Plani (tribe)
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The Plani are a historical Albanian tribe (fis) and region in Pult of north Albania. The Plani tribe is not a traditional fis in the sense of a community that claims paternal descent from one common ancestor; rather, it is polyphyletic. During the Ottoman period it formed a single bajrak (military-administrative unit).
Plani tribal territory corresponds to the mountainous Pult region in the district of Shkodra, and it is situated at the upper end of the Kir river valley. They border Shala to the east, Boga to the north, Shkreli to the west, and Kiri and Xhani to the south. The main Plani settlements are the villages of Plan, Mëgulla and Gjuraj-Boks.[1]
Origins
Despite consisting of a single bajrak, the Plani tribe is considered to be a conglomeration of four different Albanian populations; one from the Kelmendi tribe, one from the Mërturi, one from the region of Malzi, and one from an indigenous anas population. The Plani in Gjuraj and part of Mëgulla are of Kelmendi origin from the village of Selcë, the Plani in Thana are from Mërturi, those in Gjinaj arrived from Malzi, and the anas population of the tribe is that of Boksh/Boks. The Plani of Boksh settled in the region prior to the Ottoman conquest of Albania, but were said to have been the group responsible for the downfall of the Castle of Boksh (Kalaja e Bokshit) by revealing the location of the castle's water supply to the besieging Ottomans.[2][3]
According to local oral traditions, many of the brotherhoods of Plani trace their ancestry back to a man from Boksi who took a bride from Malësia (possibly Kelmendi). The couple had three sons; Prendi, Gjuri, and Manga. The three brothers would consequently father their own families and expand, founding the settlements and brotherhoods of Prendrejaj, Gjuraj, and Mëgulla. The Thani trace their patrilineal lineage back to a certain Gjin Berisha from Mërturi and, according to legend, took their name from the cornel plant (thanë in Albanian) under which one of their forefathers sought shelter during his first night in Plani.[4]