Mehmet Pashë Dërralla
|
Mehmet Dërralla Pasha |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| General Staff of the Ottoman empire Gendarmerie | |
|
In office ? – 1878 |
|
| Provisional Government of Albania Minister of War | |
|
In office 1912–1914 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1843 Gradec, Kalkandelen, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 1918 (aged 75) Podgorica, Kingdom of Yugoslavia |
| Nationality |
 Albanian
|
| Awards | Order of Freedom (Kosovo) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
League of Prizren League of Peja Provisional Government of Albania |
| Battles/wars |
Albanian Revolt of 1912 Albania during the Balkan Wars |
Mehmet Pashë Dërralla also known as Kallkandeleni, was one of the signatories of the Albanian Declaration of Independence. Mehmet Pashë Dërralla was the Minister of War in the Provisional Government of Albania. He was a major figure of anti-Ottoman uprisings, and also opposed Serbian and Montenegrin encroachments.
Mehmet Dërralla was born in 1843, the year of the Uprising of Dervish Cara, in Gradec, Kalkandelen (present day Tetovo). He was the son of noted Albanian patriot, Hasan Dërralla. He went to Maktab in Kalkandelen and completed secondary education in Uskub (present day Skopje) and Monastir. Dërralla did his tertiary education at the Military Academy of Istanbul. After graduating with top marks, Dërralla served in the infantry regiment in Anatolia. After serving for several years, Dërralla was promoted to the General Staff and was given the title of Pasha.
Dërralla served as the general of the gendarmerie and exercised high military functions in Baghdad, later in Aleppo and than finally Selanik (present day Thessaloniki). After serving in Salonika, Dërralla moved to Uskub where he commanded the Prizren Vilayet. Shortly after, Dërralla ended his career as General in the Ottoman army.
Dërralla changed allegiance when using his influence, lifted protests in Kosovo and joined the Volunteer Army of the League of Prizren. Mehmet Dërralla was appointed adviser to Sulejman Vokshi, who was the Defence minister of the cabinet.
The Prizren League had 16,000 armed members under its control, who launched a revolution against the Ottoman Empire after the debacle at the Congress of Berlin and the official dissolution of the League ordered by the Ottomans who feared the League would seek total independence from the empire. The Albanian rebels were able to kill Mehemed Ali Pasha, the Turkish emissary, in Yakova in August 1878. The Ottoman Empire sought to suppress the League and they dispatched an army led by Turkish commander Dervish Pasha, that by April 1881 had captured Prizren and crushed the resistance at Ulcinj.
...
Wikipedia