Xhani is a historical

Albanian tribe The Albanian tribes () form a historical mode of social organization (''farefisní'') in Albania and the southwestern Balkans characterized by a common culture, often common patrilineal kinship ties and shared social ties. The ''fis'' ( sq-defini ...

(''fis'') and ethnographic region located on the western side of the upper Kir river in the wider region of Pulti, northern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Name

Xhani derives its name from the anthroponym '' Iohannes'' and is attested in various forms such as: ''Xhaj'', ''Xhovani'', ''Gjani'', ''Joani'', ''Ghoanni'', ''Giovagni'', ''Gioagni'', ''Huan'', and ''Zuanni''. Italian

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

serving in the region also Italianized the tribal name as ''Giovanni''.

Geography

Xhani is situated on the eastern banks of the upper Kir river in the mountains of Pulti. It borders the tribal territories of Plani to the north, Kiri to the east, Suma to the south, and

Rrjolli The Rrjolli is a historical Albanian tribe (''fis'') and region in Malësia of north Albania. The tribal region is centred along the banks of the Rrjoll river that stems from Mount Bishkaz and empties into Lake Shkodër. The Rrjolli tribe is not a ...

to the west. The main settlement is that of Xhan.

Origin

It is believed that the Xhani were among the ''anas'' (indigenous) ''fise'' of the Shkreli tribal territory, and that they were driven out of their native lands following the expansion of the Shkreli across the valley of the Përroi i Thatë. The modern settlement of Xhaj in

Shkrel Shkrel is a former municipality in the Shkodër County, northwestern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Malësi e Madhe Malësi e Madhe () is a municipality in Shkodër County, in northwest ...

, between Ducaj and Makaj, is connected to the Xhani. Giuseppe Valentini further elaborates that 30 families of the Xhani are descended from a widow who was married in Shkreli but had returned to her birthplace with her children following her husband's death.

History

Xhani (''Huan'' or ''Xhovan'') is recorded in the Ottoman ''

defter A ''defter'' was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire. Etymology The term is derived from Greek , literally 'processed animal skin, leather, fur', meaning a book, having pages of goat parchment used along with papyrus ...

'' of 1485 for the

Sanjak of Scutari The Sanjak of Scutari or Sanjak of Shkodra (; ; or ''İşkodra Sancağı'') was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the Ottoman Empire acquired Shkodra after the siege of Shkodra in 1478–9. It was part of th ...

as a settlement in the

ziamet Ziamet was a form of land tenure in the Ottoman Empire, consisting in grant of lands or revenues by the Ottoman Sultan to an individual in compensation for their services, especially military services. The ziamet system was introduced by Osman I, ...

of Mehmet Bey in the

nahiyah A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

of Petrishpan-ili. The village had a total of seven households which were represented by the following household heads: ''Gjergji'', son of '' Prekali''; ''Marini'', son of ''Prekali''; ''Gjergji'', son of ''Mlusha''; ''Isfani'', son of ''Nui''; ''Dimeniku'', son of ''Kalshi''; ''Kola'', son of ''Prekali''; and ''Martini'', son of ''Sunja''. The Xhani are subsequently recorded in later documents, such as in the relation of 1671 by

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Stefano Gaspari (''Shtjefën Gaspari'') which reports that Xhani had 22 houses and 80 inhabitants, as well as a well-built

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

dedicated to

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

. In the report of the French consul Hyacinthe Hecquard (1814–1866), Xhani had 115 houses and 662 inhabitants. However, later in 1918, according to statistics compiled by the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

authorities, Xhani had a reduction in population as only 62 houses and 435 inhabitants are recorded.

Religion

Around two-thirds (~66%) of Xhani is Catholic while the remainder is

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. The Catholics of the tribe venerate Saint Nicholas as their

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

References

{{reflist Tribes of Albania