rule and did not pay tribute to the empire. In 1658, the seven tribes of Kuči, Vasojevići, Bratonožići, Piperi, Klimenti, Hoti and Gruda allied themselves with the Republic of Venice, establishing the so-called "Seven-fold banner" or "alaj-barjak", against the Ottomans. A Franciscan report of the 17th century illustrates the final stages of the acculturation of some Albanian tribes in Brda. Its author writes that the Bratonožići (Bratonishi), Piperi (Pipri), Bjelopavlići (Palabardhi) and Kuči (Kuçi):" nulla di meno essegno quasi tutti del rito serviano, e di lingua Illrica ponno piu presto dirsi Schiavoni, ch' Albanesi " (since almost all of them use the Serbian rite and the Illyric (Slavic) language, soon they should be called Slavs, rather than Albanians) In 1685 the Mainjani tribe participated in the Battle of Vrtijeljka on the side of the Venetians. The battle resulted in defeat. The news of the battle was recorded in Rome on 27 May 1685: "two courageous leaders, one named Bajo, friend of captain Janko, and the other, captain Vuković the Arbanas, died"; the source states that the defeat was due to betrayal of Montenegrins in the battle. In 1688 the tribes of Kuči, Klimenti and Piperi rose up and captured the town of Medun, defeating 2 Ottoman counter-assaults and capturing many supplies in the process before retreating. In 1700, after the Great Serb Migration, the Klimenti and Kuči and other tribes like the Škrelje of Rugova established themselves in the region of Rožaje and the neighboring town of Tutin in Serbia. The Šalja, Krasnići, and Gaši also moved in the region. The Arbanasi people in the Zadar region are thought to have hailed from the Catholic Albanian inhabitands of the region of Shestan, specifically from the villages of Briska (Brisk), Šestan (Shestan), Livari (Ljare), and Podi (Pod) having settled the Zadar area in 1726–27 and 1733 on the decision of Archbishop Vicko Zmajević of Zadar, in order to repopulate the land. Semi-independent Albanian Pashalik A period of Albanian semi-independence started in the 1750s with the Independent Albanian Pashas. In 1754 the autonomous Albanian Pashalik of Bushati family would be established with center the city of Shkodra called Pashalik of Shkodra. The Bushati family initially dominated the Shkodër region through a network of alliances with various highland tribes. Kara Mahmud Bushati attempted to establish a de juro independent principality and expand the lands under his control by playing off Austria and Russia