f society in the lowlands was concentrated in the hands of
semifeudal tribal _beys_ and _pashas_ (see Glossary). The general Tirana
region, for example, was controlled by the Zogolli, Toptani, and Vrioni
families, all being Muslim _pashas_ or _beys_ and all owning extensive
agricultural estates. Ahmet Zogu, subsequently King Zog I, was from the
Zogolli family. Originally the _pasha_ class ranked slightly higher than
that of the _bey_, but differences gradually diminished and all members
were called _beys_. In the northern highlands the _bajraktars_ were the
counterparts of the _beys_ and enjoyed similar hereditary rights to
titles and positions.

The Geg clans put great importance on marriage traditions. Marriage
customs and prohibitions designed to perpetuate these traditions were
still practiced at the end of World War II. According to the custom a
young man from a given clan always married a young woman from outside
the clan but from within the same tribe. In some tribes marriages
between Christians and Muslims were tolerated even before the advent of
the Communist regime, but as a rule such marriages were frowned upon.

A variety of offenses against women served as an igniting spark for
blood feuds. Many girls were engaged to marry in their infancy by their
parents. If later the girl did not wish to marry the man whom the
parents had chosen for her and married another, in all likelihood a
blood feud would ensue. Among the Tosks, religious beliefs and customs,
rather than clan and tribal traditions, were more important in
regulating marriages.

The family had for centuries presented the basic, most important unit in
the social structure of the country. One aspect of this was the deep
devotion of a person to his parents and family. This feeling took a
striking form because the family was a social unit occupying to a great
extent the place of the state. Children were brought up to respect their
elders and, above all, their father, whose word was law in the confines
of his family.

Upon the death of the father the authority of the family devolved upon
the oldest male of the family. The females of the household, with the
exception of the mother, occupied an inferior position. The unwritten
law of family life was based on the assumption that a daughter was part
of the family until she married. When the time came for sons to set up
their own households, all parental property was equally divided among
them; the females