page_title: Albania under the Ottoman Empire
section_title: 18th century
hierarchical_section_title: Albania under the Ottoman Empire / Ottoman rule / 18th century
caption_attribution_description: Ali Pasha, detail from "Ali Pasha of Janina Hunting on Lake Butrinto" by Louis Dupré.
context_page_description: Albania was ruled by the Ottoman Empire in different periods from 1479 to 1912. The Ottomans first entered Albania in 1385 at the invitation of the Albanian Noble Karl Thopia to suppress the forces of the other Albanian noble Balsha II at the Battle of Savra. The Sanjak of Albania was established in 1420 controlling mostly Central Albania, while Ottoman rule became more consolidated in 1479, after the fall of Shkodra. The Albanians revolted again in 1481 but the Ottomans finally controlled Albania by 1488. The Ottomans had previously ruled some Albanian regions after the Battle of Savra in 1385. The Ottomans placed garrisons throughout southern Albania by 1418 and established formal jurisdiction in central Albania by 1431. Even though The Ottomans claimed rule of all Albanian lands, most Albanian ethnic territories were still governed by Albanian Princes who were free of Ottoman rule. In 1431 Many Albanian Princes including Gjergj Arianiti, Zenevisi family and Gjon Kastrioti started a war against the Ottoman Empire which resulted in defeat of Gjon Kastrioti but victory in 5 battles for Gjergj Arianiti.
context_section_description: The weakening of Ottoman central authority and the timar system brought anarchy to the Albanian-populated lands. In the late 18th century, two Albanian centers of power emerged: Shkodër, under the Bushati family; and Ioannina, under Ali Pasha of Tepelenë. When it suited their goals, both places cooperated with the Sublime Porte, and when it was expedient to defy the central government, each acted independently.
  The Bushati family dominated the Shkodër region through a network of alliances with various highland tribes. Kara Mahmud Bushati attempted to establish an autonomous principality and expand the lands under his control by playing off Austria and Russia against the Sublime Porte. In 1785, Kara Mahmud's forces attacked Montenegrin territory, and Austria offered to recognize him as the ruler of all Albania if he would ally himself with Vienna against the Sublime Porte. Seizing an opportunity, Kara Mahmud sent the sultan the heads of an Austrian delegation in 1788, and the Ottomans appointed him governor of Shkodër. When he attempted to wrest land from Montenegro in 1796, however, he was defeated and beheaded. Kara Mahmud's brother, Ibrahim Bushati, cooperated with the Sublime Porte until his death in 1810, but his successor, Mustafa Pasha Bushati, proved to be recalcitrant despite participation in Ottoman military campaigns against Greek revolutionaries and rebel pashas. He cooperated with the mountain tribes and brought a large area under his control.
  South of the Shkumbini River, the mostly peasant Tosks lived in compact villages under elected rulers. Some Tosks living in settlements high in the mountains maintained their independence and often escaped payment of taxes. The Tosks of the lowlands, however, were easy for the Ottoman authorities to control. The Albanian tribal system disappeared there, and the Ottomans imposed a system of military fiefs under which the sultan granted soldiers and cavalrymen temporary landholdings, or timars, in exchange for military service. By the 18th century, many military fiefs had effectively become the hereditary landholdings of economically and politically powerful families who squeezed wealth from their hard-strapped Christian and Muslim tenant farmers. The beys, like the clan chiefs of the northern mountains, became virtually independent rulers in their own provinces, had their own military contingents, and often waged war against each other to increase their landholdings and power. The Sublime Porte attempted to press a divide-and-rule policy to keep the local beys from uniting and posing a threat to Ottoman rule itself, but with little success.
caption: Ali Pasha of Tepelenë is one of the most famous Albanians in Ottoman history.
exif: {}