Lale Drekalov

Background

His father was chieftain Drekale and his mother, the daughter of a local chieftain.

Career

Soon afterward, the majority of his clansmen in Kuči followed suit. He participated in the two councils of Serbian Patriarch Jovan II Kantul, in which the Serbian clan chiefs met and planned war on the Ottoman Empire. In the Morača monastery (1608), and in Kuči (1613).

According to Mariano Bolizza (1614), he and Niko Raičkov held 490 houses of the Chuzzi Albanesi ("Albanian Kuči", a village of predominantly Roman Catholic religion), with 1,500 soldiers, described as "very war-like and courageous".

They were among the 11 highland villages that actively fought against the Ottoman Empire. Others included Vasojevići, Bjelopavlići, Kelmendi and Hoti.

Achievements

• His father Drekale is the eponymous founder of the Drekalovići, a brotherhood of the Kuči clan.