Haxhi Qamili

Haxhi Qamili (1876 – June 1915) was the leader of an egalitarian, pan-Ottoman and an Islamic revolt in 1914–15 in Albania. He was popularly known by his religious name, having been born Qamil Zyber Xhameta.

Qamili was a villager from Sharra (in Tirana) and was the Sheikh of a tekke belonging to the Melami order of dervishes that strove for social equality and rejected wealth and luxury.

The uprising began in mid-May 1914, but had its origins in 1913. The rebellion was mainly uphold by illiterate peasants that fearing to lose the lands they were given during the Ottoman Empire objected the laws of a foreign ruler. The uprising base was in the regions of Shijak, Kavaja and Tirana.

On 3 June 1914, the revolutionaries, who were led by mufti Musa Qazim Beqari, made their demands known at a gathering in Kavaja, among which was the overthrow of the Western-installed Prince Wied. The Muslim insurgents demanded the reunion of Albania with the Ottoman state or at least to be ruled by an Ottoman ruler, the reinstatement of the Shariah, the removal of the Albanian flag and its replacement with the Ottoman flag.

The revolt gained moderate success in central Albania, being able to seize Lushnjë and on 1 September Vlorë. Two days later, Prince Wied in Durrës was forced to abandon his six-month kingdom and the muslim revolutionaries legislated the re-union of Albania with the Ottoman state.

With Weid removed, Essad Pasha, who had the support of Italy, returned from exile in October 1914.

Essad Pasha Toptani, a supporter of the feudal lords, took power with the Serbian support. Qamili became one of the leaders of the renewed rebellion and was elected by the Islamic rebels as their commander-in-chief. by the end of November 1914, the rebels had regained the upper hand in Tirana and burnt Essad Pasha’s palace to the ground. The rebellion achieved rapid successes, confining Essad's government of central Albania to Durrës itself.

With the start of the First World War, Albania was invaded by Greek, Italian and Serbian forces, which changed the situation of the uprising entirely. In January 1915 Qamili along with other rebel leaders convened a National Congress in Tirana, declaring on behalf of the whole Albanian people the illegitimacy of Essad's Durrës-based government while affirming Albanian neutrality in World War I.

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