The Sanjak of Avlona (, ; sometimes referred to as the Sanjak of Berat because of its county town) was one of the

sanjak A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian. Banners were a common organization of nomad ...

s of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

whose

county town In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county, and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament. Following the establishment of county councils in ...

was

Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and ea ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. It was established in 1466, after the construction of the

Elbasan Castle Elbasan Castle () is a 15th-century fortress in the city of Elbasan, Albania. History The original fortification was built during the 4th century, theorized after the Gothic invasions of Illyria in 378 AD. It was initially composed of three mete ...

of the territory that belonged to the preceding Ottoman sanjak,

Sanjak of Albania The Sanjak of Albania (, or ; or ) was a second-level administrative unit of the Ottoman Empire between 1415 and 1444. Its mandate included territories of modern central and southern Albania between Krujë to the Kalamas River in northwester ...

Geography

The territory of the Sanjak of Avlona extended between the

Shkumbin The Shkumbin (; ), also known as Shkembi, is a river in Albania. It is long and its drainage basin is . Its average discharge is . Etymology It derives from Latin ''Scampinus'' (recorded alternatively as ), which replaced the Illyrian name o ...

river to the north and the

Ceraunian Mountains The Ceraunian Mountains (, , 'Thunderbolt Mountains') are a coastal mountain range in southwestern Albania, within the Vlorë County. The mountain range rises on the northeastern bank of the Ionian Sea and protrudes into the Adriatic Sea. It e ...

to the south. This sanjak had two

kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

s: kaza of

and kaza of Valona. Before the establishment of the

Sanjak of Delvina The Sanjak of Delvina (, ) was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire which county town was Delvinë but during the 18th century became Gjirokastër, Albania. It was created in the mid-16th century, came under the control of the Pashalik of Y ...

in the middle of the 16th century, the following towns (kazas) also belonged to the Sanjak of Avlona: Delvina,

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in Southern Albania, southern Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë moun ...

Myzeqe The Myzeqe (; sq-definite, Myzeqeja; ) is a plain in the Western Lowlands of Albania. The Myzeqe is the largest and widest plain, measured by area, in the Lowlands. Location The Myzeqe plain is a large alluvial plain traversed by three main riv ...

and

Labëria Labëria is a historic region that is roughly situated in southwestern Albania. Its inhabitants are known as Labs (referred to as , pl. ''Lebër'', also dial. sing. ''Lap'') and its boundaries reach from Vlorë to Himara in the south, to the Gr ...

Politics

Valona was conquered by the Ottomans in June 1417. In 1431, the

was created out of areas in present-day western Albania. At the end of the 15th century, in order to stimulate trading, Ottomans settled small community of

Sephardi Jews Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

Gedik Ahmed Pasha Gedik Ahmed Pasha (; died 18 November 1482) was an Ottoman statesman and admiral who served as Grand Vizier and Kapudan Pasha (Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Navy) during the reigns of sultans Mehmed II and Bayezid II. Very little was known abo ...

was

sanjakbey ''Sanjak-bey'', ''sanjaq-bey'' or ''-beg'' () was the title given in the Ottoman Empire to a bey (a high-ranking officer, but usually not a pasha) appointed to the military and administrative command of a district (''sanjak'', in Arabic '' liwa’' ...

of the Sanjak of Avlona in 1479. Bali Bey, son of Yahya Pasha, became sanjakbey of the Sanjak of Avlona in 1506. Mehmed Beg Isaković, son of Isa-Beg Isaković, was appointed as sanjabey of Avlona in January 1516. Muzaffer Pasha was sanjakbey of Avlona before he was appointed for the first governor of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

in 1570, after Cyprus was captured by the Ottoman Empire. Mustafa Pasha (Bin Abdullah), who had been on position of sanjakbey of Bosnia and

Morea Morea ( or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used by the Principality of Achaea, the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the O ...

, was sanjakbey of Valona at the end of the 16th century and beginning of the 17th century. Avlonya was captured by Venetians in 1690, but it was recaptured by Ottomans in 1691. In 1691, centre of sanjak was relocated to Berat and the sanjak was gradually named as Sanjak of Berat. Sari Ahmed Pasha was appointed as sanjakbey of Avlona at the end of 1712 and in the 1714 he was transferred to position of

beglerbeg ''Beylerbey'' (, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords’, sometimes rendered governor-general) was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks and the Il ...

Rumelia Rumelia (; ; ) was a historical region in Southeastern Europe that was administered by the Ottoman Empire, roughly corresponding to the Balkans. In its wider sense, it was used to refer to all Ottoman possessions and Vassal state, vassals in E ...

. In the middle of the 18th century a sanjakbey of the Sanjak of Avlona was

Ahmet Kurt Pasha Ahmet Kurt Pasha was an Albanian pasha and the founder and the first ruler of the Pashalik of Berat, a semi-autonomous area within the Ottoman Empire. He possibly descends from the Muzaka family, which in the late Middle Ages had founded the Lordsh ...

from the

Muzaka family The Muzaka family was an noble Albanian family that ruled over the region of Myzeqe ( southern Albania) in the Late Middle Ages. The Muzaka are also referred to by some authors as a tribe or a clan. The earliest historical document that mentions ...

who was later appointed to the position of '' derbendci aga'' (guardian of the mountain passes) which he held until the sultan appointed Ahmet's grandson,

Ali Pasha Tepelena Ali Pasha (1740 – 24 January 1822), commonly known as Ali Pasha of Yanina or Ali Pasha of Tepelena, was an Albanian ruler who served as Ottoman pasha of the Pashalik of Yanina, a large part of western Rumelia. Under his rule, it acquired a h ...

, instead of him. In 1809, the sanjakbey of the Avlona was Ibrahim Pasha. According to

Eqrem Vlora Eqrem Bey Vlora (1 December 1885 – 30 March 1964) was an Albanian lord, politician, writer, and one of the delegates to the Assembly of Vlorë, which proclaimed the Albanian Declaration of Independence on November 28, 1912. He is described as ...

members of his family were ''de facto'' (not ''de jure'') sanjakbeys of Sanjak of Avlona in period 1481—1828. In 1834 Mahmood Hamdi pasha was appointed to govern the

, Yanina and Avlona. Ismail Kemal, the first prime minister of Albania, was elected a member of

Ottoman parliament The General Assembly (; French romanization: "Medjliss Oumoumi" or ''Genel Parlamento''; ) was the first attempt at representative democracy by the imperial government of the Ottoman Empire. Also known as the Ottoman Parliament ('' Legislation o ...

in December 1908 for the Sanjak of Berat.

Geography

Politics

References

Further reading