Tribes of Montenegro

The tribes of Montenegro (Montenegrin and Serbian: племена Црне Горе, plemena Crne Gore) or Montenegrin tribes (Montenegrin and Serbian: црногорска племена, crnogorska plemena) are historical tribes in the areas of Old Montenegro, Brda, Old Herzegovina and Primorje.^[A]

Most tribes were formed in the 15th and 16th centuries, during and after the Ottoman conquest of the medieval state of Zeta, where they replaced former administrative units known as župas. As a result, the tribal territories also became basic geopolitical units of larger divisions of the Ottoman Empire, such as the Vilayet of Montenegro, the eastern parts of the Sanjak of Herzegovina and parts of the Sanjak of Scutari. From the late 14th century to the 18th century, some tribes were also under the rule of Venetian Albania. In the 18th century, many tribes became part of the Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro and after 1858 most of them were united into the Principality of Montenegro.

The tribal assembly (zbor) of the Principality of Montenegro was initially officially composed of the two communities of Old Montenegro (Crnogorci i.e. “Montenegrin”) and the Brda (Brđani i.e. “Highlanders”). However, in anthropological and historical studies, the tribes are divided into those of Old Montenegro, Brda, Old Herzegovina and Primorje, then into sub-groups (bratstva i.e. “brotherhoods” or “clans”) and finally into families. Today they are mainly studied within the frameworks of social anthropology and family history, as they have not been used in official structures since the time of the Principality of Montenegro, although some tribal regions overlap with contemporary municipal areas. The kinship groups give a sense of shared identity and descent.