Progonat
village in Gjirokastër, Albania
Progonat is a village in the former Kurvelesh municipality, Gjirokastër County, Albania. It is the largest village of upper Kurvelesh and until 1992 was the administrative center of the commune. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Tepelenë.
Name
Its name contains the Albanian suffix -at, widely used to form toponyms from personal names and surnames.
History
First attested in the Ottoman register of 1432, the village at that time was documented to have six houses, but the population is considered to have been larger. Progonat was part of the timar of Yusuf Bey, an Ottoman sipahi. However, in 1432 as in other regions of Albania the local population revolted under Gjergj Arianiti, while Yusuf Bey was killed during the battles. During the 17th century many families migrated from Progonat to other areas of Albania in order to avoid heavy taxation and the Islamization campaigns of the Ottoman Empire. The migrants founded the communes of Lazarat in Gjirokastër and Progër in Devoll, while another group settled in the Albanian Riviera.
Evliya Çelebi reports that the village had 160 houses in 1630.
“Progonat” enters the record as village in Gjirokastër, Albania. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Progonat, village and Gjirokastër can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Progonat” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Progonat, village and Gjirokastër provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7248375. Authority coordinates are 40.213, 19.945. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1992, 2015, 1432 and 1630.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Progonat”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Progonat primary sources, Progonat archive and Progonat research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Progonat”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Progonat” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.