Social:Albanian Mountain Bandit crisis (1770-1800)
| Albanian Mountain Bandit crisis (1770-1800) | |||||||||
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| Part of Age of Revolution | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Ottoman Empire | Albanian rebels, bandits, irregulars | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Selim III, Istanbul | Kara Mahmud Pasha, Ali Pasha of Yanina | ||||||||
Albanian Mountain Bandit crisis (1770-1800) (Alb: Krisa e banditeve malore shqiptare) (Turk: Dağlı Eşkıyası) was an Ottoman crisis of raids and highway robberies committed by Albanian irregulars and bandits all over the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Selim III (r. 1789-1807).[1] Many Albanian bandits had been mercenaries and soldiers who served in the Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791) and the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792). After they were discharged, and there fore without payment, they began raiding and enlisting themselves in private armies of local war lords, many of whom were Albanians.[2] Many Albanian highlanders from Dibra desired employment as mercenaries in a period of Ottoman instability.[3] Istanbul received numerous reports of raids being carried out in Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Morea and Greece which resulted in a crisis being declared. Many bandits, mostly Muslim Albanians, were hired by local nobles and beys to protect Orthodox Christian churches and monasteries in Kosovo. The bandit crisis was never confronted as many Ottoman Albanian soldiers hired to stop the bandits simply switched sides and joined the bandits when offered a better pay. The Ottomans also never had total control of the Albanians unless they "threatened" the empire.[4]
Between 1795-1800, Albanian bandits raided regions of Edirne, and in one occasion, noble Mehmed Giray led his troops with the bandits in raids. In 1802, Ali Pasha of Tepelena, elected by Istanbul to get rid of the bandits, sometimes helped them instead. In 1806, the Ottomans began hiring the bandits for the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) thus decreasing the amount of banditry and restoring the order.[5] This forced the Sultan to turn to Kara Mahmud Pasha and Ali Pasha of Yanina for help as they effectively controlled their locals. The crisis is considered to be part of the Age of Revolution (1789-1848)[6] and the causal attributes for the Albanian bandit expansion is believe by scholars to be pastoralism, lack of agriculture and mountainous habitats thus making life difficult for Albanians irregulars.[7]
Background
There were many factors involved in the crisis. Through out the 1770s, local notables were fighting for power which resulted in increased prices and taxes resulting in poverty and many Albanians emigrated in search of work. There was also the plague which spread in Ioannina, Shkodër and Prizren in 1798-99 and 1803–04, noted by the French consul in Durrës. The plague was spread by Albanian brigands and soldiers returning from the Danubian Principalities.[8] In June 1792, the Porte received reports that a number of Albanian bandits were roaming western and central Macedonia creating havoc. A certain Matli Osman, from today's Mat in central Albania, marched to Prilep with 300 Albanians to claim the position of the local military commander.[9] Another bandit was Mulla Yunus, from Peshkopi, and an ally of Matli Osman, arrived too in the city with 2000 Albanians, led by Yasar Bey, Yusuf Bey and Hasan Dora, and demanded to be paid resulting in the local inhabitants fleeing and starving. Another bandit was Orhan bey of Berastan, from Permet, who had 2000 followers, and who complained to Istanbul that his ciftliks had been illegaly seized by an Ismail Bey when Orhan had been at war. There were also a shortage of food which contributed to the situation and in 1800, the Vali of Rumelia hired Albanian highlanders from the north and was shocked when he noted that they "were a little more than naked". The bandits seized the opportunity of the internal turmoil which plagued the Ottoman state at the time, and they raided both Christians and Muslims. Most of the Albanian bandits were sekbans who were hired by "ayans and derebeys" (great families of local notables), which spread the crisis all over the Rumelian provinces. Most bandits were Albanian, according to Frederick F. Anscombe.
References
- ↑ Yıldız, Aysel (2017) (in en). Crisis and Rebellion in the Ottoman Empire: The Downfall of a Sultan in the Age of Revolution. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9781786721471. https://books.google.com/?id=cX7pDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT357&lpg=PT357&dq=Dagli+Eskiyalari#v=onepage&q=Albanians&f=false. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- ↑ Faroqhi, Suraiya; McGowan, Bruce; Pamuk, Sevket (1997) (in en). An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire. Cambridge University Press. p. 666. ISBN 9780521574556. https://books.google.com/?id=c00jmTrjzAoC&pg=PA666&lpg=PA666&dq=Albanian+bandits+1770#v=onepage&q=Albanian%20bandits%201770&f=false. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- ↑ Bayraktar, Uǧur (2018). "From salary to resistance: mobility, employment, and violence in Dibra, 1792–1826". Middle Eastern Studies 54 (6): 878–900. doi:10.1080/00263206.2018.1464442.
- ↑ Xhaferi, Perparim (2019). Albanian National Identity in the twenty-first century: Escaping from the Ottoman heritage?. Sydney: A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. p. 90. https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/handle/2123/20135/2019_Perparim_Xhaferi_thesis.pdf;jsessionid=0A4141E0CBDFE4672A20E42D94A1FC00?sequence=2. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- ↑ YILMAZ, EROL OZAN (2016). MILITARIZATION OF OTTOMAN RUMELIA: THE MOUNTAIN BANDITS (1785-1808). A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY. pp. 59, 68, 98, 102. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12620384/index.pdf. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- ↑ Anscombe, Frederick F. (2012). "The Balkan Revolutionary Age". The Journal of Modern History 84 (3): 572–606. doi:10.1086/666053.
- ↑ Marinos Sariyannis., Elias Kolovos, Phokion Kotzageorgis, Sophia Laiou and (2007). The Ottoman Empire, The Greek Lands: Toward a Social and Economic History. Studies in honor of John C. Alexander. The Isis Press.. The Isis Press. ISBN 9789754283464. http://www.antonisanastasopoulos.eu/Publications/Anastasopoulos2007i.pdf. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- ↑ Lee, Wayne (2011) (in en). Empires and Indigenes: Intercultural Alliance, Imperial Expansion, and Warfare in the Early Modern World. NYU Press. p. 157. ISBN 9780814765272. https://books.google.com/?id=xatMrooibacC&pg=PA157&lpg=PA157&dq=Albanian+bandits+1770#v=onepage&q=Albanian&f=false. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- ↑ Bayraktar, Uǧur (in en). From salary to resistance: mobility, employment, and violence in Dibra, 1792–1826 (The Albanian irregulars, who constituted the transregional networks and implemented some forms of sanctioned imperial violence, were relabelled ‘bandits’ once they refused to demobilise and began to live off the land. ed.). pp. 3–4, 7, 8. https://www.academia.edu/36629466. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
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