Gjokaj

Gjokaj is an Albanian surname of the Triesh clan of Malësi e Madhe district of Southeastern Montenegro. Gjokajs from Triesh trace their ancestral origins from the town of Muzheçku, Triesh. The name of Muzheçku comes from the ancient ancestor that bond Gjokajs and Nikollajs (also from Muzheçku) in their bloodline, Muzh Marashi. The name Gjokaj is derived from the ancient ancestor of Gjok Lumi, the grandson of Muzh Marashi. Most of the current descendants of the Gjokaj clan derive from Ivan Mali's three sons:

The Gjokajs of Triesh are direct descendants of the ancient ancestor, Bak Keqi (or Ban Keqi). He is the brother of Lazar Keqi (Hoti tribe). Edith Durham’s book High Albania makes reference to the direct correlation between the Keqi brothers and the significance of the bloodlines. In her book, she describes what was said by a Malësor of the Hot tribe in one of the many villages she explored in the highland regions of northern Albania in 1909:

“And half the tribe of Triepshi, the stem of Bakechi, is of Hoti blood. We cannot marry them. The other half–the Bekaj–we can. They are not our blood; they come from Kopliku. Triepshi belongs to Montenegro now, but is all Catholic.” (Durham, 1909) Retrieved from http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/durham/albania/albania.html.