The Sanjak of Delvina was one of the sanjak

Sanjak

Sanjaks were administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire. Sanjak, and the variant spellings sandjak, sanjaq, and sinjaq, are English transliterations of the Turkish word sancak, meaning district, banner, or flag...

s of the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 which county town

County town

A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...

 was Delvinë

Delvinë

Delvinë is a small town in Vlorë County in southern Albania, 16 km northeast of Saranda. Delvinë is the seat of the Delvinë District. Delvinë has lost over a third of its citizens since 1990, having a population of 4,200 .The city is built on a mountain slope...

 but during the 18th century became Gjirokastër

Gjirokastër

Gjirokastër is a city in southern Albania with a population of 43,000. Lying in the historical region of Epirus, it is the capital of both the Gjirokastër District and the larger Gjirokastër County...

, Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

. It was created in the middle of 16th century.

Name

During the 18th century the local Pasha moved the seat of the sanjak from Delvine to Gjirokastër. Its official named didn't change, however is was also referred as Sanjak of Gjirokastër.

History

In 1744 sanjakbey of the Sanjak of Delvina was Veli Beg. In 1785 Veli Beg's son, Ali Pasha

Ali Pasha

Ali Pasha of Tepelena or of Yannina, surnamed Aslan, "the Lion", or the "Lion of Yannina", Ali Pashë Tepelena was an Ottoman Albanian ruler of the western part of Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire's European territory which was also called Pashalik of Yanina. His court was in Ioannina...

, became a governor of Delvina, while in the following years the sanjak was part of the Pashalik of Yanina.

During the Balkan Wars

Balkan Wars

The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...

 and the subsequent Ottoman defeat, the Greek Army entered the city at March 3, 1913. In June 1914 the town hosted the constituent assembly of the representatives of Northern Epirus

Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus

The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus was a short-lived, self-governing entity founded on February 28, 1914, in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars, by the Greeks living in southern Albania ....

 that discussed and finally approved the Protocol of Corfu

Protocol of Corfu

The Protocol of Corfu , signed on May 17, 1914, was an agreement between representatives of the Albanian Government and the Provisional Government of Northern Epirus, which officially recognized the area of Northern Epirus as an autonomous region within the Albanian state...

, on July 26, 1914. Delvino then became part of the short-lived Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus

Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus

The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus was a short-lived, self-governing entity founded on February 28, 1914, in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars, by the Greeks living in southern Albania ....

.