Haxhi Et'hem

Bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

also known as Haxhi Et'hem bey Mollaj (1783–1846) was an Ottoman Albanian administrator, nobleman and bejtexhi. Et'hem Bey was the son of Molla Bey of Petrela, from one of the prominent families of the

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

area, back then part of the

Ottoman Albania Ottoman Albania was a period in History of Albania, Albanian history within the Ottoman Empire, from the Ottoman conquest in the late 15th century to the Albanian Declaration of Independence, Albanian declaration of Independence and official s ...

. He is descendant of Sulejman Pasha Bargjini, who gave the main contribution to the development of Tirana as a commercial and religious center. His family was an opponent of the powerful

Toptani family The Toptani were a leading Albanian nobility, noble family in central Ottoman Albania, Albania at the beginning of the 20th century. They belonged to a small number of noble families appointed by the Ottomans who used local chieftains to control ...

and connected to the Bushatlliu family of Shkodra. As a result, Abdyl Rahman Toptani exiled him away from Tirana. He would reconcile later with the Ottoman rulers by joining the Ottoman campaign against Mustafa Pasha Bushati in 1831. Etëhem Bey finished in 1819 or 1821 the Ethem Bey Mosque in the main square of Tirana, which bears his name. The mosque was started by his father Molla Bey between 1791 and 1794. He was buried in Ethem Bey Mosque, next to his wife Balkis. Etëhem Bey was also a '' diwan'' poet. He wrote both in Turkish and Albanian. His work in Turkish consists of 4 ''diwans''. In Albanian he wrote a

Bektashi Bektashism (, ) is a tariqa, Sufi order of Islam that evolved in 13th-century western Anatolia and became widespread in the Ottoman Empire. It is named after the wali, ''walī'' "saint" Haji Bektash Veli, with adherents called Bektashis. The ...

mystical poem and a ''diwan'', out of which nothing has survived. For the Turkish work, he used the pen-name "Shehidi" (the Martyr).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mollaj, Etehem Bey 18th-century Albanian people 19th-century Albanian people 1783 births 1846 deaths Albanian Muslims Albanian-language poets People from Tirana Sanjak of Scutari Albanian people from the Ottoman Empire Divan poets from the Ottoman Empire 18th-century Albanian poets 19th-century Albanian poets Bektashi Order Albanian Sufis Albanian male poets 18th-century male writers Bejtexhinj