On 18 September 1385, Đurađ's uncle Balša II was killed at the Battle of Savra, while fighting the Ottomans. Following the temporary rule under Balša II's widow Komnena and daughter Ruđina, Đurađ II inherited parts of Zeta and northern Albania, including the cities of Scutari, Drivast and Lezhë, as per the Balšićs' traditional rule of seniority, as "self-holder to the Zeta and Coast land". Đurađ II had his seat at Ulcinj, which also became the family seat. The remainder of the Balšić possessions, in southern Albania, passed in 1391 from Ruđina to her spouse Mrkša Žarković, the son of Žarko, Emperor Dušan's nobleman. The "protovestijar" Philip Bareli, the Venetian trader that handled Balša's financing, who was succeeded by Đurađ, is also mentioned as holding estates.