The town of Tuzi is situated in southeastern Montenegro, between
Podgorica and the
Skadar lake. The Albanian community of Tuzi descend from the surrounding tribes of
Hoti,
Gruda,
Trieshi and
Koja, which are part of the
Malësor tribes. Tuzi was mentioned in 1330 in the
Dečani chrysobulls as part of the Albanian (
arbanas)
katun (semi-nomadic pastoral community) of Llesh Tuzi (
Ljesa Tuzi in the original), in an area stretching southwards from modern
Tuzi Municipality along the
Lake Skadar to a village near modern
Koplik. This katund included many communities that later formed their own separate communities:
Reçi and his sons,
Matagushi,
Bushati and his sons, Pjetër Suma and Pjetër Kuçi, first known ancestor of
Kuči. Llesh Tuzi is the first named progenitor of the
Tuzi tribe (
fis), which gave its name to the settlement of Tuzi. The Suma and Tuzi
fis formed the vast majority of the later Gruda community. Tuzi was documented in the
Ottoman defter of 1485 as part of the
Timar of Hasan
Arnauti, with 24 houses and 6 bachelors.
Albanian anthroponomy dominated amongst the inhabitants of Tuzi, with names such as
Leka,
Ulku,
Deda,
Nika,
Pali etc. Following the
Great Schism of 1054, the tribes of Tuzi embraced
Roman Catholicism over
Eastern Orthodoxy. Following the expansion of Ottoman rule in the Balkans in the 14th century, many gradually converted to
Islam. Some of them adopted new surnames common among Ottoman Muslims while others kept their original surnames. Albanian surnames present among Muslim and Christian families alike include Gjokaj, Nikaj, Dreshaj, etc. The
Albanian flag was raised for the first time in possibly over 400 years in the
Battle of Deçiq (6 April 1911) in the
Albanian revolt of 1911 in the Deçiq mountain near Tuzi. It was raised by
Ded Gjo Luli on the peak of Bratila after victory was secured. The phrase "Tash o vllazën do t’ju takojë të shihni atë që për 450 vjet se ka pa kush" (Now brothers you have earned the right to see that which has been unseen for 450 years) has been attributed to Ded Gjo Luli by later memoirs of those who were present when he raised the flag. It was one of three banners brought to
Malësia by Palokë Traboini, student in Austria. The other two banners were used by Ujka of
Gruda and Prelë Luca of
Triepshi. During the
Islamization of the region, the area had a mixed Slavic-Albanian composition of names. For example, Mahmut and Husein were sons of Abdulah, Osman which was the son of Živo, then Ibrahim and then Gojaš. In Gruda, Hizar was the son of Vučin which was the son of Mezid which's father was Gjergj. Similar patterns continue like this with Gjon and Stojan.
21st century Tuzi was the first municipality in Montenegro that was put into complete lockdown during the
COVID-19 pandemic. ==Sports==