Albanian Revolt of 1432 – 36 The Albanian Revolt of 1432 – 36 was a series of conflicts between Albanian rebels and the Ottoman Empire during the early period of Ottoman rule in the region . Prompted by the replacement of large parts of the local nobility with Ottoman landowners , centralized governance and the Ottoman taxation system , the population and the nobles , led principally by Gjergj Arianiti , revolted against the Ottomans . During the early phases of the revolt , many land ( timar ) holders were killed or expelled . As it spread , the nobles , whose holdings had been annexed by the Ottomans returned to join the revolt and attempts to form alliances with the Holy Roman Empire were initiated . While the leaders of the revolt were successful in defeating successive Ottoman campaigns , they failed to capture many important towns of the sanjak of Albania . Protracted sieges like that of Gjirokastër , capital of the sanjak , gave the Ottoman army time to assemble large forces from other parts of the empire and to subdue the main revolt by the end of 1436 . Ottoman forces conducted a number of massacres in the aftermath of the revolt . After the revolt had largely been suppressed , those who accepted Ottoman suzerainty were initially allowed to retain their holdings and partial autonomy . Many timars were also granted to local Albanians holding high posts of the administration , especially during the rule of Jakub Muzaka and Skanderbeg . Throughout the pacification process , various primarily rural areas were still in revolt and new rebellions erupted , like that of Teodor Korona Muzaka in 1437 . As the empire further extended its area of rule in the Balkans , centralization attempts and the replacement of local timar holders with Ottoman landowners resumed . These policies would lead in part to the formation of the League of Lezhë under Skanderbeg in 1444 , and a new era in the Ottoman – Albanian wars . Background . Gradually in the late 14th and early 15th century the Ottoman empire defeated local Albanian principalities , forming the sanjak of Albania as an administrative division of the empire . As part of the Timar system the local feudal lords were largely replaced with Ottomans from Anatolia . The cadastral survey ( defter ) of 1431 – 1432 indicates that about 75 % to 80 % of the timars were granted to Ottoman Muslim spahis ( feudal cavalry ) , while the remainder and especially remote areas , which were not under full Ottoman control , were granted to Albanian spahis , both Christian and Muslim . The replacement of the existing nobility with the timar system led to conflicts , as a result of which many rural areas were not under complete Ottoman rule . Under the previous taxation code , farmers were required to pay a tenth of their seasonal agricultural output , 1 ducat and 4 groshe ( two - ninths of a ducat ) to their lords . The Ottoman system aimed towards revenue increase to support military expenses , thus new taxes were imposed and existing ones were altered . In addition to 1 / 10 of agrarian production Muslim convert families were required to pay 22 akçe ( ~ 0 . 6 ducats ) to the timar holders , while non - Muslim families had to pay 25 akçe ( ~ 0 . 7 ducats ) . Both groups were subject to additional taxes including the avarız , an annual cash tax that affected households registered to the cadasters . Non - Muslims were also required to pay 45 akçe ( ~ 1 . 3 ducats ) as part of the jizya and had to supply regularly the Ottoman state with young recruits in accordance with the devşirme , which required the enlistment of young males in the Ottoman army and their conversion to Islam . Consequently , the changes in property rights , relations between feudal lords and peasants , the taxation system and the enactment of devşirme resulted in further resistance . As changes affecting both nobles and peasants were principally implemented through registration in the cadastral survey , many families tried to avoid becoming registered in the 1431 – 2 survey and took refugee in mountainous areas , while the nobility prepared for armed conflict . Revolt . The revolt began in 1432 when Andrea Thopia defeated a small Ottoman force in central Albania . His victory encouraged the other leaders and the revolt spread throughout Albania . Later that year the Ottomans lost control of the central seaport of Vlorë . Gjergj Arianiti , who was living at the Ottoman court as a hostage , was called by rebels to lead the revolt in his family ' s domains . In response , he fled from Edirne and returned to Albania . In the winter of 1432 , Sultan Murat II gathered around 10 . 000 troops under Ali Bey , who marched along the Via Egnatia and reached the central valley of Shkumbin , where he was ambushed and defeated by forces under Gjergj Arianiti . His victory prompted the Albanians in the area of Gjirokastër to call upon Depë Zenebishi , who had settled in his estates in Corfu after the Ottoman conquest of the Principality of Gjirokastër , to lead the rebels in the south . After spreading the revolt in nearby areas including Këlcyrë , Zagorie and Pogon his forces besieged the southern city of Gjirokastër , capital of the sanjak of Albania . At nearby Këlcyrë the rebels captured the castle , but the concurrent siege of Gjirokastër was prolonged and Turahan Bey attacked and defeated the troops that surrounded the city in early 1433 . Zenebishi himself was captured and executed . In the summer of 1433 an army led by Sinan Pasha , beylerbey of Rumelia , pillaged the areas of Kanina and Yannina and moved northwards , where they subdued the rebels in the domains of Gjon Kastrioti , who was reduced again to vassal status , while his son Skanderbeg , who was also called to join the revolt , remained in Ottoman service in Anatolia . In August 1433 , the senate of Venice convened to evaluate the situation and deemed that the revolt posed a threat to the Venetian territories in the region too . However , by the end of October they reevaluated the crisis and rejected the deployment of a war galley to the Venetian colonies . In northern Albania Nicholas Dukagjini captured territories of the pre - Ottoman Principality of Dukagjini and besieged and captured Dagnum . Dukagjini then tried to ally himself with Venice by offering to accept Venetian suzerainty and granting them control of Dagnum . However , Venice refused any kind of involvement in his plan and the revolt in general . Dukagjini was not aware that Hasan Bey , the Ottoman governor of Dagnum , had requested Venetian assistance after his defeat . As Venice did not want to provoke Ottoman hostility , the captain of Shkodër ( Scutari ) was ordered to assist Hasan Bey in recapturing Dagnum . Arms were subsequently sent to the garrison of Lezhë ( Alessio ) and by 1435 the fort had been returned to Ottoman control . In central Albania , Andrea Thopia unsuccessfully besieged the castle of Krujë , while in the region of Vlorë the siege of the fort of Kaninë began . Vlorë was lost to the Ottomans as early as May 1432 , but must have been recovered by May 1434 as contemporary Venetian documents mention an Ottoman official ( subaşi ) stationed there at that time . Another Ottoman army was assembled in Manastir in the summer of 1434 . Again under the command of Sinan Pasha , this Ottoman expedition was defeated by Gjergj Arianiti in south - central Albania in August 1434 . After his defeat , all beys of the territories bordering Albania were ordered to gather their forces and attack the rebels . In December 1434 Ishak Bey , sanjakbey of Üsküb marched into south - central Albania but was defeated by Gjergj Arianiti . Contemporary sources from the senate of Ragusa mention that many Ottoman soldiers were captured , while Ishak Bey escaped with a small group . In April 1435 , Arianiti defeated another Ottoman campaign and hostilities virtually ceased until the beginning of 1436 , as Murat II ' s military efforts were focused against Ibrahim of Karaman in Anatolia . At the end of 1435 reports of the Ragusan senate assessed the situation as calm and noted that the belligerents had retreated to their respective territories . During the revolt many attempts were made to form an anti - Ottoman coalition including the Holy Roman Empire . Pope Eugene IV requested troops to be send to assist the revolt and tried to gather funds . In 1435 , Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg sent Fruzhin , a Bulgarian nobleman , and in early 1436 Daud , a pretender to the Ottoman throne , to negotiate the possibility of a coalition with the rebels . However , by mid - 1436 a large force under Turahan Bey had been assembled . Despite the military victories the rebel leaders acted autonomously without a central leadership , the lack of which contributed greatly to their final defeat . Turahan ' s forces eventually subdued the revolt and marched through Albania , committing widespread massacres of civilians . Aftermath . In order to stabilize Ottoman authority , Murat II appointed native Albanians like Jakub Muzaka and Skanderbeg to high positions within the sanjak of Albania . The nobles who accepted Ottoman overlordship were granted their pre - Ottoman holdings and border estates as well as a degree of autonomy , while others were exiled or continued warring . In 1436 – 37 , rebels were active in the regions of Gjirokastër and Vlorë and Teodor Korona Muzaka led a revolt in the region of Berat . As many rebels used Venetian territories like Shkodër and Parga as bases to launch raids into Ottoman territory , representatives of Mehmed II asked the Venetians to outlaw their activity in October 1436 . As Ottoman rule in the Balkans expanded , Albanian timar holders and officials were once again replaced with Anatolian ones . The " status quo ante bellum " policies of the Ottomans gradually led to the formation of the League of Lezhë under Skanderbeg in 1444 and the beginning of a new era in the Ottoman - Albanian wars .