Peja is the fourth most populous city in Kosovo and serves as the seat of the Peja Municipality and the District of Peja. It is located in the Rugova region on the eastern section of the Accursed Mountains along the Lumbardhi i Pejës River in the western part of Kosovo.
Isa Boletini was an Albanian revolutionary commander and politician and rilindas from Kosovo.
The District of Peja is one of the seven districts of the Kosovo. It has its seat in the city of Peja. According to the 2024 census, the total population of the district is 146,301.
Ali Pasha Shabanagaj was an Albanian military commander and one of the leaders of the League of Prizren. He governed, as an Ottoman kaymakam (sub-governor), an area in what is today eastern Montenegro around Plav and Gusinje. He was commonly known as Ali Pasha of Gusinje. He was the leader of the Albanian irregular troops of the League of Prizren against the Principality of Montenegro at the Battle of Novšiće. He was governor of the area of Plav and Gusinje located in a valley between steep mountains.
Tringë Smajl Martini Ivezaj , known simply as Tringe Smajli, and as Yanitza outside Albania, was an Albanian guerrilla fighter who fought against the Ottoman Empire in the Malësia region. She was the daughter of Smajl Martini, a Catholic clan leader of the Grudë tribe of Malësia.
Haxhi Zekë Byberi mostly known as Haxhi Zeka was an Albanian nationalist leader, a member of the League of Prizren, while in 1899 he was part of the establishment and leadership of the League of Peja, another organization seeking protection of Albanians territories from Balkan states. Zeka was assassinated by a Serbian agent in 1902.
Azem Bejta, commonly known as Azem Galica, was an Albanian nationalist, resistance fighter and rebel who fought for the unification of Kosovo with Albania. He is known for leading the Kachak Movement against the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Mark Krasniqi was a Kosovar Albanian ethnographist, publicist, writer and translator who did most of his work while residing in Yugoslavia.
Rugova is a mountain region located to the north-west of the city of Peja, in Kosovo. According to notes of Rugova it has been inhabited since before the 12th century. In 2013, it was designated a national park by the Parliament of Kosovo.
The architecture of Kosovo dates back to the Neolithic period and includes the Copper, Bronze and Iron Ages, Antiquity and the Medieval period. It has been influenced by the presence of different civilizations and religions as evidenced by the structures which have survived to this day. Local builders have combined building techniques of conquering empires with the materials at hand and the existing conditions to develop their own varieties of dwellings.
Sali Jaha was an Albanian soldier and resistance fighter within the League of Prizren in Kosovo during the 19th century.
Albania's Golgotha: Indictment of the Exterminators of the Albanian People, is a German published document of 1913 which was written by the Austrian publicist and politician Leo Freundlich (1875-1953). The document is a compilation of news which he gathered when traveling in the Vilayet of Kosovo during the Serbian invasion of 1912-1913, explaining in detail the full-scale massacres, rape, expulsions, torture and abuse which Albanian civilians suffered under rule by the Serb army and Chetnik paramilitaries. According to the documents of Freundlich, 25,000 Albanians were massacred in the Kosovo Vilayet halfway through the First Balkan War. The document describes the methods of ethnic cleansing which was used to remove the Albanian population of North Macedonia, Northern Albania, and Kosovo. The document was re-translated by Robert Elsie. The reports were confirmed by the International Commission to Inquire into the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan War.
Sadik Rama was a Kosovo Albanian kaçak guerrilla fighter who fought against the Serbian annexation of Kosovo in 1912. Following the Ottoman defeat, he continued to participate along Isa Boletini and Bajram Curri in the national revolt of 1913–14 in Llapushe. He joined the kaçak guerrillas in 1919 with support from the Committee for the National Defence of Kosovo. He fought alongside Azem Bejta during his lifetime.
Shpend Dragobia was an Albanian warrior during the pre-Albanian declaration of independence period and later. He was the son of Bali Arif Bisheva, a member of the League of Prizren and fighter during the Albanian uprising of 1845-1862 against the German-born Marshal Mehmed Ali Pasha. Shpend Dragobia grew up to be a patriotic figure known for his wisdom, character and bravery.
Mahmut Pasha of Begolli or Mahmut Pasha was an Ottoman Albanian military commander of the Begolli family and Pasha of Peja, Sanjakbey of Dukagjin and later Beylerbey of Rumelia The Albanians participated in the siege of Vienna in 1683 as the personal bodyguard of Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa. Mahmut Pasha is a heroic figure in Albanian folklore and oral tradition.
Sulejman Aga Batusha or Sulejman Aga Botusha was a prominent Albanian resistance fighter and revolutionary leader from the Highlands of Gjakova and the wider Gjakova region who participated in the Albanian National Awakening. Born sometime in the 19th century, Sulejman Aga would repeatedly lead Albanian forces against the Ottomans throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, ultimately contributing to the Albanian Declaration of Independence from the Ottoman Empire. He was also a chief of the Gashi tribe and was their head in the Gjakova region.
Voksh is a village and tribal region situated in western Kosovo[a], which is inhabited by 570 people, all of whom are Albanians. The village of Voksh is also home to the Vokshi tribe which is part of the larger polyphyletic Thaçi tribe.
Ali Berisha is a medical doctor and politician in Kosovo. He was the mayor of Peja from 2007 to 2013 and served two terms in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo between 2016 and 2021. Berisha is a member of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK).
Mulla Jusuf Baftjari, also known as Hoxhë Lipovica, was a prominent Albanian Imam, later Mullah, Kachak and Ballist commander during the Insurgency in Karadak in World War II, a region predominantly inhabited by Muslim Albanians. He participated in the popular resistance against the Bulgarian fascists, Yugoslav Partisans and Chetniks in the Karadak region. Jusuf Baftjari, was renowned for his wisdom and religious leadership and emerged as a prominent figure among the Albanians of Karadak. Jusuf Baftjari led significant battles in Karadak, Anamorava and Gollak including the one in Rainca of Presheva. On Eid al-Adha in 1944, Jusuf Baftjari organized and led the fighting during the First Battle of Preševo. Even after the end of World War II, Jusuf Baftjari continued the armed resistance against Yugoslavia, being one of the last Ballist leaders in Kosovo to do so.
