“League of Prizren” Seal Discovered in British Archives

An important document in Albanian history in the 19th century, when the country was under the Ottoman Empire and in danger of being annexed by neighbouring countries, has been recently discovered in the British National Archives in London. The document shows the seal of the League of Prizren, an Albanian political organization founded on June 10, 1878 in Prizren, Kosovo. The League, which operated until 1881, aimed at defending the Albanian-inhabited lands from being annexed by Slavic countries in the Balkans and sought autonomy for Albania under the Ottoman Empire.
The document, dated May 2, 1881, and written in the Ottoman language was found by Albanian researcher Bejtullah Destani. It was addressed to the British Ambassador to Istanbul by the League of Prizren which wanted the ambassador to exert his influence on the Ottoman government for the recognition of the four Albanian Vilayets known as Arnautlik (Albania). The document was also sent to British Foreign Secretary Earl Granville. Researcher Destani says the seal found in the document is of great historical importance because it is the first the Albanian League is known to have used.
He discovered the seal quite accidently while carrying out research into a file of Albanian Renaissance poet and patriot Vaso Pasha.