Oral traditions and fragmentary stories were collected and interpreted by writers who travelled in the region in the 19th century about the early history of the Berisha tribe. Since then, analysis of recorded historical material, linguistics and comparative anthropology have resulted in more historically grounded accounts. Of particular importance is the archival research of
Lajos Thallóczy, who found the first historical record of Berisha in the archives of the
Republic of Ragusa in 1242. His work allowed for further archival research. Thus, in the following years
Baron Nopcsa traced the ancestry of Berisha with certainty back to 1370 and formulated a probable lineage as far back as 1270.
Edith Durham, Baron Nopcsa and others recorded the most widely known oral tradition about the origin of Berisha, which is also part of the tradition of all other tribes in the area. According to it, the tribe's first direct ancestor is Kol Poga, son of Pog Murri, son of
Murr Dedi. Kol Poga's brother was Lekë Poga, ancestor of
Mërturi. Pog Murri's brother was Dit Murri, ancestor of
Shala,
Shoshi and
Mirdita. The grandfather of Kol Poga, Berisha's ancestor, Murr Dedi was also the progenitor of the Thaçi and Toplana tribes. Berisha of Pukë form four brotherhoods, all of whom trace their origin to Kol Poga: Tetaj (Teta), Maroj (Poga), Deskaj (Desku), Doçaj (Doçi). In Montenegro,
Marko Miljanov from
Kuči wrote in his book about his home region that the Kuči and Berisha were "regarded close", allegedly because the Berisha ancestors settled from Kuči;
Konstantin Jireček further recorded about this story that Old
Kuči (
Staro Kuči), which placed a
Grča, son of
Nenad as its ancestor also placed him as an ancestor of the Berisha tribe. On the contrary, in Berisha it is believed that Old Kuči itself descends from Berisha and is called
Berisha i Kuq (Red Berisha) as opposed to Berisha of Pukë, Mërturi and a part of
Piperi that traces its origin from Berisha, who are collectively called
Berisha i Bardh (White Berisha). In historical record, Berisha and the Old Kuči appear in different areas and timelines as Old Kuči formed part of the tribe of current Kuči, which was based on different ancestral groups in the late 15th century . In later times, one brotherhood of Kuči, the
Drekaloviči traced their descent to Berisha. In turn, from them a part of the Kastrati trace their origin. Thus, these groups have the custom of avoiding intermarriage with each other. In
Luma, the
Arrëni tribe is an offshoot of the Berisha. In general, brotherhoods from Berisha are widespread in north-eastern Albania. The Berisha of
Tropojë who form three brotherhoods: Isufmemaj, Halilaj, Papaj in the Ottoman period were part of the same
bajrak as Kojeli, who are from Mërturi and thus kin to Berisha. == History ==