Berisha is a historical Albanian tribe (fis) and region in Pukë, northern Albania. Berisha is one of the oldest documented Albanian tribes, first recorded in 1242 in Dulcigno. In the Middle Ages, it was widely spread across northern Albania, southern Montenegro and Kosovo. People who traced their origin to Berisha are also found in the coastal trading hubs of Dalmatia in the Middle Ages. Berisha formed its own territorial community in Pukë in the course of the 14th century.
In the apex of feudal development in Albania at the end of the 13th and during the long 14th century, Berisha was in a process of de-tribalization and reorganization of some branches as feudal families. This process stopped in the wake of the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans in the 15th century and was followed by a strengthening of tribal and kinship ties in the region. Berisha of Pukë is a Catholic fis. In the Ottoman period, brotherhoods (vllazni) from Puka settled in parts of Tropojë, some areas of Kosovo and Skopska Crna Gora in Macedonia. These branches converted to Islam starting from the 18th century onwards. The surname Berisha is common in Puka, Tropoja and Kosovo.
Geography
The historical tribal area of the Berisha is located in the Pukë district, south of the Drin, west of Fierza, in northern Albania. The centre is the Sapaç river basin, flowing into the Drin. Berisha traditionally borders with Dushmani and Toplana to the west, Bugjoni to the north, Iballë to the east and Kabashi to the south. The main settlements are Berisha e Vogël (Lower Berisha), Shopël and Berisha e Epërme (Upper Berisha). Its inhabitants are called Berishas. In terms of administrative division, Berisha is part of the Iballë municipal unit of Fushë-Arrëz.
Origins
Oral traditions and fragmentary stories were collected and interpreted by writers who travelled in the region in the 19th century about the early history of the Berisha tribe. Since then, analysis of recorded historical material, linguistics and comparative anthropology have resulted in more historically grounded accounts. Of particular importance is the archival research of Lajos Thallóczy, who found the first historical record of Berisha in the archives of the Republic of Ragusa in 1242. His work allowed for further archival research. Thus, in the following years Baron Nopcsa traced the ancestry of Berisha with certainty back to 1370 and formulated a probable lineage as far back as 1270.
Edith Durham, Baron Nopcsa and others recorded the most widely known oral tradition about the origin of Berisha, which is also part of the tradition of all other tribes in the area. According to it, the tribe's first direct ancestor is Kol Poga, son of Pog Murri, son of Murr Dedi. Kol Poga's brother was Lekë Poga, ancestor of Mërturi. Pog Murri's brother was Dit Murri, ancestor of Shala, Shoshi and Mirdita. The grandfather of Kol Poga, Berisha's ancestor, Murr Dedi was also the progenitor of the Thaçi and Toplana tribes. Berisha of Pukë form four brotherhoods, all of whom trace their origin to Kol Poga: Tetaj (Teta), Maroj (Poga), Deskaj (Desku), Doçaj (Doçi).
In Montenegro, Marko Miljanov from Kuči wrote in his book about his home region that the Kuči and Berisha were "regarded close", allegedly because the Berisha ancestors settled from Kuči; Konstantin Jireček further recorded about this story that Old Kuči (Staro Kuči), which placed a Grča, son of Nenad as its ancestor also placed him as an ancestor of the Berisha tribe. On the contrary, in Berisha it is believed that Old Kuči itself descends from Berisha and is called Berisha i Kuq (Red Berisha) as opposed to Berisha of Pukë, Mërturi and a part of Piperi that traces its origin from Berisha, who are collectively called Berisha i Bardh (White Berisha). In historical record, Berisha and the Old Kuči appear in different areas and timelines as Old Kuči formed part of the tribe of current Kuči, which was based on different ancestral groups in the late 15th century . Nevertheless, if not kin by blood, Montenegrin and Albanian tribes regarded closeness in original or home territory from where someone "came". Therefore, Serbian geographer Andrija Jovićević put forward the narrative that the Kuči were "kin" to Kastrati, Berisha and Kelmendi because their distant ancestor once, ostensibly, settled in the same general area as Kuči.