Ottoman Albania in the context of "Zog I"

Tirana (/tɪˈrɑːnə/ tih-RAH-nə, Albanian pronunciation: [tiˈɾana]; Gheg Albanian: Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea in the distance. It is among the wettest and sunniest cities in Europe, with 2,544 hours of sun per year.

Tirana was founded in 1614 by Ottoman Albanian general Sylejman Pasha Bargjini, centered on the Old Mosque and türbe. The site of present-day Tirana has been continuously inhabited since the Iron Age and was likely the core of the Illyrian kingdom of the Taulantii, which in classical antiquity was centred in the hinterland of Epidamnus. Following the Illyrian Wars, it was annexed by the Roman Empire. With the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fourth century, most of Albania came under the control of the Eastern Roman Empire. The city was fairly unimportant until the 20th century, when the Congress of Lushnjë proclaimed it as Albania's capital after the Albanian Declaration of Independence in 1912.

Muhammad Ali (4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849) was the Ottoman Albanian viceroy and governor who became the de facto ruler of Egypt from 1805 to 1848, widely considered the founder of modern Egypt. At the height of his rule in 1840, he controlled Egypt, Sudan, Hejaz, the Levant, Crete and parts of Greece and transformed Cairo from a mere Ottoman provincial capital to the center of an expansive empire.

Born in a village in Albania, when he was young he moved with his family to Kavala in the Rumelia Eyalet, where his father, an Albanian tobacco and shipping merchant, served as an Ottoman commander of a small unit in the city. Ali was a military commander in an Albanian Ottoman force sent to recover Egypt from French occupation following Napoleon's withdrawal. He rose to power through a series of political maneuvers, and in 1805 he was named Wāli (governor) of Egypt and gained the rank of Pasha. As Wāli, Ali attempted to modernize Egypt by instituting dramatic reforms in the military, economic and cultural spheres. He also initiated a violent purge of the Mamluks, consolidating his rule and permanently ending the Mamluk hold over Egypt.

The Cretan Muslims or Cretan Turks (Greek: Τουρκοκρητικοί or Τουρκοκρήτες, Tourkokritikí or Tourkokrítes; Turkish: Giritli, Girit Türkleri, or Giritli Türkler; Arabic: أتراك كريت) were the Muslim inhabitants of the island of Crete. Their descendants settled principally in Turkey, the Dodecanese Islands under Italian administration (part of Greece since 1947), Syria (notably in the village of Al-Hamidiyah), Lebanon, Palestine, Libya, and Egypt, as well as in the larger Turkish diaspora.

Cretan Muslims were descendants of ethnic Greeks who had converted to Islam after the Ottoman conquest of Crete in the seventeenth century. They identified as Greek Muslims, and were referred to as "Turks" by some Christian Greeks due to their religion; not their ethnic background. Many Cretan Greeks had converted to Islam in the wake of the Ottoman conquest of Crete. This high rate of local conversions to Islam was similar to that in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, parts of western Greek Macedonia (such as the Greek Muslim Vallaades), and Bulgaria; perhaps even a uniquely high rate of conversions rather than immigrants. The Greek Muslims of Crete continued to speak Cretan Greek. European travellers' accounts note that the "Turks" of Crete were mostly not of Turkic origin, but were Cretan converts from Orthodoxy.

Bajram Curri (Albanian: [bajˈɾam t͡suri]), formerly known as Kolgecaj until 1952, is a town and administrative unit in the municipality of Tropojë, northeastern Albania, within the historical ethnographic region of the Gjakova Highlands. The town is located in a remote and mountainous region of the Albanian Alps, within the Valbonë Valley, and close to the border with Kosovo. It is named after Bajram Curri, a national hero who fought for ethnic Albanians, first against the Ottoman Empire and later against the Albanian government.

The Bektashi Order is an Islamic Sufi order that spread to Albania through Albanian janissaries during the period of Ottoman Albania. The Bektashi make up 5% of the country's population. In regards to ethics, the Bektashi adhere to the line "Be master of your hands, your tongue, and your loins" which essentially means do not steal, do not lie or speak idly, and do not commit adultery.

In Albania, the Bektashi Order has taken on a patriotic and nationalistic character, and it has played a major role in the Albanian National Awakening. Bektashi leaders have historically been prominent members in Albanian movements for self-determination and national autonomy, which has contributed to its popularity amongst the Albanians, and for most of Albania's Bektashi community, their affiliation with the order is based on cultural heritage rather than actual religious belief.

Zog I (born Ahmed Muhtar Bey Zogolli; 8 October 1895 – 9 April 1961) was an Albanian statesman and aristocrat who served as the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27, he first served as Albania's youngest ever Prime Minister (1922–1924), then as president (1925–1928), and finally as King (1928–1939).

Born to an aristocratic beylik family in Ottoman Albania, Zogolli was active in Albanian politics from a young age and fought on the side of Austria-Hungary during the First World War. In 1922, he adopted the name Ahmed Zogu. He held various ministerial posts in the Albanian government before being driven into exile in June 1924, but returned later in the year with Yugoslav and White Russian military support and was subsequently elected prime minister. Zogu was elected president in January 1925 and vested with dictatorial powers, with which he enacted major domestic reforms, suppressed civil liberties, and struck an alliance with Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy. In September 1928, Albania was proclaimed a monarchy and he acceded to the throne as Zog I, King of the Albanians. He married Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Appony in 1938, and their only child, Leka, was born a year later.