Gusinje - History

History

Unknown prior to the Ottoman conquests. Before the Ottoman Turks took control of the region, Plav-Gusinje (as it is collectively known) was under the control of various Albanian Catholic tribes. Ottoman Turks conquered the area sometime in the 14th century.

The founder of modern-day Gusinje was Dedë Shala, an Albanian Catholic. In 1455, Shala converted to Islam and became known as Omer-aga Shala. Shala was then awarded lands throughout the region from Ottoman authorities. His son, Hasan-aga Omeragaj built the first house in Gusinje upon the Grncar river, creating the Omeragaj branch in Guciae. His other son, Tahir-aga Omeragaj created the Omeragaj branch in Plave. The Omeragaj (later Slavicised to Omeragići) family was the ruling family of Gusinje from 1461 up until the arrival of Veli Beg and his sons Ahmed, Redzep, and Ibrahim, who Persians of Turkic origins that settled in Gusinje from Khorasan in 1590. From Veli Beg's son Redzep Pasha sprung the Redzepagic family, which grew to become one of the most prominent families in Gusinje for the remainder of Ottoman rule. According to Ottoman documents in Istanbul, dated from 1852, Gusinje was part of the Vilayet, or province, of Kosovo. From the late 15th to early 18th century many families from various parts of the Islamic World immigrated to the Vilayet of Kosovo. These documents from Istanbul show that families immigrated from Islamic Spain after the expulsion of the Muslims and Jews from Granada in 1492 to the Ottoman domain some settled in Gusinje. There were also a few Turkic families that settled in Gusinje during the 17th century.

Throughout Turkish rule, many Albanians converted from Roman Catholicism to Islam. The majority of the citizens of Plav-Gusinje were of Albanian origin, hence the majority of the population was Catholic at the time, with the exception a few Eastern Orthodox families. By 1700 over 75% of the inhabitants of Plav-Gusinje embraced Islam.

Turkish rule was passed onto Montenegro by decision of the Congress of Berlin in 1878. However, this decision was unpopular among the local population and between 1878 and 1912, Plav and Gusinje existed as a de facto independent state.