Myzeqe - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Myzeqe

Coordinates: 40°55′N 19°40′E

Myzeqe
The Myzeqe (Albanian: [myzɛˈcɛ]; definite Albanian form:
Myzeqeja; Aromanian: Muzachia) is a plain in the Western
Lowlands of Albania.[1] The Myzeqe is the largest and widest
plain, measured by area, in the Lowlands.

Contents
The Myzeqe plain, seen from the
Location ancient city of Apollonia.
Etymology
History
Population
Economy
References

Location
The Myzeqe plain is a large alluvial plain traversed by three main rivers, the Shkumbin, Seman
and Vjosë.[2] The Vjosë gives a rough approximation of the southern extent of the Myzeqe, while
the Shkumbin is roughly its northern extent.[3] Administratively, the region falls mainly within
Lushnjë and Fier District.

Other terms like Myzeqeja e Vogël (Small Myzeqe), Myzeqeja e Beratit (Berat's Myzeqe), or
Myzeqeja e Vlorës (Vlora's Myzeqe) are used to point respectively to the Fier part of the region,
and to tiny parts that fall into the adjacent districts of Berat and Vlorë.[4] It stretches 65 km
north–south and 50 km east–west, with a total area of around 1350 square kilometers.[5] The
oldest population to inhabit the Myzeqe plain are the Albanian tribe of the Lalë.[6]

Etymology
The name of the region comes from the Medieval times, it is named after the ruling family of
Muzaka (1280 – 1600) which possessed the area. The toponym is first recorded as Musachia in
1417.[5]

History
In antiquity, the Greek colony of Apollonia was founded near the coast. The site of Apollonia lay
on the territory of the Taulantii, a cluster of Illyrian tribes that remained closely involved with
the settlement for centuries and lived alongside the Greek colonists.[7] The Taulantii controlled
much of the plain of Myzeqe in classical antiquity.

In the Middle Ages, and was ruled by various Albanian noble families including the Skuraj and

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Muzaka families. At various times it was included in the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian
Empire, often with the local ruling families serving as vassals to the rulers of the realm. Plenty
of Slavic language toponyms are present in Myzeqe.[8]

In the late 13th century the area came under the rule of the officially Catholic and French-tied
Angevin Kingdom of Albania. At first, relations were bad between the kingdom's rulers and the
local nobility, and at times the nobility, such Gjin Muzaka, collaborated with the Byzantines
against the kingdom. However, over time the local house of Muzaka came to view the Angevin
royal family of Albania as their allies and protectors especially as the threat of Serbian
expansion increased, and became more loyal to them. They were given titles as the region
became influenced by the Western style of feudalism. At the same time, the Angevins allowed
the local rulers to keep their Orthodox faith. In 1318, Andrea I Muzaka became the first ever
Orthodox Albanian to be the head general of the kingdom's army, and the Muzakas played a role
in King Charles' battles against the Serbs. In other conflicts, the Muzakas sided again with
Byzantium, with Andrea II Muzaka being honored for his service to the Byzantine cause in 1335
after defeating a Serbian army in the Pelister mountains near Bitola. The remnants of Byzantine
control over the region collapsed during the 1341-1347 Byzantine civil war, creating an
opportunity which was taken by the Serbian ruler Stefan Dushan, at the expense of the Kingdom
of Albania.

In the middle of the 14th century, the region was conquered by Stefan Dushan for Serbia, but it
did not take long for the Serbian Empire's control over the region to fragment as the local
families reasserted control. Four decades later, the Battle of Savra (as one of the plains of
Myzeqe was known in the Middle Ages) marked the ascendancy of the Ottoman Empire in the
region. In the 15th century, the Muzaka family and other local Albanian lords joined
Skanderbeg's League of Lezhë to try to contain the growing dominance of the Ottomans, but
after a long conflict, Myzeqe as well as wider Albania ended up decisively under Ottoman rule
until the early 20th century. Some of the local Albanian rulers as well as some of the population
ended up fleeing to foreign countries, but some of the rulers stayed and became integrated into
the Ottoman power apparatus.

In the 18th century, Ali Pasha of Tepelene, a descendant of the noble Muzaka family, built a
large despotate spanning large swaths of Albania, Macedonia and Greece, and gained de facto
independence for a time from the Ottoman power center. However, ultimately, Myzeqe as well
as the rest of Southern Albania was once again brought back under Ottoman control.

In the late Ottoman era, Myzeqeja had a high rate of malaria, as was generally true of wetter
areas in the wider region during that time.

In 1835 the region rose in rebellion against the Ottoman government , the rebels took victory
after victory but due to the corrupt leaders the rebellion failed.[9] In 1837 the region rebelled
again but it was quickly crushed by the Ottomans.[9]

In the 20th century, the region was included in newly independent Albania. The middle of the
century brought massive changes to the region as large numbers of Cham Albanian refugees
from Greece were settled in it, and its wetlands were rapidly drained and industrialized under
Communism, turning it into the "granary" of Albania.

Population
Myzeqe was historically inhabited by the Lalë, a local Albanian tribe .The medieval Muzaka
family was related to this tribe as indicated by the name of its progenitor, Lal Muzhaqi.[6] In the
Ottoman period, a number of Albanian settlements in the plain of Myzeqe took place, notably

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from neighbouring Toskëria and Labëria. Starting from the late 18th century, a small group of
Aromanians from the region of Korçë settled in the region as well. In the first half of the 20th
century, refugees from Kosovo and the Sandzak also came in the region after it was annexed by
Serbia and Montenegro and then included in Yugoslavia.

These waves of settlement mark Myzeqe as the area where all Albanian subgroups: Gheg, Tosk,
and Lab populations meet.[3] Most inhabitants are Albanians,[10] but there are Vlachs
established mainly in Divjake town, and some of the Fier villages and some Romani people, as
well as the linguistically assimilated Bosniaks of Libofsha.[11] All people from the region as
called Myzeqarë ("People from Myzeqe") which is widely used on a geographical point of view.

Myzeqe is notable in its religious makeup as one of the few fairly large regions of Albania where
a majority of inhabitants remained Orthodox Christian throughout the Ottoman rule. In the
nineteenth century, Fier became a economic and commercial centre of the Myzeqe plain which
consisted of small settlements and villages populated by Aromanians, Orthodox Albanians and
Muslim Albanians.[12] Around the era of Albanian independence, statistics show that around
Fier, roughly 65% of the population was Christian, while in Lushnja the numbers of Christians
and Muslims were comparable.[13] During the 20th century, many Muslim-background Cham
Albanians were settled in Myzeqe due to the Expulsion of Cham Albanians. Additionally, in
Libofshë, some of the residents are Bosniaks who settled in the village in the early 1920s and
have become linguistically assimilated.

Economy
This region is prominent for its agricultural potential, which was not always utilized. Most of
today's fields were practically swamps and desolate lands until after World War II. This caused
seasonal migration of the population.[14][15] After World War II, the communist government
launched massive campaigns for draining the area. Following the increase in agricultural
potential, the region gained significant importance. Since then, Myzeqe has been called the
"Albanian granary". Considerable industrialization around Fier became prominent during the
communist regime in Myzeqeja although industrial decay began after the collapse of the
Albanian communist regime between 1990-1992. Presently the Myzeqe plain is an important
region for Albania’s petroleum industry in addition to agriculture.

References
1. "John Musachi: Brief Chronicle on the Descendants of our Musachi Dynasty" (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/20100910095427/http://www.albanianhistory.net/texts16-18/AH1515.html).
Archived from the original (http://www.albanianhistory.net/texts16-18/AH1515.html) on
2010-09-10.
2. Remote Sensing for Environmental Data in Albania: A Strategy for Integrated Management
(https://books.google.com/books?id=_7avBQAAQBAJ&q=coastal+plain+albania&pg=PT21
4) (Manfred F. Buchroithner ed.). Springer Science & Business Media, 2012. 6 December
2012. ISBN 9789401143578.
- Tom Streissguth (July 2010). Albania in Pictures. Twenty-First Century Books, 2010. p. 9.
ISBN 9780761363781.
3. Eno Koco (2010), Vocal Iso(n): The Preservation of Traditions in North East Mediterranean
Practice (https://books.google.com/books?id=zoPI3exolloC&q=myzeqe&pg=PA74), Acta
Studia Albanica, pp. 74–75

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4. Emil Lafe, Nikoleta Cikuli, Mevlan Kabo (Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë, Akademia e
Shkencave e RSH) (2002), Fjalor i emrave gjeografikë të Republikës së Shqipërisë (https://
books.google.com/books?id=53YtAQAAIAAJ&q=myzeqeja) [Dictionary of the geographical
names of the Republic of Albania], Shtëpia Botuese "Shkenca", pp. 70, 200, 317,
ISBN 9992778334
5. Robert Elsie (March 19, 2010), Historical Dictionary of Albania (https://books.google.com/bo
oks?id=haFlGXIg8uoC&q=myzeqeja&pg=PA318), Historical Dictionaries of Europe,
Scarecrow Press, pp. 318–319, ISBN 978-0810861886
6. Zojzi, Rrok; Dajaka, Abaz; Gjergji, Andromaqi; Qatipi, Hasan (1962). Etnografa Shqiptare (ht
tps://books.google.com/books?id=Xe9KAAAAYAAJ&q=na+nuk+jemi+gegë). Academy of
Sciences of Albania. p. 55.
7. Wilkes, John J. (1995). The Illyrians (https://books.google.com/books?id=4Nv6SPRKqs8C).
Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. p. 98. ISBN 0-631-19807-5.
8. Petar Skok (1934). Dolazak Slovena na Mediteran (https://books.google.com/books?id=yzY
aAAAAIAAJ). Hrvatska s̆ tamparija S. Vidović. p. 106. "Čitava plodna Muzakija prepuna je
slovenskih toponima"
9. Pollo, 1984 & p.123
10. Daniela-Carmen Stoica. "Lexical and morphological concordances between Aromanian and
Albanian in the newspaper Fratia". Third International Conference "Education Across
Borders" Education and Research Across Time and Space: 297. " Therefore, the analysis
will have a specific character, providing a limited and fragmented image of the Aromanian
dialect spoken and written in the Myzeqe area. The Aromanian communities living in this
area, among the Albanian population representing the majority, belong to the Farsherot
group (branch), being also known as Muzăcheari (Mizukiari),a sub-branch of the Farsherot
group111. They settled down a long time ago in this area where they used to come and
spend the winter with their sheep, and, besides their traditional profession of shepherds,
they also started practisingagriculture. Many of the Aromanians who settled down here
(around the 1930s), were coming from the areas of Korce, Pogradec, Beala di Supră or
Beala di Ghios112. From a linguistic point of view, now they are predominantly bilingual,
using Aromanian (mostly at home, in the family environment and within the Aromanian
community), and Albanian both in community relations and official communication. Younger
generations tend to abandon their mother tongue and use Albanian in verbal interactions
within the family or community, motivated by the strong influence of the Albanian language
on Aromanian children and youths during the schooling process."
11. Steinke, Klaus; Ylli, Xhelal (2013). Die slavischen Minderheiten in Albanien (SMA). 4. Teil:
Vraka - Borakaj (https://books.google.com/books?id=zeLingEACAAJ&q=Die+slavischen+Mi
nderheiten+in+Albanien+(SMA).+4.+Teil:+Vraka+-+Borakaj). Munich: Verlag Otto Sagner.
ISBN 9783866883635. p. 137. "Die Bosniaken sind wahrschlich nach 1875 aus der
Umgebung von Mostar, und zwar aus Dörfern zwischen Mostar und Čapljina, nach Albanien
gekommen... Einzelne bosnische Familien wohnen in verschiedenen Städten, vie in Shijak,
Durrës. Die 1924 nach Libofsha in der Nähe von Fier eingewanderte Gruppe ist inzwischen
sprachlich fast vollständig assimiliert, SHEHU-DIZDARI-DUKA (2001: 33) bezeichnet sie
ehenfalls als bosniakisch."
12. Koukoudis, Asterios (2003). The Vlachs: Metropolis and Diaspora (https://books.google.com
/books?id=01JoAAAAMAAJ&q=Fier). Thessaloniki: Zitros Publications. p. 359.
ISBN 9789607760869. "Fier developed into the main commercial and economic centre for
the surrounding little settlements and villages on the Myzeqe plain, which were inhabited by
Arvanitovlachs and, mainly, Christian and Moslem Albanians."
13. Siegfried Gruber. "Regional variation in marriage patterns in Albania at the beginning of the
20th century" (http://www-gewi.uni-graz.at/seiner/marriage_patterns.html#map5). www-
gewi.uni-graz.at. Retrieved 2014-06-11.

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14. Ali Farazmand (June 29, 2001), Handbook of Comparative and Development Public
Administration (https://books.google.com/books?id=YYSi92D_W44C&q=Dean+S.Rugg&pg=
PA804), Public Administration and Public Policy, vol. 94, CRC Press, p. 804,
ISBN 978-0824704360
15. Iz istorije Albanaca: zbornik predavanja : priručnik za nastavnike (https://books.google.com/
books?id=HVE8AAAAMAAJ). Zabod za izdavanje udžbenika Socijalističke Republike Srbije.
1969. p. 61. "Познати пољопривредни рејон Музакија због одласка људи у печалбу није
био довољно обрађен."

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