Massacre of the Albanian beys

Massacre of the Albanian beys
Location	Manastir, Ottoman Empire
Date	09 August 1830
Target	Albanian beys
Attack type	Mass murder
Deaths	1000 Albanian beys and personal guards
Perpetrators	Ottoman forces

The Massacre of the Albanian beys occurred on 9 August 1830, when around 500 Albanian leaders (beys) and their personal guards were killed by Ottoman forces in the town of Manastir (present-day Bitola, Republic of Macedonia). The massacre led to the weakening of the power of the beys of southern Albania and also set the basis for the destruction of the powerful northern Albanian Pashalik of Scutari.

During the era of the Albanian Pashaliks, the influence of the local Albanian beys had weakened since they had lost the Pashalik of Yanina. In the late 1820s after the Greek War of Independence the Albanian mercenaries, who were employed during the struggles by the Ottomans, pillaged a large number of villages, while the bey families tried to restore and regain their rule. Their efforts included the organization of the assembly of Berat in December 1828, led by Ismail bey Qemali of the Vlora family, grandfather of Ismail Qemali, founder of the modern Albanian state in 1912. In this Convention, the leaders were Qemali, Zylyftar Poda and Shahin bej Delvina. The Ottoman Empire tried to prevent the rise of local beys, which presented a menace to centralized power. The bey also resented the modernization programs implemented during the reign of Mahmud II. These reforms were a direct threat to the arbitrary power of the Balkan Muslim aristocracy, who had grown powerful during the long decline of Ottoman power. On January 5, 1829, only one month after the Convention of Berat, its leader, Ismail bey Qemali, was killed in Yanina by people of Reşid Mehmed Pasha, which caused an upheaval in Southern Albania: in Yanina, Zagoria, Konitsa and Metsovo the Ottoman functionaries were asked to leave by the local population. The Sultan was forced to remove Reşid Mehmed Pasha and to nominate him Grand Vizir on 6 February 1829. In 1830, the Sublime Porte sent an expeditionary force under the command of Reşid Mehmed Pasha to suppress the local Albanian beys. On hearing the news of the Ottoman forces' arrival, the three most powerful local chiefs, Zylyftar Poda, accompanied by the remains of Ali Pasha's faction, Veli Bey (whose power base was around Yannina), and Arslan Bey, along with other less powerful beys, began to prepare their forces to resist a probable Ottoman attack.

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