Piva (tribe)

Piva (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Пива; pronounced [pîʋa]) is a historical region in Montenegro, which existed as a tribe also known as Pivljani (Пивљани, pronounced [pîʋʎaːni]). It is situated in the northwestern highlands of Montenegro, bordering the Republika Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The Piva river flows through the region. Regional center is the town of Plužine.

Piva was a nahiya of the Ottoman Empire, mentioned in the 1476–78 defter. It was earlier mentioned in the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja (ca. 1300–10) as one of ten counties in the province of Podgorje, and in the St. Stephen Chrysobull of Serbian king Stefan Milutin (r. 1282–1321). It was part of Sanjak of Herzegovina during Ottoman rule.

The Serbian Orthodox Piva Monastery has been standing in Piva since the 16th century. It has produced four Patriarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Under Prince Nicholas I of Montenegro and the Congress of Berlin recognition, in 1878 the Piva together with the Serb Herzegovinian tribes of Banjani, Nikšići, Šaranci, Drobnjaci and a large number of the Rudinjani formed the Old Herzegovina region of the new Montenegrin state.