Leka Dukagjini fled to Venice after his resistance against the Ottomans had failed. Some of his kinsmen, however, seem to have converted to Islam in order to maintain their status as nobles. This was not uncommon; members of the Shpata Bua family did so as well. Infact, it probably happened throughout the Balkans.

Being that our people had shown tremendous proof of valiance and skills in warfare, the Ottomans recruited us into their army. In the 1500s, the Turks conquored Iraq, which as a territory contained largë populations of Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims that were in a conflict with each other, much alike now. The Ottomans supported the Sunni whereas Persia supported the Shi'ites.

In 1508, the Shah of Iran called Ismail Al Safari, conquored parts of Iraq, including Bagdad. He pursued a rather harsh policy of spreading the Shi'ite doctrine in iraqi lands, something which made the Ottomans upset. In 1515, the Ottomans sent a powerful army under the command of the Albanian general Ahmet Pasha Dukagjini. Northern Iraq was conquored and by 1535 the whole of Iraq got rid of the rule of the Shah.

Ahmet Pasha Dukagjini was not the only Albanian to operate in Iraq. Between the years 1545-48, the vali of the vilayet of Bagdad was the Albanian Ajas Mehmet Pasha. Nujar was also Albanian, but after his governorship, it took a couple of decades before our kin regain status in Iraq. During all this time, the Persians kept on pursuing their ambitions in Iraq. 1623 the Persians regain control over Bagdad. The Ottomans initiate a counter-offensive, and in 1626 the Albanian Omer Pasha conquored Tikrit. 1635, the famous Albanian Kuçuk Ahmet Pasha becomes head of the vilayet of Mosul. He died in battle; after having seen the destruction of his army, he sat down on his knees and prayed, until a Persian warrior çame and cut of his head. During the later half of the 1600s, the situation became unbearable in Iraq. It is then, in the year of 1674, that the High Porte of Istanbul appoints the Albanian Abdurrahman Pasha as the head of the vilayet of Bagdad. He is commeroated as a good leader who developed the city culturally; many buildings from his time remain, like the great mosque of Maruf Karhi.

More famous than others was the dynasty of Hasan Pasha from Dibra 1704-47. This man from the same region as Scanderbeg united all Iraqi vilayets and ruled them all; his son Ahmet Pasha continued in his path. Hasan Pasha prepared the country for wars; he installed a Spartanic law which recruited young lads (mamlyk) who were trained to become excellent warriors as they grew. He also developed the city; a quarteer bears his name, as does a mosque. He died in 1724.

His son Ahmet Pasha, ruled for an additional 20 years; during this time, the political and economical stability reached a high peak. A contemporary writer wrote that the economy is developing, justice is being implemented and security is high. When Nader Shah of Persia staged an invasion of Iraq, he tried to capture Bagdad. This was in 1732. Ahmet Pasha, however, lead an excellent defence with the help of local Arabs; the Persians were annihilated.

In the 1800s the Albanians continued their rule in Iraq. Husen Husni was one of them; he died in 1889 and was celebrated as the finest of all foreign rulers in Iraq. He was succeeded by Sirra Pasha, an Albanian intellectual who was the first one to actually translate the Code of Leka Dukagjini into a foreign tongue. He possesed a brilliant mind; he wrote 16 works about politics, philosophy, history and works of religious character. He founded many local schools and also the first book-printer in Basra -- he also founded the paper Al Basra.

Finally in 1904, the vali of Mosul was the Albanian Abdyl Vehab Pasha. He tried to develop the city and bring understanding between the vilayets.

From the newspaper "FAKTI".