The Dukagjini are an Albanian feudal noble family who ruled over an area of Northern Albania and Western Kosovo known as the Principality of Dukagjini in the 14th and 15th centuries. They may have been relatives or descendants of the earlier Progoni, who founded the first Albanian state in recorded history, the Principality of Arbanon. The city of Lezhë was their most important holding. The Dukagjini evolved from an extended clan (farefisni) to a feudal family in the late 13th century, when their first known progenitor Gjin Tanushi who became known as a dux (duke) and thus his descendants took the surname Dukagjini. By the early 15th century, they had evolved in one of the most important feudal families in the country. After the Ottoman conquest of Albania, a branch of them found refuge and settled in Venetian Koper, where they became known as the Docaini family which held the governorship of Socerb castle until the early 17th century, when the last male line Docaini died. Another branch, converted to Islam from Catholic Christianity and remained in the Ottoman Empire, where they reached the high ranks of Ottoman leadership and produced many governors (pashas) in the Middle East, where descendants of them live in the modern period. Lekë Dukagjini is the best known member of the clan in Albania. He is remembered in oral tradition as the codifier of the best remembered Kanun (customary law) of Albania. Another Dukagjini is Yahya bey who was a famous diwan poet of the 16th century.

Dukagjini family - Wikipedia