Çerçiz Topulli

Topulli armed

Çerçiz Topulli (* 1880 in Ergiri , Vilâyet-i Yanya , Ottoman Empire ; † July 15, 1915 in Shkodra ) was an Albanian partisan and nationalist , who was mainly through his fight against the Ottomans 1907-1908 and against the Greeks 1913-1914 got known.

Life

He was the younger brother of the Ottoman Bektashi school principal Bajo Topulli . In 1907 Çerçiz Topulli and Mihal Grameno founded a band of Albanian fighters in the Bulgarian capital Sofia . In April of the same year Topulli reached the coast of Vlora via Brindisi , Italy . His aim was to strengthen the national consciousness of the Albanians and to defend themselves against the perceived oppression of Albanians in the Ottoman Empire. He also brought Albanian-language books and distributed them.

He wrote an article with the title "From the mountains of Albania" in the newspaper The Hope of Albania . In this post he pointed to discrimination against Albanians by the Ottomans. He therefore called for an independent Albania and called for an armed uprising, an uprising that began in 1908.

Armed uprising

On February 25, 1908, Topulli and his supporters murdered the Turkish binbashi (major) of Gjirokastra after he had allegedly brutally punished Albanians who had campaigned for their political interests. Topulli and four other members of his gang then fled to Mashkullora , a village near Gjirokastra.

On March 18, Topulli and his comrades were surrounded by 150 Ottoman soldiers . Although the Ottomans outnumbered them, Topulli managed to keep the troops away from him and eventually escaped into the mountains at dusk. This event was later celebrated in many folk songs such as “Të rrapi në Mashkullorë”.

In July 1908 Topulli invaded the city of Korça , but his troops were repulsed by the Ottomans. When the Young Turks came to power, Topulli organized patriotic communities and campaigned for the building of Albanian-speaking schools.

On May 29, 1909, he founded a secret free group ( Tscheta ) called “Kandilja” (from Turkish Kandil , German “Die Fackel” ).

After independence

After Albania's independence, Albanian and Bulgarian troops allied themselves with Topulli to jointly fight the invading Greek units in southern Albania.

death

Later Çerçiz Topulli went to northern Albania to fight the Montenegrins who attacked Shkodra . In Fusha e Shtoit (near Shkodra) Topulli was shot by Montenegrin soldiers on July 15, 1915 . His bones were brought back to Gjirokastra in 1937.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Robert Elsie : Historical Dictionary of Albania . Scarecrow Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8108-7380-3 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed September 10, 2015]).
↑ Ardian Ahmedaja, Gerlinde Haid: European Voices: Multipart singing in the Balkans and the Mediterranean. I . Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-205-78090-8 ( limited preview in the Google book search [accessed on September 10, 2015]).
^ Near Eastern Studies Department Princeton University M. Sukru Hanioglu Professor: Preparation for a Revolution: The Young Turks, 1902–1908 . Oxford University Press, USA 2001, ISBN 978-0-19-977111-0 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed September 10, 2015]).

personal data
SURNAME	Topulli, Çerçiz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Albanian partisan and nationalist
DATE OF BIRTH	1880
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ergiri , Vilâyet-i Yanya, Ottoman Empire
DATE OF DEATH	July 15, 1915
Place of death	Shkodra

[Elbeniyeh-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Robert Elsie : Historical Dictionary of Albania . Scarecrow Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8108-7380-3 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed September 10, 2015]).

[2] Ardian Ahmedaja, Gerlinde Haid: European Voices: Multipart singing in the Balkans and the Mediterranean. I . Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-205-78090-8 ( limited preview in the Google book search [accessed on September 10, 2015]).

[3] Near Eastern Studies Department Princeton University M. Sukru Hanioglu Professor: Preparation for a Revolution: The Young Turks, 1902–1908 . Oxford University Press, USA 2001, ISBN 978-0-19-977111-0 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed September 10, 2015]).