Pashalik of Scutari

Pashalik of Scutari
Pashallëku i Shkodrës
Pashalik of Scutari Pashallëku i Shkodrës
1757–1831
	Flag during the reign ofKara Mahmud Bushati
	Albanian pashaliks in 1790-1795. The Pashalik of Shkodra is colored in blue.
	Pashalik of Scutari in 1785
Status	Autonomous province,de factoindependent
Capital	Shkodër
Religion	Sunni Islam; Roman Catholicism; Eastern Orthodoxy
Government	Pashalik
Pasha
• 1757–1774	Mehmed Bushati
• 1774–1778	Mustafa Bushati
• 1778–1796	Kara Mahmud Bushati
• 1796–1810	Ibrahim Bushati
• 1810–1831	Mustafa Sherifi Bushati
Historical era	Early modern period
• Established	1757
• Disestablished	1831
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Sanjak of Scutari
Sanjak of Scutari
Monastir Eyalet
Today part of	Albania,Montenegro,Kosovo,North Macedonia,Serbia,Greece

ThePashalik of Scutari(1757–1831), also known as theBushati Pashalik,^[2]was anAlbanian pashalikruled by theBushati family.Its capital wasShkodërand ruled areas in modern-dayAlbaniaand large majority of modern-dayMontenegro.^[1]

At its peak during the reign ofKara Mahmud Bushatithe pashalik encompassed much of Albania, most of Kosovo, western Macedonia, southeastern Serbia and most of Montenegro. Up to 1830 the Pashalik of Shkodra controlled most of the above lands including Southern Montenegro.^[3]^[4]

Background

The weakening ofOttomancentral authority and thetimarsystem ofland ownershipbroughtanarchyto theAlbanian-populated region of the Ottoman empire.In the late eighteenth century, two Albanian centers of power emerged: Shkodër, under the Bushati family; andJanina,underAli Pasha of Tepelenë.Both regions cooperated with and defied theSublime Porteas their interests required.^[5]

History

The influence of the Bushati was established between 1757 and 1775 byMehmed Bushati,^[6]known as Bushatli Mehmed Pasha Plaku^[7](Albanian:plaku,'the elder'). In 1757, Mehmed, having eliminated two rival families^[8]and heading the Tabak esnaf of Shkodra as their spiritual Sheikh proclaimed himselfpashaof Shkodër. Mehmet Bushati transformed theSanjak of Scutari,created in 1479, into a semi-autonomous Pashalik of Shkodra. He was praised by Istanbul for ending the Arab and Berber pirates' reign of terror over the Venetian ships in the Adriatic.^{[citation needed]}Mehmet expanded his area of control to the northeast, enlarged his political authority and refused to pay taxes to the Sublime Porte.^[6]

Mehmed Bushati's son and third successor,Kara Mahmud Bushati,pursued a policy of military expansion and established his control over northern Albania up to theToskëriaandKosovo.He launched two attacks onMontenegro(1785, 1796) and against Venice in revenge for the Bey of Tunis^{[clarification needed]}.He defeated several Ottoman expeditions dispatched to subdue him for his uncontrolled behavior. Kara Mahmud subdued Montenegrin tribes and forced the Venetians to pay him a tribute (haraç). He courted both theAustrianandRussianempires, receiving a promise from Vienna that they would recognise him as lord of all Albania in return for an alliance against the Sublime Porte. However, after taking money from the Austrians he decapited the Viennese emissaries, sent their heads to Istanbul and pledged loyalty to the sultan.^[9]In response, the Ottomansex post factopardoned Kara Mahmud for his attacks against Venice and reappointed him governor of Shkodër.

In 1796, the Montenegrin tribes ofPiperiandBjelopavlićidefeated an expedition launched against them by the Shkodran Muslims in theBattle of Krusiand decapitated Kara Mahmud Bushati.^[9]His death signalled a decline in autonomy for thepashalik.^[1]Kara Mahmud's successorIbrahim Bushaticooperated with the Ottoman empire until his own death (1810). He was appointed Beylerbey of Rumelia and subdued the Serbs during his military expeditions against Belgrade.^[9]

When theRusso-Turkish War (1828–1829)broke out the territories of the Pahsalik of Scutari were further extended byMustafa Pasha Bushati.SultanMahmud IIrequired Mustafa Pasha Bushati's aid in raising troops. In return for the Pasha's support the sultan put more than half of Albania under Bushati's administration, but Mustafa requested more territory and power. After the Russo-Turkish War, fearing Albanian disobedience and consequent independence, the sultan commanded Bushati to transfer his territories to theGrand Vizierand to agree to the placement of an Ottoman garrison in Shkodra. However Bushati refused the sultan's order, consequently Ottoman troops were sent against him. The Albanian and Ottoman armies clashed in Macedonia, where Mustafa Bushati lost three battles and was obliged to retreat to Shkodra.^[6]

The Bushatidynasty's rule came to an end when an Ottoman army underMehmed Reshid Pashalaid siege to the Rozafa castle at Shkodër in 1831 and forced the surrender of the last pasha Mustafa Bushati who had rebelled against the sultan whom they accused as Kaurr – infidel.^[9]This defeat not only ended a planned alliance between the Albanians and theBosnians,who were similarly seeking autonomy,^[9]but also brought about the dissolution of thepashalik.

Aftermath

In 1867, the Sanjak of Scutari merged with theSanjak of Üsküb(Skopje), forming theScutari Vilayet.The vilayet was subsequently divided into three sanjaks: İșkodra (Scutari),PrizrenandDibra.In 1877, the Sanjak of Prizren was transferred to theKosovo Vilayet,and the Sanjak of Dibra was transferred to theMonastir Vilayet.Following the territorial transfers, the Sanjak of Scutari was subsequently divided into two sanjaks: Sanjak of Scutari andSanjak of Draç(Durrës).

Pashas

Mehmed Bushati(1757–1774)
Mustafa Bushati(1774–1778)
Kara Mahmud Bushati(1778–1796)
Ibrahim Bushati(1796–1810)
Mustafa Sherifi^[10](1810-1831)

References

^^a ^b ^cElsie 2005,p. 65.
^Brisku, Adrian (2013-08-01).Bittersweet Europe: Albanian and Georgian Discourses on Europe, 1878-2008.Berghahn Books.ISBN 978-0-85745-985-5.
^Vickers 1999,p. 18.
^Iseni 2008,p. 120.
^Zickel & Iwaskiw 1994,p. 19.
^^a ^b ^cDauti 2018,p. 32.
^Kiel 1990,p. 231.
^Castellan 2002,p. 37:ayant éliminé deux familles rivales
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^eJazexhi 2002,p. 48.
^Elsie 2012,p.^{[page needed]}.

Bibliography

Bahl, Taru; Syed, M. H. (2003).Encyclopaedia of Muslim World.New Delhi:Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd.ISBN 978-81-261-1419-1.^{[permanent dead link]}
Castellan, Georges (2002).Histoire de l'Albanie et des albanais.N.p.: Editions Armeline.ISBN 978-2-910878-20-7.
Dauti, Daut (30 January 2018).Britain, the Albanian Question and the Demise of the Ottoman Empire 1876-1914(phd). University of Leeds.
Elsie, Robert(2005).Albanian literature: a short history.London: I. B. Tauris in association with The Centre for Albanian Studies.ISBN 978-1-84511-031-4.
Elsie, Robert (2012).A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History.London / New York: I.B. Tauris in association with The Centre of Albanian Studies.ISBN 978-1-78076-431-3.
Iseni, Bashkim (2008).La question nationale en Europe du Sud-Est: genèse, émergence et développement de l'identité nationale albanaise au Kosovo et en Macédoine.Peter Lang.ISBN 9783039113200.Retrieved5 March2013.
Jazexhi, Olsi (2002).The Albanian Pashalik of Shkodra under Bushatlis 1757 – 1831.Kuala Lumpur:IIUM. Archived fromthe originalon 2015-06-27.
Jelavich, Barbara(1999) [1983].History of the Balkans: Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-521-27458-6.

Kiel, Machiel (1990).Ottoman architecture in Albania, 1385-1912.Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture.ISBN 978-92-9063-330-3.

Vickers, Miranda (1999).The Albanians: A Modern History.New York:I. B. Tauris.ISBN 978-1-86064-541-9.
Zickel, Raymond; Iwaskiw, Walter R. (1994).Albania: A Country Study.Washington, D.C.:GPOforLibrary of Congress.

42°04′N19°30′E/ 42.067°N 19.500°E/42.067; 19.500

[FOOTNOTEElsie200565-1] Elsie 2005,p. 65.

[2] Brisku, Adrian (2013-08-01).Bittersweet Europe: Albanian and Georgian Discourses on Europe, 1878-2008.Berghahn Books.ISBN 978-0-85745-985-5.

[FOOTNOTEVickers199918-3] Vickers 1999,p. 18.

[FOOTNOTEIseni2008120-4] Iseni 2008,p. 120.

[FOOTNOTEZickelIwaskiw199419-5] Zickel & Iwaskiw 1994,p. 19.

[FOOTNOTEDauti201832-6] Dauti 2018,p. 32.

[FOOTNOTEKiel1990231-7] Kiel 1990,p. 231.

[FOOTNOTECastellan200237-8] Castellan 2002,p. 37:ayant éliminé deux familles rivales

[Olsi-9] Jazexhi 2002,p. 48.

[FOOTNOTEElsie2012[[Category:Wikipedia_articles_needing_page_number_citations_from_January_2022]]<sup_class="noprint_Inline-Template_"_style="white-space:nowrap;">&#91;<i>[[Wikipedia:Citing_sources|<span_title="This_citation_requires_a_reference_to_the_specific_page_or_range_of_pages_in_which_the_material_appears.&#32;(January_2022)">page&nbsp;needed</span>]]</i>&#93;</sup>-10] Elsie 2012,p.^{[page needed]}.

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