Essad Toptani
PASHA, an Albanian soldier and military leader, born near Durazzo, about 1863. He served in the Turkish army and rose to the command of the gendarmerie of Constantinople. He fought in the war against Greece in 1897, and for his services was given the title Pasha. He killed the agent who had been ordered by the Sultan Abdul Hamid to murder his brother, Ghani Toptani, but his influence was so great that Abdul Hamid feared to punish him. Essad was instead transferred to Janina, where he rose to the rank of general. He joined the Young Turk movement in 1908 and was among the leaders who opposed Abdul Hamid.
During the Balkan War he defended Scutari against the Montenegrins, and when the Great Powers declared for the self-government of Albania, he declared for the independence of that country. In ESSEN 1913 he was a member of the provisional Albanian Government, and in 1914 was appointed Minister of War and of the Interior. He was assassinated in Paris in 1920.