Per shkak te predendimeve te ndryshimit te histories sidomos periudhes se Perandorise Osmane qe tash po insistohet te pershkruhet si shume positive dhe "Vllazerore" dhe ngjarjeve ne Egjipt qe lidhen me kohen kur shqiptaret me ne krye Mehmet Ali Pashen e krijuan shtetin e pare modern, po e postoj nje pershkrim qe I behet Shqiptareve ne 1801 nga nje deshmitare I asaj kohe Jabarti: Nicolas Turc called him by his proper title of Albanian Major (Binbashi Arnaut). Mohamed Ali very rapidly gained further recognition as an able and efficient commander, and rose rapidly in the ranks until he become second -in command of the entire Albanian contingent, not only of that from Kavala. All the Albanians in the Ottoman forces in Egypt formed the bloc within the army that was distinct and separate from the rest of the man, and they were under the command of an officer named Tahir. The Albanians were ‘mercenaries’ of the Ottoman from at least the second half of the seventeenth century, and were on occasion used to balance the unreliable janissaries and other ojakat. Because they were irregulars, they tended to retain they tribal structure, as indeed did the Maghribi irregulars who served in mamluk armies and later under Mohamed Ali, and the Bedouin irregulars. The Albanians spoke little Turkish and disliked the Ottoman janissaries , who in turn despised the Albanians. According to Jabarti, the Albanians were more uncouth and unruly then the Ottomans. Most of them do not fast the ‘Ramadan’, he wrote in disgust, and no one can tell what belief they adhere to or what sect or what order. The easiest thing for them to do is to kill, seize the property of others and to disobey the their superiors and generals… May god eradicate them all’, he ended viciously. Because of their tribal character of the Albanian troops and the demise of their superior officers, none but an Albanian could lead this troops, and this, as well as his charisma, accounts for Mohamed Ali’s swift in rank. His promotion within such a short span of time was indeed remarkable and bespoke the talents of the man, although one must also acknowledge the role of chance. The fact that Mehmet Ali was an Albanian, a member of a linguistic and ethnic group within Ottoman family is significant. The Albanian spoke a different language from Turkish, yet they were Muslims, and were not members of the despised Arab fallahin. Much like Cherkess, who formed much of the Ottoman fighting elite, they were mountain people, fierce, undisciplined, aggressive and valorous. (Nga Libri “Egypt in the Reign of Muhammad Ali”) Autori: Afaf Lutfi al-Sayyid Marsot
Posted on: Mon, 08 Jul 2013 04:27:03 +0000