Kolašin

Kolašin (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Колашин, kɔlǎʃin) is a town in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 2,989 (2003 census). Kolašin is the centre of Kolašin Municipality (population 9,949) and an unofficial centre of Morača region, named after Morača River. Kolašin, fortress-settlement, was raised by the Turks in the middle of the 17th century in the namesake village in Nikšić district (nahiye). The village of Kolašin was first mentioned in the Sultan's Decree in 1565, by which the deceased Grand Duke Miloš was replaced by his son Todor. The Turkish town was named after the former village of Kolašin. In 1651, Patriarch Gavrilo assigned Eparch of Zahumsko, the Eparchy of Nikšić, Plana, the Kolašinovićevs and the Morača to Basil of Ostrog. This document also, like the one from 1667, shows that the Orthodox Christian population of this region called the Kolašinovići, was organized in a recognized and respected tribal community of the Kolašinovićs. The historical science and sources recognize the surname Kolašinović. By all odds, the name was also derived, same as the name of the region, fortress – settlement and the tribe from the same source – the village of Kolašin. It was in 1798 when young Mina Radović, the son of tke Duke Radule, who had been killed by the Turks, ambushed and killed Hasanbeg Mekić, who had come to collect taxes, in the vicinity of Morača monastery. The attack had been arranged with the Montenegrin ruler Petar I Petrović-Njegoš. Mina Radović received the title of Duke and, in 1799, during the convention of the people's prominent representatives of Montenegro and the Hills held in Cetinje, he was nominated a member of the Court Administration of Montenegro and the Hills, in charge of judicial and administrative power. This meant that the Montenegrin government considered the Morača region to be a legitimate part of Montenegro. Rebecca West visited the town of Kolasin in the 1930s where she learned that in the 18th century,Bosniaks Muslims and Orthodox Montenegrins lived in peace.