Dukaginzade Ahmed Pasha
Dukaginzade Ahmed Pasha, born Progon Dukagjini, was a general in the Ottoman Empire. He was beloved by the people of Albania and by the army wherever he went. His confrontation with the Sultan led to his execution, which was replied with massive riots across Albania. He is the progenitor of the Dukaginzade family.
Dukaginzade Ahmed Pasha is the grandson of Lekë III Dukagjini. His father Nikollë was married Yela Arianiti. They had two sons, Progon, as his original name was, and Lekë. In their childhood they lived in exile in Italy, but returned to Albania to support a rebellion against the Ottomans. The rebels and the Ottomans reached an agreement and the two brothers converted to Islam, taking the names Ahmed (Progon) and Mahmud (Lekë). Mahmud died soon after they went to Istanbul, but he may have had offspring in Italy.
Ahmed Pasha was beloved and massively respected in the Ottoman army, especially among the Janissaries many of whom were of Albanian origin themselves. As someone who had ties to the West, as in fact several Dukagjini branches still lived in Venetian territory, he was instrumental in many deals between western powers and the Ottomans. As part of these agreements, he often defended the interests of the Albanians within the Empire. In a treaty with Ancona, he gained significant concessions and trade rights for the merchants from Vlora, Janina and Arta. For the homelands of the Dukagjini family, which later became the Sanjak of Dukagjini, he gained tax exemptions and the right to bear arms for the locals. In Prizren, he built a mosque, in the then district of the Juma Mosque. Today, it is known as Xhamia e Ahmet Beut (Ahmed Bey’s Mosque) or Tabakhane Mosque.
Albanians who rose in the Ottoman court formed strong ethnic networks, supported each other and their people. Ahmed Pasha was part of this Albanian network and he closely collaborated with Guveyi Sinan Pasha known as Arnavut (the Albanian). Sinan Pasha was a high-ranking general in the Ottoman army and admiral of the Ottoman fleet in 1492-1493. He was damad (groom) of the Ottoman house and was married to Ayse Sultan, daughter of Sultan Bayezid II. Sinan Pasha's and Ayse's daughter was Gevhershah Ayse. On November 27, 1503 Dukaginzade Ahmed and Gevhershah were married. Their marriage made him a damad of the Ottoman dynasty. Their two children were Dukaginzade Mehmed Pasha, governor of Egypt and Fatma Sultan.
In 1503, he was sanjakbey of Ankara and by 1511 he was beylerbey (general governor) of Anatolia, the Ottoman heartland. In the Ottoman succession crisis between Prince Selim and Prince Ahmed, his support to Prince Selim was a key factor in his victory as he had great influence over the Janissary troops. When Prince Ahmed tried to enter the Ottoman capital on September 1511, the Janissaries revolted and removed all his supporters from positions of power. In the civil war which followed, Dukaginzade Ahmed Pasha was a frontline commander in all major battles and played a key role in the victory at Yenisehir. His troops forced Prince Ahmed into a trap and defeated him. Ahmed Pasha may have personally captured him after the battle. Contemporary reports which possibly refer to him mention that Prince Ahmed was found by a general whom he tried to bribe unsuccessfully. After Ahmed’s defeat, Selim secured his position as the new Sultan.
By the summer of 1513, Ahmed Pasha rose to the rank of vizier (minister in the Sultan's council) and was a head negotiator for a new peace treaty with Venice. Soon the Sultan launched a new grand campaign against the Safavids of Iran. Reports from contemporaries of Ahmed Pasha who had personal communication with him show that he was among the generals who were against the campaign as they considered that it would cost many lives. When the campaign started in 1514, Dukaginzade Ahmed had the command of 20,000 feudal knights. At the Battle of Chaldiran which decided the campaign, he was on the front line next to Selim I with the other viziers. The Ottomans won the battle and most of the Safavid army was destroyed. Ahmed Pasha after the battle was tasked with entering the Safavid capital and obtain its surrender.
No general wanted to continue the campaign after Chaldiran and Selim I was forced to stop for the winter in Amasya. The army was on the brink of revolt but with the intervention of Ahmed Pasha who rewarded them generously and had their respect, riots were averted. As Selim was furious with him and other generals for stopping the campaign, Ahmed Pasha was dismissed as a vizier. The traditional Ottoman way of doing so was by cutting down the crest of the general banner from his tent. When the Janissaries saw this action (28 October 1514), they immediately revolted and the situation became worse because there were rumors that Selim wanted to assassinate him. Under threat of generalized revolt, Selim I was forced to reinstate Dukaginzade Ahmed Pasha and promote him to the highest office in the empire, that of the Grand Vizier at the end of 1514. In February 1515, another Janissary revolt erupted and it seems that Selim I had targetted Ahmed Pasha because the troops sacked the residences of Selim's high-ranking supporters. Ahmed Pasha was blamed for organizing a conspiracy against him and Selim I finally executed him on March 1515. When his execution became known in Albania, riots erupted across major cities: Kruja, Shkodra and Lezha, the old centre of the Dukagjini family.
Ahmed Pasha’s building works in Prizren were continued by his descendants and culminated in the massive construction project of his great-grandson Dukaginzade Gazi Mehmed Pasha, who built what is now known as the League of Prizren Complex.