Haxhi Qamili, born Qamil Zyber Xhameta,[1] (1876 – 16 August 1915) was an Albanian rebel who was a leader of two pro-Ottoman revolts by Muslims in Albania from 1914 to 1915.
Qamili was a villager from Sharra (in Tirana) and was the Sheikh of a tekke belonging to the Melami order of dervishes that sought social equality and rejected wealth and luxury.
On 3 June 1914, the rebels, who were led by mufti Musa Qazim Beqari, made their demands known at a gathering in Kavaja, among which was the overthrow of the Western-installed Prince Wied.
Two days later, Prince Wied in Durrës was forced to abandon his six-month kingdom and the Muslim rebels legislated the re-union of Albania with the Ottoman state.
[16] In an effort to aid Essad's government and to further its own territorial aims, the Kingdom of Serbia launched an invasion of central Albania on June 2, 1915 but was promptly met by resistance led by Qamili at Qukës where, however, the rebels' outnumbered and outgunned forces were defeated by the Serbs.
[15] The Serbian forces arrested Qamili and other rebel leaders and sent them as prisoners to Durrës, where they were tried in a court presided over by Xhelal Bey Zogu and sentenced to be hanged.
[20] Works published during the communist period stated that the peasant rebels under Qamili's command confiscated the estates of the large landowners, set fire to houses of the beys, and provided support for the poor, infirm and orphans.
[10] Lulzim Hoxha meanwhile argues that the movement shows the "worship towards the central authorities as a patrimonial figure" and the perceived "necessity of a central paternal authority" under a "Sultanistic" political culture that he views as inherited from Ottoman rule but continued and sharpened under Enver Hoxha's communist regime noting that the movement used as a slogan "dum Baben" (we want our Father).