The League of Peja ( sq, Lidhja e Pejës), also known as League of İpek or Besa-Besë (Pledge for a Pledge) between Albanians, was an Albanian political organization established in 1899 in the city of İpek (now Peja), Kosovo Vilayet,

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. It was led by

Haxhi Zeka Haxhi Zekë Byberi mostly known as Haxhi Zeka ( tr, Haci Zeka; 20 December 1832 – 21 February 1902) was an Albanian nationalist leader, a member of the League of Prizren, while in 1899 he was part of the establishment and leadership of the Le ...

, a former member of the

League of Prizren The League of Prizren ( sq, Besëlidhja e Prizrenit), officially the League for the Defense of the Rights of the Albanian Nation ( sq, Lidhja për mbrojtjen e të drejtave te kombit Shqiptar), was an Albanian political organization which was offi ...

, and shared the same aim of achieving an autonomous Albanian vilayet within the Ottoman Empire. This organization was encouraged and supported by

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and directed against Ottoman reforms and against

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

from Kosovo Vilayet. Albanian patriotic circles had been seeing a need of creating a new organisation, similar to the first League of Prizren, and to include all the Albanian lands and place it in front of a national movement. The first efforts for the creation of the League began in September 1896. Haxhi Zeka was named as head of this movement by the most influential Albanian leaders in the Ottoman province of

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

(Kosovo villayet was one of four Ottoman provinces –

vilayets A vilayet ( ota, , "province"), also known by various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated b ...

– with a significant Albanian presence). Albanian leaders led by Haxhi Zeka organised a meeting in Yakova (now

Gjakova Gjakova, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the seventh largest city of Kosovo and seat of Gjakova Municipality and Gjakova District. The city has 40,827 inhabitants, while the municipality has 94,556 inhabitants. Geographicall ...

) in March–April 1897 as a first step for the creation of the league. There were two groups of members. The first group of conservative and more moderate members wanted five vilayets (with Salonika vilayet included) to be united into the Albanian vilayet, and the second group of the more radical members wanted full administrative autonomy for the four vilayets united in the Albanian vilayet. The League ended its activity in 1900 after an armed conflict with the Ottoman forces. Zeka was assassinated by a Serbian agent Adem Zajmi in 1902.Bep Jubani et al., ''Historia e popullit shqiptar: për shkollat e mesme'' (Libri Shkollor: Pristina, 2002) 182–185.

References

Organizations based in Kosovo Kosovo vilayet Albanian revolutionary organizations Peja Albanian Question {{poli-org-stub

See also

References