Isniq is a settlement north of

Deçan Deçan (, ; , ) is a town and municipality in the district of Gjakova, Kosovo. The municipality has an area of and it includes the town and 37 smaller settlements. According to the last census of 2024, the municipality has a population of 27,7 ...

in Western

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

about 45 miles (or 72 km) west of

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

. Medicinal plants grow at the mountains of 2656 meters above the sea. Berit Backer wrote a book about the region.

History

In the medieval ages, the village was part of the Decani monastic estate and two families ruled it. During the

Ottoman era The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

, the village was split into three timers (military estates) led by three knights. Many inhabitants gradually embraced

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

in the 18th century. Istinić is mentioned in the

Lahuta e Malcis ''The Highland Lute'' (, original and standard language of the time based on Gheg Albanian) is the Albanian national epic poem, completed and published by the Albanian friar and poet Gjergj Fishta in 1937. It consists of 30 songs and over 17,000 ve ...

. Throughout history, the

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

inhabitants in the area lived according to codes of conduct based on the Kanun. The family of

Isa Boletini Isa Boletini (; 15 January 186423 or 24 January 1916) was an Albanian revolutionary commander and politician and rilindas from Kosovo. As a young man, he joined the Albanian nationalist League of Prizren and participated in a battle against Ott ...

had migrated to Boletin from the village of Isniq due to a

blood feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

(''

gjakmarrja In traditional Albanian culture, ( English: "blood-taking", i.e. "blood feud") or ("revenge") is the social obligation to kill an offender or a member of their family in order to salvage one's honor. This practice is generally seen as in line w ...

''). On September 29, 1998, Yugoslav forces gave an ultimatum to the Albanian insurgents in the village to surrender their weapons, and after agreeing to do so, a total of 735 arms were collected.

References

{{Reflist Villages in Deçan