The Crescent and the Eagle Ottoman Rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874 – 1913

George W. Gawrych, I. B. Tauris, London , 2006. Pp. xi + 260



Reviewed by

Olsi Jazexhi




The role and relationship that Albanians had with the Ottoman Empire and its sultans is a subject of much debate in the overall Albanian history. While in general the historians of the Balkans have portrayed the Ottoman rule in the Balkans and Albania as being totally bleak or as a simple history of invaders and freedom fighters, there are works such as this from George Gawrych who present a different history on Ottomans and their relations with Albanians. One serious shortcoming of the previous authors, who wrote about the Albanian history under the Ottomans, has been their general failure to make use of Ottoman sources and understand the real dynamics of relations between Albanians and the Ottomans.

What is striking in the book of George Gawrych is his attempt to go deeper in the Ottoman society of the late 19th and early 20th century and examine the nascent Albanianism and the maturing Ottomanism in the empire. While the Albanian authors have generally tried to portray the divorce of the Albanians from the Ottomans as a struggle of liberation by the ‘eternal’ Albanian nation, Gawrych portrays the Albanian kavim or ethnicity as an integral part of the Ottoman Din ve Devlet (religion and state).

Gawrych starts his narrative in the book with an imagined appearance of Albanianism in 1874, when in Istanbul, in a theatrical play called Besa yahud Ahde Vefa (Loyalty to an Oath), the future ideologue of Albanian but at the same time, Turkish nationalism, Shemsedin Sami shows to his Ottoman audience a tragedy built around the customs and morals of the Arnavut kavim. Through this play Shemsedin Sami wanted to defend the ahlak-i milliye (national values) of the Ottoman theatre from foreign values and morals that were penetrating the Ottoman society. The assertion of Albanian values in this play, for the author serves as a starting point for articulating in the coming chapters the cultural pluralism and ethnic diversity of the Ottoman Ummah and the birth out of it, of Albanianism.

The birth of Albanianism is analyzed in the second chapter of the book and it is connected with the events from 1878 to 1913 that lead Albanians to wage a series of wars and conflicts for their survival in the Balkans. The Treaty of San Stefano and the Congress of Berlin which threatened the territories of Albanians in the Balkans, and their military response to the schemes of the Great Powers and their Orthodox neighbors, through the organization of the League of Prizren, are analyzed and shown as a time when the Albanian ethnicity is to be heard more and more in the empire. The interests that Albanians needed to defend were not different from the Ottomans’, and at first Albanians had even the approval of the weak Ottomans, to defend their territories. However the solutions which Albanians and the Ottomans, offered to resolving the situation were different. This led to the creation of rifts between Istanbul and the locals. Even that the Ottoman Albania was divided in two major parts at the time, into Gegeria or the North of Albania including Kosova (where most of the confrontations happened) and Toskeria or South of Albania, it was the Tosk Albanian intellectuals those who excelled in propagating the idea of an Albanian nation from Istanbul. Even that the Tosk Albanians portrayed themselves as loyal Ottomans, they created the idea of a different nation in the minds of the Ghegs, who in most of the cases were demonstrating their loyalty to the sultan, the shariat and the devlet. The ideas of vatan (motherland) were not articulated only by Albanians in this time. A number of leading Ottoman intellectuals were speaking throughout the empire about the Ottoman vatan. But the Albanian vatan was of particular attention to the Albanian intellectuals, who felt the danger of the break up of the empire, and wanted to create an Albanian identity before the final departure of the devlet.

Because Albanians were such an important kavim for the very existence of the Ottoman Empire in Europe , in the chapters three and four Gawrych shows how Sultan Abdülhamid II’s used his Islamic policies for keeping Albanians loyal to the state. Abdülhamid tried molding them as a key pillar for the Ottoman rule in the Balkans and as Gawrych says, defined key features of Ottoman thinking on Albania and Albanians, as this was revealed in the communication between the central government and provincial officials and military commanders. Even that he gave to Albanians key posts in administration, Abdülhamid was afraid from the development of a different identity for the Albanian Muslims apart from the Ottoman one, and for this he resisted the attempts of different Albanian intellectuals, Christians and missionaries alike, who wanted to develop an Albanian identity as the Greeks, Serbs and Bulgarians had done. Albanian intellectuals such as Shemsedin Sami, his brothers Naim and Abdul and a few others, while noting in their works Albanian’s contribution to the Ottoman state started clandestine activities through education and propagation for developing a different Albanian identity from the Ottoman one. The development of Albanianism posed an intellectual challenge to Ottomanist and Islamist policies of the sultan. While the education of Albanians played an important role in Abdülhamid’s policies towards Albania , he continuously refused Albanian Muslims’ desire to write their language. This was seen even in 1882 when Daud Boriçi requested sultan’s permission to teach Albanian in the city of Shkodra using the Arabic alphabet.

In the chapter ‘Hamidian Rule in Albania ,’ the author shows how difficult was for the Ottomans to rule and understand Albanian’s mentality. A number of Albanian but even Turkish authors wrote in the late 19th century about the particularities of Albanians. This worried the sultan who understood the difficulty of ruling Albania . Nevertheless he relied in the power of his loyal Albanian aghas and beys, such as Isa Boletini, Yakovali Riza Bey, Shemsi Pasha and Bayram Curi for governing Kosova , Albania and the Balkans. He recruited even a large number of Albanians in Istanbul whom he placed as his personal guards, ministers and so on.

Even that Abdülhamid portrayed himself as a father to Albanians, rewarded them with a number of high posts and was very skillful to make the Ghegh and Tosk Pashas, Beys and Mollas support his policies, still a number of Albanian intellectuals saw him as the scapegoat of their problems in Rumelia. In the chapter five Gawrych shows why a great number of Albanian intellectuals joined ranks with the Young Turks and hoped that the establishment of a parliamentary monarchy would solve their problems, such as the right to write the language, the creation of a single Albanian province in Rumelia and so on. As a result, a great number of Albanian Muslims were to be loyal supporters of the 1908 revolution and to the coming of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) in power.

The chapter six called the ‘road to independence’ deals with Albanian’s disillusionments with CUP. The CUP under the military leadership of Mahmud Sevket Pasha instead of appeasing the Albanians and their demands, used force to impose Ottomanism and Turkification on the province by giving an end to Abdülhamid’s special treatment of Albanians. Young Turks’ militarist obsession with security and order lead them to use violence against Albanians. By destroying the independence they had enjoyed from the sultans, and the policies of Turkification that replaced the pan-Islamic policies of Abdülhamid, the Albanian chieftains and their deputies in Istanbul were forced to organize a massive ‘Besa’ or oath against the Young Turks.

Albanian nationalists benefited from Young Turks’ oppression to convert the bayraktars and derebeys that supported Abdülhamid before, into milletçiler (nationalists) . As a result the years 1909 to 1912 proved extremely painful for both sides. For the government in Istanbul its mismanagement of the situation made Albanians to loose their faith in Istanbul , while the Albanians whose honor and sultanic privileges were destroyed by the modernizing policies of the Young Turks, were not willing to obey to the empire as they did before. Understanding the danger, CUP tried to repair the errors that their militarists policies had done with Albanians, and influence the birth of the new Albanianism closer to their ideology. But Albanianism that was maturing by this time, struggled to obtain rights for Albanians to write their language, have a united Vilayet and govern themselves. In August 1912 the Ottomans granted to Albanians their rights to education and other demands that were formulated by their deputy in the parliament, Hasan Prishtina. However the honeymoon did not last long. The Balkanic powers that were afraid from the birth of Albanianism, started the First Balkan War. With it the coexistence of Albanians with the Ottomans was terminated and their vilayats of Kosova, Janina and Manastir were invaded by their Orthodox neighbors.

Reading Gawrych’s book is a must for someone who wants to understand the relations of power and mentality that the Ottomans and Albanians of the late 19 and early 20th century had about their empire, religion and identity. If Gawrych was to use more local sources, such as those that the Albanian Muslims in Kosova and Albania thought about the empire, a better picture would have emerged. Nevertheless the author makes a very interesting remark in the conclusion of his book, when he notes that the ‘Albanian independence resulted from a confluence of foreign and domestic developments rather than from the design and the will of Albanians themselves.’ This closing sentence is the best summary for someone who wants to understand the relations that ‘The Crescent and the Eagle: Ottoman Rule, Islam and the Albanians’ had with each other, before the invention of the Albanian state.

When they see His House - that magnificent sight
For which the hearts of all creatures are set alight -
It seems they’ve never felt tired before,
For their discomfort and hardship is no more.
Now the eye of the Lover drowns in its streams,
It sees through its tears the goal of its dreams;
Now for Allah, how many tears are issued,
Each one being followed by a multitude?
When the eye perceives the House, its darkness clears,
And from the sorrowful heart, pain disappears;
Vision cannot encompass this beautiful sight:
Each glance returns with greater delight!
No wonder at this, for when the Merciful preferred
The House for Himself, it became most honoured.
He clothed it in Majesty, a magnificent garment;
Embroidered it with Beauty, a wonderful ornament!
The hearts all love the House therefore,
Awed and humbled, in respect and honour.

‘Arafat

Now to ‘Arafat, hoping for Mercy and Forgiveness
From the One overflowing with Generosity and Kindness;
Now for Allah is that Magnificent Standing
Like, though lesser than, the Day of Reckoning.
The Irresistible draws near, His Majesty manifest,
Boasting to His angels, for He is the Mightiest,
"My slaves have come to Me so lovingly,
I’ll be Generous and Merciful, willingly.
I have forgiven their sins, – to this you are witness –
Fulfilled their hopes, and showered them with goodness."
So joyous news! O people of that standing,
When sins are forgiven and Mercy is spreading;
How many slaves are set completely free?
Whilst others seek a cure, and heal will He.
Now Satan is never known to lose such face:
He’s blameworthy, rejected, in utter disgrace.
For he sees a matter that enrage him must:
He flees, slaps his face and covers it in dust!
Such Forgiveness he never did see
As granted by the Lord, and such Mercy!
He built his edifice from every temptation available
Till he thought it was complete, unassailable;
Then Allah struck his building at its very foundation,
So it fell upon him, tumbling in devastation;
What worth has his structure, this evil ploy,
That he does build, and the Lord does destroy?

Muzdalifah & Mina

Then they return to Mina, each to his tent,
Every minute wish is granted, and they are content;
They stay there a day, then another, then a third,
They’re allowed to depart early, but to stay is preferred;
They stone the pillars daily after the sun’s decline,
With a slogan of Takbir in the presence of the Divine!
If only you could see their standing there:
Palms outstretched, hoping for Mercy’s share!
"O Lord! O Lord! Knowing as You do
That we hope for no-one, only You!
Then grant our wish, O You All-Knowing,
We pray for Your Mercy overflowing. "

The Farewell Tawaf

When they’ve achieved at Mina all their gains,
Once more they fill the valleys and plains:
To the Ka’bah, the Sacred House, by the end of the day,
To circle it seven times, and then to Pray.
When departure nears and they are certain
That the bond of proximity is about to loosen,
There’s only a last stand for a final farewell:
Now for Allah are the eyes that swell,
And for Allah are the heavy hearts that turn
Into cauldrons of desire where fire does burn;
And the passionate sighs whose heat so vigorous
Nearly melts the Lover, ecstatic, rapturous!
Now you see those bewildered, perplexed in the throng,
Whilst others chant their sorrowful song:
"I depart, but there remains for You my yearning,
My fire of grief is raging and burning;
I bid farewell, but longing pulls my reins -
My heart is encamped in Your eternal plains!"
No blame today for saying what you feel:
No blame for expressing what you used to conceal!

Yes I'm a traitor
A self hater
A denier
Shame to the ummah
You see me on T.V
Talking trash
Pseudo intellectual and author

I can't beat the west
And its ideas
Too powerful
So I join them
In their war against Political Islam
Because they must be the best

It's not easy being me
Abuse and threats daily
Afraid to walk the streets
In case I meet
People I betrayed
Who are after me
Because I sold out the deen
For a few pieces of silver
Like Judas

I infiltrated
Many Islamic movements
Was active
Now I'm passive
Not sincere
A bystander
Watching the plots against the Ummah

I sell my story to the highest bidder
Like a prostitute
Yes I left the dawah completely
Some say I'm a quitter

No politics in Islam
I preach
Like a fanatic
People think I'm manic
Because I voted for Labour
Blair and his cronies
Mass murderers of Iraqis
I call them that
Instead of Muslims

I'm a wannabe sufi
Some call me a deviant one at that
Supposed to be
Detached from material wealth
But I sell
My story
To all and sundry
My biggest fear is
Hope they don't offer me money to pose naked

I easily
Betray confidences
And make up lies
Anything to get attention
And feel important
I need therapy
To cope with my dilemmas

I openly brag
That I'm active
In getting people arrested
Tortured and even killed
Am I mass murderer?
Or a good citizen
According to Mr Blair?

I get rave reviews
From Mrs Phillips and the Neo-Cons
I never knew
They loved traitors so much
Might get an MBE next year from the Queen

I'm a born again Muslim
British Muslim
Got a red passport
Wave it when the racists call me a terrorist
And paki scum

No if's no Butts
Some people after me
To stab me in the heart
Like they did Hassan in Manchester

I dread the return of the Caliphate
Who will apply to extradite
Me
Put me on trial
And then execute me
As a traitor

My Brit mates
Can't be trusted
To protect me
They'll sell me
Or trade me for a few of their soldiers

So I continue
Insulting and abusing
An expert on Islam
And the movements
Although I was faithful to none

No wonder my wife and parents are scared
In case they are the subject of my next book
And the West views me with mistrust
After all I did sell out my own people
Deen and akhira
For this life.