The Dukaginzade in the Mediterranean

Over the centuries many families have claimed descent from one or several medieval Dukagjini branches. As research is moving forwards, more will be found about their links to the Dukagjini family. The Dukaginzade are the only historically documented surviving branch of the Dukagjini family today. They are direct descendants of Lekë III Dukagjini via his grandson Ahmed/Progon who became known as Dukaginzade (son of Dukagjin) in the Ottoman Empire. Spellings of the surname include Dukaginzade (pl. Dukaginzadeler), Dukakinzade, Dukaginoglu (pl. Dukaginogullari).

Dukaginzade Ahmed Pasha was a general in the Ottoman Empire. His original name before conversion to Islam was Progon. He was a damad (groom) of the Ottoman Imperial House as he was married to Gevhershah Ayse, daughter of Ayse Sultan, daughter of Sultan Bayezid II. Her father was Guveyi Arnavut (“the Albanian”) Sinan Pasha. Ahmed Pasha reached the highest rank in the Empire, the position of Grand Vizier. As he was closely connected to the rank-and-file of the army and didn’t support extensive campaigning which led to the loss of many lives, he was executed in 1515 by Sultan Selim I. Ahmed Pasha’s death was met with many riots in Albania as he pushed for many reforms which supported its people including tax exemptions, the right to bear arms and concessions for merchants in foreign markets. Ahmed Pasha’s policies for his home region were so long-lasting that Frang Bardhi in 1637 writes that the “men of Dukagjin are the only ones in the lands of the Ottomans who can bargain face to face with them while bearing their arms”. He built one of the earliest mosques in the city of Prizren, known as the Tabakhane Mosque. He and Gevhershah Ayse had two children: Dukaginzade Mehmed Pasha and Fatima Sultan.

Dukaginzade Mehmed Pasha (d. 21 January, 1557) was governor of Aleppo and Cairo. He undertook the massive construction project of the Al-Adiliyah Mosque complex in Aleppo, Syria. The complex was associated with large facilities for the economic and social development of the city. Because of his large charity works and piety, Ottoman historians have described him as a man "who was very charitable and generous and very close to religion". He was married to Gevherhan Sultan, daughter of Sultan Selim I. They had four children: Ahmed Bey, Osman Bey, Hasan Bey and Nislishah Sultan. He is buried in Eyüp District.

Dukaginzade Ahmed Bey was one of the sons of Mehmed Pasha and Gevherhan Sultan. As such he is known as "Sultanzade". Ahmed Bey was governor of Razgrad in northern Bulgaria, then a booming area which connected Istanbul with the Romanian principalities. One of the first mosques of the town was built by Ahmed Bey. It is unclear if a Dukaginzade governor of Smederevo (Belgrade) was Ahmed Bey, his father Mehmed Pasha or his son Mehmed Bey.

Ahmed Bey is known in Ottoman history for his contributions to Ottoman literature. He belonged to the Sufi school of thought in the 16th century. Sufism focuses heavily on themes of mysticism and esoteric aspects of Islam about the relation of the Divine and the individual Self. He left an extensive number of works, particularly in the form of ghazals as other Sufi mystics. Seven copies of his poetry collections have survived, the largest of which has 263 ghazals. He has been praised for his exploration of styles and use of many different languages including far eastern Chagatai Turkic. His son was Mehmed Bey, later in his life known as Dukaginzade Gazi Mehmed Pasha. Ahmed Bey died in 1556 and is buried in the Dukaginzade burial grounds complex in Eyüp. His sister Nislishah Sultan and other members of the family are buried in the same complex.

Diwan of Dukaginzade Ahmed Bey

Dukaginzade Osman Bey was a son of Dukaginzade Mehmed Pasha. Osman Bey was a historian and scholar (ulama) of Islamic law and taught at prestigious madrasas of the empire. He translated to Ottoman Turkish many works from Arabic and Persian. He lived exceptionally long for his era and died in 1603. He belonged to the class of scholars who moved to the upper judicial ranks. He had a long career in the Ottoman judicial system. He was kadi (chief judge) of Thessaloniki (1586-87, 1588-89), Yenişehir (1587), Üsküdar (1589-91), Mecca (1591-92), Cairo (1594-95) and finally of Istanbul, the imperial capital in 1600. The kadilik (judgeship) of Istanbul was the highest office in the empire. As Osman Bey approached the age of retirement, in 1601 he asked to be moved to Cairo for his final years.

He maintained correspondence with many individuals from the Ottoman intellectual class. A letter sent to him by the Ottoman poet Veysi has survived to this day. Osman Bey followed the Hanafi School of Islamic thought. He wrote several works, the largest and better known of which is Ezharü'l-cemail fi vasfi'l-evail, which he presented to Sultan Murat in 1603 just before his death. His tomb is located on the burial grounds of Ashik Pasha Mosque (Aşik Paşa Camii), Istanbul.

Dukaginzade Hasan Bey was kethüda (local governor) in the areas of Aleppo and Damascus. In the rebellion of Prince Bayezid against Suleiman he supported Bayezid and recruited many men in Syria for his cause. After Bayezid's defeat in 1559, he was captured and executed.

Dukaginzade Gazi Mehmed Pasha was sanjakbey (governor) of Shkodra (1570) and possibly held the same position in other areas of the Balkans like Smederevo and Kuystendil. His father or grandfather may have held these posts. Mehmed Pasha is linked to his great-grandfather's waqf in Prizren and its expansion which resulted in the building of the Bajrakli Mosque Complex, now known the League of Prizren Complex (named after the League of Prizren, an Albanian independence organization which used the building as its headquarters). Gazi Mehmed Pasha bequeathed a sum of more than 340,000 akce for the building of the complex. It included schools, a library, public baths and other facilities. The sum of 340,000 akce was an extremely high investment at the time. By comparison, the worth of the waqf (foundation) of the sanjakbey of Prizren was only 25,000 akce. Taking into account inflation and general trends, by modern standards it would be an expenditure of more than $7.5 million. Moreover, he provided 1/3 of his total wealth upon his death (more than $10 million) to be directly used by his descendants for the well being of the complex. The Bajrakli Mosque is located less ~1 km from the Tabakhane Mosque built by Dukaginzade Ahmed Pasha. Both stand as enduring symbols of the Dukagjini legacy in the city of Prizren, where according to Marin Barleti in the 15th century stood a bust of Nikollë Dukagjini, brother of Ahmed Pasha's grandfather, Lekë III.

Dukaginzade Gazi Mehmed Pasha considered Prizren an important part of his life. That's why he built his turbe (tomb) in the city in the Bajrakli Mosque complex. As such, had he lived long, he would be the first Dukagjini to be buried in their homeland in several centuries as all others lived and died elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire, in Italy or Slovenia. However, he wasn’t buried in Prizren, but in Hungary in 1594-1596 in an unknown location when he died in the midst of a military campaign.

Dukaginzade Ahmed Bey better known by his pseudonym Fasih Ahmed Dede was a poet, painter and calligrapher of the 17th century. Fasih Dede had a great influence on the poetry and literature of the Ottoman world of his era. When he died, as was customary, a chosen poet would send an inscription to be carved on his headstone. Fasih Dede was so widely known and popular throughout the Muslim world that two great poets of their time, Nihadi and the Khan of Crimea, Shahin Giray sent two headstones. As it was considered an immense honour that he received two inscriptions from distinguished individuals, both were placed over his grave.

Dukaginzade Ahmed Fasih Dede

He was born between 1625-1635 and described his genealogy as "Fasîh Ahmed b. Mehmed b. Dukakinzade Ahmed Bey b. Mehmed Pasha b. Ahmed Pasha". In his youth, Dukaginzade Ahmed entered the ranks of Ottoman administration under the Albanian Grand Vizier Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha in the Imperial Treasury and was his calligrapher. He abandoned a future career in administration, however, and in the early 1670s joined the Sufi Mevlevi Dervish Order when he met the famous poet Gavsî Ahmed Dede. Köprülüzade Fazıl was one of his great patrons in the Ottoman capital.

Fasih Dede died in 1699. He is buried in Galati Mevlevi, Istanbul. A huge crowd gathered to pay their respects in his burial. His masterful use of Turkish, Persian and Arabic in his works has been the subject of many studies.

Other branches of the Dukagjini family converted to Islam besides Progon/Ahmed Dukagjini/Dukaginzade. Gjergj Dukagjini's son Pal also converted to Islam and took the name Ahmed.. He still appears as a timar holder in the 1450s. This branch seems to have held lands in Tetovë. His sister Vella was married to a member of the Kuka family. Their son was a convert known as Vesi Bey. A descendant of Ahmed Bey must be Dukaginzade Yahya Bey, known as Taşlıcalı Yahya Bey, a reference to the mountainous landscape of Albania.

Yahya Bey was born around 1482 and lived during the era of Sulejman the Magnificent. He was educated in the Janissary academy and fought many campaigns including that of Iraq. His life experiences marked his thought and he became a poet. In fact, he was widely popular in the 16th century and had many patrons, including Grand Viziers, in the Ottoman capital. His poems are known for their simplicity and straightforwardness. In his poems, he frequently deals with more personal aspects of his life like his family and his ethnic origins. He died in 1582 in internal exile in Zvornik due to a poem he dedicated to Prince Mustafa, who was killed by Sulejman. He is buried either in Zvornik or in Loznice.

In Aleppo, due to the fame of the Al-Adiliyah Mosque built by Dukaginzade Mehmed Pasha, the family became known locally as El Adili in addition to Dukaginzade. The ancestral name and El Adili were used interchangeably since that era. This branch has produced many educators and scholars. One of them was Abd al-Latif Adili in the late 18th century. In Aleppo, in the 19th century Lutuf Bey Adili rose to the prestigious naqib al-ashraf position. A branch of the Dukaginzade of Aleppo settled in Istanbul. Its members today descend from Dukaginzade Mehmed Cemal Bey, father of the well known historian Feridun Dirimtekin. The family took the surname Dirimtekin after the Surname Law of 1934 in Turkey.

In the 20th century, the family played an active role in Syrian political life. Fuad Bey el Adili was Minister of Labor and Public Works of Syria (1930). His great grandson Omar El Adli Dukaginzade is the member of the family via whom the paternal line of the Dukagjini has been tested and verified as a subclade of J-L283. Fuad Bey maintained contacts with Albania and met with Albanian dissidents from the Dukagjin highlands who reached Syria after 1926-1927. When Zog I became King of Albania, he protested his coronation as he considered that the Dukagjini were the rightful heirs of the throne of Albania. Today, the family is present in many areas.