Shkreli is a historical Albanian tribe and region in the Malësia Madhe region of northern Albania and is majority Catholic. With the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, part of the tribe migrated to Rugova in Western Kosovo beginning around 1700, after which they continued to migrate into the Lower Pešter and Sandžak regions.
Tribesmen visiting the feast of Saint Nicholas at Bzheta in Shkreli territory, Albania, 1908
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 stands at the center of Albanian organization based on kinship relations, a concept that can be found among southern Albanians also with the term farë.
Portraits of Lambro the Suliote, and the old Balouk-Bashee of Dervitziana by Charles Robert Cockerell, published in 1820.
View of Albanian Palikars in Pursuit of an Enemy by Charles Robert Cockerell, published in 1820.
Shkreli tribesmen. Photo taken by William Le Queux before 1906.
A fortified tower (kullë) in Theth used as a safe haven for men involved in blood feuds.