and 156 inhabitants headed by a certainNdre Mida. The village had a church dedicated to theAscension of Jesus. Later in the 19th century Hyacinthe Hecquard recorded that Rrjolli was onebajrak and had two hamlets. It had a population of 1600, roughly 1240 of whom wereCatholic in faith. In the second half of the 19th century, the local Pasha had burned down some of the Rrjolli homes due to inter-religious conflict between the tribe; some Muslim members damaged a Christian cemetery and destroyed a cross that the Christians had set up along the path, and the Christians retaliated by throwing a dead pig into the mosque and painted crosses on its walls with the pig's blood. Later censuses from the 20th century, conducted by the Austro-Hungarian authorities, showed that Rrjolli had a population of between 1530 and 1560, 1200 were Muslim and only 360 Catholic.[7]
The originalbajraktars of Rrjolli came from the Catholic Kokaj, however, due to their support of the Dervishi family against theBushati of Shkodra, their position was given to the Muslim Kurtaj.[8]
Historically, numerous Rrjolli families would spend winters on the coast that lies betweenShëngjin and the riverBuna, sharing pastureland in Mali i Rrencit withShkreli andKelmendi tribes. Many Rrjolli men worked as bakers inShkodër.[9]