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Ceklin (Montenegrin/Serbian Cyrillic: Цеклин; pronounced [tsɛ̌kliːn] Albanian: Çeklinë) is a historical tribe (pleme) and region in Montenegro. Originally, the tribe is Gheg Albanian, and it is divided into two clans: Gornjaci (the Upper) and Donjaci (the Lower). The Gornjaci are descendants of Leka, who came from the Albanian Kelmendi tribe (fis), while the Donjaci are descended from Leka's son.[1]
Ceklin is a tribal community whose folk tradition maintains that was formed through matrilineal descent as its matriarch was married and had offspring with a man from the area of later Piperi and then her second husband came from the area of Kelmendi. The brotherhoods which claim descent from them, the Gornjaci (via the second marriage) and Donjaci (via the first) are the core of Old Ceklin. Many brotherhoods of different origins were eventually incorporated in the community and came to consider themselves to be part of the same lineages. In the 17th and 18th centuries the tribe expanded its region and numerous other villages and families fell within its territory. Ceklin is one of the very few tribes in the Western Balkans that was created through matrilineality, instead of patriarchal bonds.
- ^ Zlatar, Zdenko (2007). The Poetics of Slavdom: The Mythopoeic Foundations of Yugoslavia. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-0-8204-8118-0.
Ceklin tribe consisted of two clans , Gornjaci and Donjaci [ the Upper and Lower ] , All Upper clansmen are descended from Leka who originated in the Klimenti tribe ( Albanian ) , while the Lower kinsmen are descended from Leka's son