Kastrati (surname): Difference between revisions

'''Kastrati''' is one of five tribes in the [[Malësi e Madhe District|Malësi e Madhe]] district in Northern [[Albania]]. The word derives from ''[[castrum]]''<ref>castle Look up castle at Dictionary.com late O.E. castel, from O.N.Fr. castel, from L. castellum "fortified village," dim. of castrum "fort;" cognate with O.Ir. cather, Welsh caer "town" (and perhaps related to castrare "cut off"). This word had come to O.E. as ceaster and formed the -caster and -chester in place names. Sp. alcazar "castle" is from Ar. al-qasr, from L. castrum. The move in chess is recorded under this name from 1656. In early bibles, castle was used to translate Gk. kome "village," causing much confusion. Castile the medieval Sp. kingdom, is from L. castellum, with reference to the many forts there during the Moorish wars. Castles in Spain translated a 14c. Fr. term (the imaginary castles sometimes stood in Asia or Albania) and probably reflects the hopes of landless knights to establish themselves abroad. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=castle</ref><ref>According to Julius Pokorny, Indogermanisches Etymologisches Woerterbuch, page 586 under kes- (palatal k), Oscan castrous (genitive case) and Umbrian castruo, kastruvuf (nominative case) have the same original meaning as castrum, which was an estate, or tract of land. Not enough is known of Oscan and Umbrian culture to understand whether the word was a military reservation in their cultures, allowing the possibility that the Romans took their military practices partially or wholly from elsewhere or developed them, or some combination.</ref> originally defining an estate, or tract of land (compare to "ngastër" in [[Albanian language|Albanian]]), and the local tribesman relate that their name comes from their hero, [[George Kastrioti]] widely known as the great [[Skanderbeg]].

==Story==

Kastrati consists of one bariak of five hundred houses and, as do all tribes, has a definite tale of origin. It traces descent from the famous fighting stock, Drekalović of [[Kuči]], which in turn derives from Berisha, by tradition one of the oldest of all Albanian tribes. Kuči, since the [[Montenegrin-Turkish War of 1876-1878|war of 1876–1878]], has been included politically within the [[Montenegro|Montenegrin]] border. Actually, it first threw in its lot with Montenegro in 1835, but, together with [[Piperi clan|Piperi]], another tribe of at any rate partially [[Albanians|Albanian]] blood–revolted in 1845 when [[Knjaz Danilo|Prince Danilo]] tried to make them pay taxes. The rising was suppressed, but Kuči revolted again later. Montenegro owes the subsequent acquisition of the territory to the heroism and military skill of Marko Drekalović, who with his tribe, after harrying the Turks of [[Podgorica]] for many years, sick of Turkish rule, joined forces with [[Nicholas I of Montenegro|Prince Nikola]] when war against the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]] was proclaimed. He lies buried on the heights of [[Medun]], the Turkish stronghold which he captured after a heavy siege, and his name is famous alike in Albania and Montenegro.

==External links==

* [http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/durham/albania/albania-III.html High Albania (London: Edward Arnold, 1909) by Edith Durham]

*[http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/durham/albania/albania-III.html Albania]

[[Category:Albanian families]]