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Koja is one of the seven Northern Albanian tribes of Malësia. Koja is the Albanian Catholic tribe of Koja e Kuçit, the name derived from a combination of the Albanian Koja tribe which is now surrounded by the Montenegrin Kuči tribe. The people of Koja are called Kojan(e). Koja's sons and daughters gave their lives fighting Turks, and later Slavs to keep their Catholic Albanian identities alive throughout the centuries. Eventually they were completely surrounded by the Slavic tribe known as Kuči, the Slavs were never able to expel the Kojan enclave of Albanians from what is today the Kuči mountain. Kojans are frequently regarded as the defenders of the Malësia border from advancing Slavs since Koja is on the northern fringes of ethnic Albanian lands. Pretash Zeka Ulaj from Koja was one of the Malësor leaders that lead Albania to its freedom when fighting on 1911 in the Battle of Deçiq, alongside the famous Ded Gjo Luli from Hoti.
[edit] Surnames of Koja
- Ulaj (Bajraktaret)
- Kolçaj
- Marashaj
- Ivanaj
- Lucaj
- Krcaj
- Nikaj
- Nuculaj
- Gjokaj
- Gjeloshaj
- Gorvokaj
- koca
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