Sulejman Vokshi
Sulejman Vokshi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | Sulejman Lokaj |
| Born | 20 February 1815 Voksh, Gjakova, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 1890 Gjakova, Ottoman Empire |
| Allegiance | League of Prizren |
| Battles/wars | Albanian Revolt of 1843-1844 |
| Awards |  Hero of the People |
Sulejman Vokshi (1815 - 1890) was an Albanian military commander and a leader of the League of Prizren. A member of the central committee of the league[1] as head of the finances commission, Vokshi also was an important leader of the organization's military branch and an officer of its military staff.
Vokshi participated in an uprising in the 1840s, but is perhaps best remembered for his activities in the League, of which he became one of the leading commanders. In 1881, with a small force, he occupied Skopje where he was welcomed by the local Muslim population. Vokshi did not stop in Skopje, and moved forwards with his small army, managing to occupy Prishtina. In late March 1881 his uprising and the League of Prizren itself were suppressed; Prizren was captured by Dervish Pasha in April of that year, and was sentenced to death. However, he was alter released.[2]
Life[]
He was born in Gjakova, at the time in the Ottoman Empire, today part of the Republic of Kosovo.[2] Born in the village of Voksh as Sulejman Lokaj he was a member of the Vokshi clan of the wider Thaçi tribe. During the Tanzimat period reforms he fought in the Albanian Revolt of 1843-1844, trying to not let the reforms take place in lands ruled by Albanian nobles, as the reforms would reduce their power.
For participation in the aforesaid he was interned in Anatolia. In 1878, he was one of the orchestrators of the attack against Ottoman marshal Mehmed Ali Pasha, an event that marked the first military action of the league.[3] During the consequent Ottoman-Albanian conflict he fought alongside Haxhi Zeka and Vokshi's Prizren League forces captured the cities of Üsküb (4 January 1881), Pristina and Mitrovica being one of the main military leaders of the League.[4][5][2] He was captured in 1885. Vokshi was initially found guilty of treason and sentenced to death.[2] The sentence was later commuted by sultan Abdul Hamid II to hard labour and imprisonment.[6] He was eventually released during a general amnesty period in the 1890s.
References[]
- Notes
- ^ Skendi 1967, p. 37.
- ^ a b c d Elsie, Robert (2004). Historical Dictionary of Kosova. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 110, 188. ISBN 0-8108-5309-4.
- ^ Frashëri 2002, p. 169
- ^ Skendi 1967, pp. 97–98.
- ^ Gawrych 2006, pp. 66, 125.
- ^ Gawrych 2006, pp. 80–81.
- Sources
- Frashëri, Kristo (2002). Kristaq Prifti (ed.). Historia e Popullit Shqiptar. Vol. 2. Toena. ISBN 9992716231.
- Gawrych, George (2006). The Crescent and the Eagle: Ottoman rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874–1913. London: IB Tauris. ISBN 9781845112875.
- Skendi, Stavro (1967). The Albanian national awakening. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400847761.
See also[]
- Albanians in Kosovo
- Ahmet Koronica, attacking commander against Mehmed Ali Pasha
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- 1815 births
- 1890 deaths
- Military personnel from Gjakova
- Kosovo Albanians
- People from Gjakova
- Politicians from Gjakova
- 19th-century Albanian military personnel
- 19th-century Albanian politicians
- Activists of the Albanian National Awakening
- Heroes of Albania
- Kosovan people stubs