The League of Prizren

The League of Prizren was an Albanian political organization founded on 10 June 1878 in Prizren, in the Kosovo province (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire.
The treaties of San Stefano and Berlin both assigned Albanian inhabited land to other states. The inability of the Porte to protect the interests of a region that was 70% Muslim and largely loyal forced the Albanian leaders not only to organize their defense, but also to create an autonomous administration, like those Serbia and the other Danubian Principalities had enjoyed.[1] The League initatied a program of reform along 5 political grounds: the defense of the Albanian inhabited lands from the designs of Serbia, Montenegro and Greece; the creation of a single or supra province in the Empire that combined the vilayets of Kosovo, Monastir, Janina and Shkodër; military service confined to Albania in normal times; the establishment of national schools to develop national education in Albanian with a Latin alphabet; and also some control over provincial finances. Prominent figures included Sami Frashëri, Pashko Vasa, Abdyl Frasheri, Ali Beg Shabanagaj and some 80 other delegates that included clan chiefs and religious clergymen.

Prizren League

In the background is Bajrakli Mosque. Gazi Mehmet Pasha or Bajrakli mosque forms part of the Complex of the League of Prizren. Bajrakli mosque dates from 1566 and is possibly the most beautiful mosque in Prizren with ornate wood work and detailed blue-and-white paintings.