Bratonožići


Bratonožići is a small historical tribe in the Brda region of Montenegro. It appeared during the Ottoman period and was a captaincy of the Principality of Montenegro in the 19th century. Today, it forms part of northeastern Podgorica Municipality. In Montenegro, the majority of people who trace their origin in Bratonožići identify as Christian Orthodox Montenegrins and a part identify as Christian Orthodox Serbs. Brotherhoods from the historical tribe that settled in Bijelo Polje and became Muslims in the Ottoman period identify as Bosniaks. In the 18th century, many families from the region settled in western Serbia. In Kosovo, a part of the Serbs of western Kosovo come from Bratonožići. The best known descendant of the Bratonožići tribe is Prince Miloš Obrenović I of Serbia, founder of the House of Obrenović.

Geography

The Bratonožići tribal region is a rugged, hilly area at an altitude which ranges from 400 to 450m. It is situated between the Morača river, Mala Rijeka and Crna Planina; it borders the tribes of Vasojevići to the north, Rovčani to the northwest, Kuči to the east and south, and Piperi to the west. The region ends after Mala Rijeka pours into the Morača, near the settlement of Mrke, about 13km to the northeast of Podgorica. With the exception of Mrke, most of the other settlements of Bratonožići are semi-deserted or completely abandoned as their inhabitants moved to Podgorica. As of 2011, Mrke had 207 residents. 118 identify as Montenegrins, 60 as Serbs, 25 chose not to declare any ethnicity.

History

In a Venetian document dating to 1455, Banovichi is mentioned as one of the villages of Upper Zeta; this may be an early reference to the settlements of Bratonožići. The first direct reference to the settlements that comprise Bratonožići today is found in the supplementary defter of the sanjak of Scutari in 1497. They hadn't formed as a single community at that time.
Bratonožići is a tribe of several patrilineal ancestries which formed it over time since the late 15th century. The name of the tribe comes from a Brato, father of Nika and ancestor of a part of the brotherhoods of Bratonožići. He lived 14 generations before the time of the recording of the story around 1900. A Brato, son of Nika who lived with his brother Pali in the small hamlet of Moracića in 1497 may be a reference to this figure. The defter mentions that previously they lived in Hrasnića near Podgorica.
Two other communities that lived in the same area were the Albanian Catholic Bukumiri and Bushati tribes and the Lutovci, who may have come from the Pirot region in the eastern Balkans or from Pilot in northern Albania. Their origin is debated because no collective memory of their history has been retained except for a toponym which may be interpreted to refer to Pirot in eastern Serbia or Pilot in northern Albania. Their first historical ancestor in Bratonožići is a captain Gojko and their historical village was Lutovo. Archival records show that the Lutovci lived in 27 households of Luskozupa in 1497 in the nahiye of Piperi, which included Bratonožići and the Piperi tribe. Over the years, a few families from neighbouring tribes like Kuči, Bjelopavlići and Piperi also settled Bratonožići and became part of the community. Bratonožići was an area of language contact between Slavic and Albanian as well as religious contact between Slavic Orthodoxy and Catholicism. Rufim Njeguš in the first half of the 17th century is credited with converting the Bratonožići back to Orthodoxy from Catholicsm as well as making them take an oath that intermarriage with Catholic Albanians would take place only with women. This measure would prevent any further reconversions to Catholicism. The events of the conversion of Bratonožići are regarded as an important step for the reinforcement of what was termed as Serbdom and Orthodoxy in Montenegro by 19th century Serbian historiography.
The tribe was often in conflict with the Kuči over grazing lands. Bratonožići often attacked Rovca, who were always defended by the Moračani. They also often fought with the Vasojevići.
Venetian public servant Mariano Bolizza's 1614 report that the villages of Kuči, Bratonožići and part of Plav were under the soldiers of Medun, the spahee, but the commander was not named; and the highlanders would pay the Ottoman officials a portion of their income. The report registered the Bratanosich as a Serb, Orthodox village with 87 houses, and 260 men in arms commanded by Stanoje Radonjin. In 1658, the seven tribes of Kuči, Vasojevići, Bratonožići, Piperi, Klimenti, Hoti and Gruda allied themselves with the Republic of Venice, establishing the so-called "Seven-fold barjak" or "alaj-barjak", against the Ottomans.According to Historians Simo Milutinović and Dimitrije Milaković, the Catholic Kuči, Bratonožići and Drekalovići tribe has converted to Orthodoxy by Rufim Boljević. In 1689, an uprising broke out in Piperi, Rovca, Bjelopavlići, Bratonožići, Kuči and Vasojevići, while at the same time an uprising broke out in Prizren, Peć, Priština and Skopje, and then in Kratovo and Kriva Palanka in October.
During the Velika attacks, the battalions of the Moračani and Bratonožići fought off the Albanians. At the subsequent Battle of Novšiće, the battalions of Kuči, Vasojevići and Bratonožići fought the Albanian irregulars under the command of Ali Pasha of Gusinje, and were defeated. Soon after Battle of Novšiće in the same area, the Battle of Murino broke out in which Ottomans with Albanian irregulars attacked again less numerous forces of Principality of Montenegro and were heavily defeated by battalions of Bratonožići, Vasojevići and Moračani. At the beginning of the 20th century, the region had ca. 400 houses.

Brotherhoods and families

All brotherhoods of the tribe have as Slava Saint Nicholas and Saint John.
The families of Bratonožići are: Avramović, Bajović, Baljević, Balević, Baličević, Barjaktarović, Baržić, Biljurić, Bismiljak, Bošković, Branković, Butrić, Veljić, Veljović, Velimirović, Vesković, Vidić, Vujović, Vujotić, Vukajlović, Vuković, Vukorepović, Vulić, Vučelić, Vučinić, Garić, Gilić, Gogić, Grujić, Gudović, Darmanović, Dmitrović, Dokić, Đelević,Đukić,Đurdjević, Đurić, Živković, Žmikić, Ilić, Janković, Jelavić, Jovanović, Jovović, Kaluđerović, Keljanović, Keković, Korać, Krkelić, Lajkovič, Lainović, Lalović, Lašević, Liković, Lukić, Lutovac, Ljajinović, Ljajkovic, Ljaljović, Ljaković, Ljašović, Malević, Marnić, Macura, Mijailović, Miajlović, Milovanović, Mirković, Muratović, Novović, Obrenović, Pavićević, Pavličić, Pejušković, Perović, Praščević, Prelevčanin, Premović, Progonovići, Radojević, Radosević, Radunović, Raketić, Rakić, Ratković, Sekulović, Stanišić, Stanković, Strahinjić, Toljević, Todoroviić, Tomaševiić, Tošković, Trimojević, Ćeklić, Četkovic, Ugričić, Femijić, Caričić, Cmiljanić, Čađenović, Čubranović, Šćepančević, Šajinović, Šaković, Šoškić. The Muslim Bratonožići of Bijelo Polje include Koraći, Ljaljevići, Polumente, Uremovići, Huremovići.

Notable people