Po redaktohet Krujë (paragraf)

== History ==
{{Expand section|date=October 2022}}

=== Early history ===
{{See also|Illyrians}}
{{Further|Principality of Arbanon}}

In ancient times the region of Krujë was inhabited by the [[Illyrians|Illyrian]] tribe of the Albani, while the town is located near the [[Iron Age]] Illyrian site of Zgërdhesh.<ref>Harding p.429</ref><ref name="stip">Stipcevic p.99</ref> Some scholars have identified the site with the main settlement of the [[Albani (Illyrian tribe)|Albani]], [[Albanopolis]], while others identified Albanopolis with Krujë itself.<ref name="stip"/><ref>Myers p.188</ref> During the [[Illyrian Wars]] the area of Krujë was captured by the [[Roman Republic]].

[[File:Kal-1.jpg|thumb|left|Krujë Castle is a major landmark located on the highest point of Kruje]]

Early medieval artifacts of Krujë include dress items and weaponry found in fifth- and sixth-century cemeteries, which display the high status and the wealth of the burials. Originally a middle-sized [[Krujë Castle|fortress]] like other urban centers, Krujë expanded to a town probably from the sixth to the ninth century AD.<ref>Spieser p.55-7</ref> In 1190 Krujë became the capital of the first Albanian state of the middle ages, the [[Principality of Arbër]] founded by [[Progon, Prince of Albania|Progon]] of the [[House of Progon]].<ref>Norris p.35</ref> During the reign of [[Gulam of Albania]] the principality was dissolved and incorporated in the newly founded [[Kingdom of Albania (medieval)|Kingdom of Albania]]. During the late 13th and early 14th century the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] and the [[Thopia family]] and in 1343<ref>{{harv|Buschhausen|Buschhausen|1976|p=35}}</ref> the [[Serbian Empire]] took control of the city. The Kingdom of Albania was eventually dissolved between 1363 and 1368, when [[Karl Topia]] captured its capital [[Durrës]] and incorporated its territories, including Krujë in 1363 in the [[Principality of Albania (medieval)|Princedom of Albania]].<ref>Lala p.27</ref> After 1389 the [[Thopia family|House of Thopia]] gradually lost control of the town, which by 1395 had come under Ottoman vassalage. The Ottomans lost control of Krujë in the early 15th century, when it was captured by [[Niketa Thopia]] and regained it in 1415.<ref name="Norris1993">Norris p.141</ref> After its recapture it was incorporated in the [[Sanjak of Albania]] and formed an administrative unit with the status of Subaşilik as attested in the regional register of 1431.<ref name="Norris1993"/> During the [[Albanian Revolt of 1432-1436]] the city was unsuccessfully besieged by [[Andrea Thopia]].

Until 1432, the [[subaşi]] (governor) of Krujë had been [[Zagan Pasha|Zagan Bey]]{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}, then Hizir Bey, and later during 1437—1438 [[Skanderbeg]] was its governor. In November 1438 Hizir Bey was again appointed as subaşi of Krujë until he was replaced in April 1440 by Umur Bey.<ref>{{Citation |last=İnalcık |first=Halil |author-link=Halil İnalcık |title=From empire to republic : essays on Ottoman and Turkish social history |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kIhpAAAAMAAJ&q=%22+on+fait+les+subasi+en+ordre+chronologique%2C+les+titulaires+suivants+%3A+en+1432+Hizir+Bey%2C+en+novembre+1438+encore+Hizir+Bey%2C+en+avril+1440+Umur+Bey.+Vers+1438+Iskender+Bey%2C+fils+de+Jean%22 |year=1995 |publisher=Isis Press |location=Istanbul |isbn=978-975-428-080-7 |oclc=34985150 |page=76 |quote=D'après le registre de l'an 1432, à Kruje on fait les subasi en ordre chronologique, les titulaires suivants : en 1432 Hizir Bey, en novembre 1438 encore Hizir Bey, en avril 1440 Umur Bey. Vers 1438 Iskender Bey, fils de Jean, avec le kadi de Kruje ont delivre des certificats (biti, mektub) sur des transfers de timar, operation qui indique que Iskander Bey (Scanderbeg le Kastriote) avait ete nomme subasi de Akcahisar (Kruje), avant que ne soit nomme a ce poste pour la deuxième fois Hizir Bey.}}</ref> On 28 November 1443 Skanderbeg gained control over Krujë by deceiving its subaşi with forged sultan's letter, and raised the first [[Albanian flag]] on the same day.<ref name="Norris1993"/> In 1444 Skanderbeg incorporated it in the [[League of Lezhë]], the confederation of the [[Albanian principalities]]. [[File:Pazari_i_vjetër_i_Krujës_06.jpg|thumb|297px|right|Alley of the old market]] From 1450 until 1477 Krujë was defended successfully by the Albanian troops four times against the Ottoman army, which eventually captured it in 1478 during the [[Fourth Siege of Krujë|fourth Siege of the city]]. During the [[First Siege of Krujë|first siege of Krujë]] in 1450, the 1,500 to 2,000 soldiers of the [[League of Lezhë]] under [[Vrana Konti]] and Skanderbeg defeated an Ottoman force of about 100,000 men led by Sultan [[Murad II]], who had tried to bribe Konti to surrender the castle of the town. In the following decade Krujë was first besieged in [[Second Siege of Krujë|1466]] and then in [[Third Siege of Krujë|1467]] unsuccessfully by [[Ballaban Pasha]] and Sultan [[Mehmed II]], whose total troops were about 150,000. After Skanderbeg's death in 1468, the city's garrison was supplemented by troops of the [[Republic of Venice]]. In 1476 the town was once more besieged by a ten-thousand-man army under [[Gedik Ahmed Pasha]]; however, the local garrison led by [[proveditor]] Pietro Vetturi fended off the Ottoman besiegers, who retreated after the arrival of reinforcements under Francesco Contarini and Nikollë Dukagjini. The city was eventually conquered by the Ottomans in 1478 after being besieged for over a year.<ref>Jaques p.549</ref> This success was viewed by the Ottomans as a good omen that the [[Siege of Shkodra (1478)|siege of Shkodra]] would also be successful.<ref>Barleti, Marin. Rrethimi i Shkodrës. Tiranë: Instituti i Historisë, 1967, pp. 48–49</ref>

=== Modern history ===

[[File:Króia - Lear Edward - 1851.jpg|thumb|left|170px|Town and fortress of Kruja depicted by [[Edward Lear]], 30 September 1848.<ref>{{cite web|editor-last=Elsie|editor-first=Robert|title=Albania in the Painting of Edward Lear (1848)|url=http://www.albanianart.net/painting/lear/lear010-12.htm|website=albanianart.net}}</ref>]]

During the [[Rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire|rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire]] Krujë became the battlefield of various anti-Ottoman rebellions also related with the imposition of new taxes. In 1906 the people of Krujë revolted once more against the Ottoman Empire.<ref name="gibb">Gibb p.285</ref> The [[Wāli]] of [[Shkodër]], Sali Zeki Pasha sent four battalions of the Ottoman army stationed in the city against the rebels of Krujë.[[File:Kruja Albania 2016 old bazaar.jpg|thumb|290px|The old bazaar and the mosque of Krujë]] After prolonged confrontations the Ottoman officials offered to begin negotiations with the rebels. On 20 September 1906 the leaders of Krujë and the Ottoman diplomats met at the Tallajbe quarter of Krujë to discuss the administrative status of the town, however, the Ottoman army under Şemsi Pasha ambushed the rebel leaders.<ref name="ash">History of the Albanian People p.450-70</ref> During the battle that followed, which became known in history after the Tallajbe district, about 30 people died including uninvolved civilians.<ref name="gibb"/><ref name="ash"/>
Throughout the [[Albanian Revolt of 1912]], that led to the creation of the [[Albanian Vilayet]] and later in the [[Albanian Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence of Albania]] Krujë, which was captured on 14 August, was one of the major anti-Ottoman centers.<ref name="pearsona">Pearson vol.1 p.27</ref> In 1914 [[Essad Toptani]], a member of the notable Toptani family of the region and officer of the Ottoman army, captured the town and incorporated it in the [[Republic of Central Albania]] making it a center of his movement, but in June of the same year it was reincorporated by [[Prênk Bibë Doda]] in the [[Principality of Albania]].<ref name="gibb"/><ref>Pearson vol.1 p.71</ref> On 20 December 1914 the local anti-Essadists, led by [[Abdi Toptani]] and Mehmet Gjinali, formed the Union of Krujë, which quickly extended its authority in central Albania.<ref name="pearsona"/><ref>Pearson vol.1 p.84</ref>

Following the [[Italian invasion of Albania]] the country became a [[protectorate]] of the [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Kingdom of Italy]]. [[Mustafa Merlika-Kruja]], a native of Krujë, who became the Prime Minister of the new regime ordered the formation of a 300-man gendarmerie force to defend the town against resistance groups. However, soon afterward, resistance leader [[Abaz Kupi]], another native of the town, created one of the first permanent resistance forces of Albania in Krujë and gradually took control of the region.<ref>Fischer p.111</ref> In 1943 at the assembly of Tapizë [[Balli Kombëtar]] proposed to the [[National Liberation Movement (Albania)|LNÇ]] the creation of provisional resistance government, with Krujë as the capital city, but this proposal was rejected by the LNÇ leaders.<ref>Fischer p.150</ref> In the end of November 1944, the last German troops stationed in the area were defeated and LNÇ battalions entered the town.