Battle of Deçiq

The battle took place in Deçiq, south of the town of Tuzi (in modern day Montenegro), within Gruda tribal territory. Tuzi is the town centre of the Malësia region in Montenegro, whereas the town centre for the entirety of Malësia E Madhe is Koplik. Malësia is simply translated to "The Highlands", referring to the rough mountainous terrain that characterises the region. Malësia is primarily of the Roman Catholic faith, although it has a sizeable Muslim population (including Koplik itself). The tribesman of Malësia are known as Malësor, meaning Highlander.

The battle occurred during the Albanian Uprising of 1911, in which the Malësor tribes undertook multiple successful military actions against the Ottoman empire. During the first days of April, there was fighting around Dinosh-Deçiq. Reports at the time indicated that this force consisted of around 2,200 Malësor Albanian tribesmen, of which 900 belonged to the Gruda, 600 to the Kelmendi, 400 to the Hoti, 250 to the Shala and a small number to the Shkreli tribe. The Ottomans had initiated the offensive, burning Vuksan Lekaj and attacking Humi, Deçiq, Tuzi etc. The Hoti tribesmen in Helm managed to hold off the Ottomans, killing 25 soldiers, wounding roughly the same and capturing 20 Ottoman Turks.[6]

The main portion of the battle took place between Tuzi and Koplik (Albania), where 3,000-3,300 Malësors fought against 28,000 Ottoman soldiers.[7][8] Koplik is the largest town in Malësia, right across the border with Montenegro is Tuzi. As the fighting proceeded, both armies decided to move north into Tuzi, where the battle ended.

The Ottomans had initially attacked Deçiq, which was protected by 600 Albanian tribesmen, with 6 battalions, 2 artillery units and 9 machine guns. After 12 hours of battle, and 300 casualties (wounded or dead) on the Ottoman side, the Turks retreated to the castle of Shipshanik.[9]

On the 6th of April, Dedë Gjo Luli raised the Albanian flag on the summit of Bratila in Deçiq.[10] During this offensive, the Ottomans lost around 30 soldiers, whereas the Albanian tribesmen lost 7, one of which was the flagbearer Nish Gjelosh Luli. When raising the flag, Ded Gjo Luli said "Now, brothers, you will see that which no one has seen in 450 years...".[11]

The Hoti and Gruda tribes continued their offensives in Dinosh on 7-8 April, resulting in the recapture of positions lost during the first days of April. On the 13th of April, the combined efforts of Kelmendi, Shala and Shkreli tribesmen in coordination with Hoti, Gruda and Kastrati tribesmen led to the successful conquest of strategic positions in Deçiq and close to Tuzi. An Austro-Hungarian military report at the time claimed that the Albanian tribesmen had attacked Tuzi and the hills to the east, which were called Mali i Hotit (Mountains of Hoti). [12]

In 1913, at the Treaty of London, the powers of Europe decided to grant half the land of Malësia to Montenegro while the rest remained in Albania. Tuzi, along with half of the Hoti (Traboini) tribal territory, all of Gruda, Triesh, and Koja e Kuçit went to Montenegro. Kelmendi, the other half of Hoti (Rapsha), Kastrati, Shkreli, and the town of Koplik remained in Albania, but certain parts of Kelmendi such as Vuthaj, Martinaj, Plav and Guci, went to Montenegro, and Kosova, which is an independent state since 2008, was annexed to Serbia.

• Ded Gjo Luli Dedvukaj of Traboin
• Sokol Baci of Gruda
• Palok Marku Lulgjuraj of Gruda
• Zef miliqi Lulgjuraj of Selishti
• Prel Marku Lulgjuraj of Lofka
• Pretash Zeka Ulaj of Koja
• Prek Cali of Kelmend
• Dok Prëçi Krcaj of Koja
• Gjeto Toma Kolçaj of Koja
• Mehmet Shpendi of Shala
• Tringe Smajl Martini of Gruda
• Palok Traboini 1888-1951, Secretary of Ded Gjo Lul, teacher, and owner of the Albanian Flag of Deçiq, which he brought from Vienna through Dalmatia.

• Martini, Luigj, 2005 "Prek Cali, Kelmendi Dhe Kelmendasit" ISBN 9994334077 Publisher: Camaj-Pipaj
• Tallon, James "The failure of Ottomanism: The Albanian Rebellions of 1909--1912" |url=http://gradworks.umi.com/35/26/3526980.html