Sulejman Vokshi


Sulejman Vokshi was an Albanian military commander and a leader of the League of Prizren. A member of the central committee of the league as head of the finances commission, Vokshi also was an important leader of the organization's military branch and an officer of its military staff.

Life

Born in the village of Voksh as Sulejman Lokaj he was a member of the Vokshi clan of the wider Thaçi clan. During the Tanzimat period reforms he fought in the Albanian Revolt of 1843-1844, trying to not let the reforms take place in lands ruled by Albanian nobles, as the reforms would reduce their power.
For participation he was interned in Anatolia. In 1878, he was one the orchestrators of the attack against Ottoman marshal Mehmed Ali Pasha, an event that marked the first military action of the league. During the consequent Ottoman-Albanian conflict he fought alongside Haxhi Zeka and Vokshi's Prizren League forces captured the cities of Üsküb, Pristina and Mitrovica being one of the main military leaders of the League. He was captured in 1885. Vokshi was initially found guilty of treason and sentenced to death that later was commuted by sultan Abdul Hamid II to hard labour and imprisonment. He was eventually released during a general amnesty period in 1890s.