# Bushati family

The Bushati family (Albanian: Bushatllinjtë) is an Albanian Muslim family that ruled the Pashalik of Scutari from 1757 to 1831.

## Origins

They are descendants of the medieval Bushati tribe, a pastoralist tribe (fis) in northern Albania and Montenegro. The name Bushat is compound of mbë fshat (above the village). This is a reference to them being pastoralists that weren't permanently settled. The Bushati started to settle permanently in the 15th century and this process had been completed in the late 16th century. Their settlement includes the village of Bushat in Shkodër in the Zadrima plain from where the Bushati family came. Another part settled with the tribe of Bukumiri in the would-be territory of the Piperi tribe, where they gradually became part of the new, larger tribe in the late 16th century. In the defter of 1497 they appear as katun Bushat in Piperi with 35 households.
The Bushati family traces their origin to the Begaj brotherhood of Bushati that had converted to Islam possibly in the early 17th century. To promote their status and political goals statesmen, commanders and leaders from that family put forward different theories about their origins. Turkish traveller Evliya Çelebi in his time recorded a story about them being descendants of a Jusuf Bey Plaku, who traced his origin and status to the era of Mehmed II (r. 1444–1446, 1451–1481). In the period of the Pashalik of Shkodra, Kara Mahmud sought to expand northwards in the old lands of Ivan Crnojević of the Middle Ages. In order to legitimize and strengthen his claim, he put forward another theory that he descended from Skenderbeg Crnojević, Ivan's Muslim son.
Albanian writer Sami Frashëri asserted that the Bushati family were descendants of the Dukagjini family.

## History

Their dominance of the Shkodër region was gained through a network of alliances with various highland tribes. Even after the fall of the pashalik in 1831, the Bushatis continued to play an important role in Albanian society. During the 19th century, Shkodër was also known as a cultural centre and in the 1840s the Bushati library was built.

## Bushati family tree

| | | | | Mehmed Pasha | Mehmed Pasha |
| | | | Dervish Bey | Dervish Bey | Omer Bey | Omer Bey |
| | | | | | Sulejman Pasha Vali of Rumelia, 1115 AH | Sulejman Pasha Vali of Rumelia, 1115 AH |
| Halil Pasha | Halil Pasha | Ali Bey | Ali Bey | Hasan Pasha | Hasan Pasha | Arslan Pasha | Arslan Pasha | Deli Hysen Pasha | Deli Hysen Pasha | Kapudan Mehmed Bey | Kapudan Mehmed Bey |
| | | | | | | | | | Mustafa Bey | Mustafa Bey | Abdullah Pasha | Abdullah Pasha |
| | | | | | | | | Haxhi Sulejman Pasha | Haxhi Sulejman Pasha | Mehmed Pasha Plaku | Mehmed Pasha Plaku |
| | | | | | | | Mustafa Pasha Qorri | Mustafa Pasha Qorri | Ibrahim Pasha | Ibrahim Pasha | Ahmed Pasha | Ahmed Pasha | Kara Mahmud Pasha | Kara Mahmud Pasha |
| | | | | | | | Mehmed Pasha died in Tirana, in 1217 AH | Mehmed Pasha died in Tirana, in 1217 AH |
| | | | | | | | Sherif Mustafa Pasha | Sherif Mustafa Pasha |
| | | | | Mahmud Pasha | Mahmud Pasha | Isuf Bey | Isuf Bey | Hasan Pasha | Hasan Pasha | Riza Bey | Riza Bey |
| | | | | | | | | | | Xhelal Pasha | Xhelal Pasha |

## List of prominent family members

* Süleyman Bushati, sanjak-bey of Scutari, noted for his wars against Montenegrins.
* Kara Mahmud Bushati, chief of Albanian tribe based in Shkodër, named governor of Shkodër by the Ottoman authorities.
* Ibrahim Bushati
* Mustafa Pasha Bushati
* Xhelal Pasha, Ottoman official and related to sultan Abdul Hamid II through marriage
* Petrit Bushati, Senior Albanian Diplomat, Has served as Ambassador of Albania to Sweden, USA, Serbia & Montenegro
* Maliq Bushati, Prime Minister
* Sali Bushati, former member of the Assembly of Albania
* Astrit Bushati, member of the Assembly of Albania
* Ahmet Bushati, Chairman of Municipality Council of Shkodër 1992-1996
* Xhemal Bushati, politician, former member of the Assembly of Albania, anti-Zogist activist
* Ditmir Bushati, politician and the former Minister of Foreign Affairs
* Ervin Bushati, Ambassador of Albania to the United States