Early years Doda was born in 1860 in
Orosh,
Mirditë District, the son of
Bibë Dodë Pasha of the Gjonmarkaj clan. His mother was Hide Ajazi, the daughter of Hasan Ajazi. His father was given the title
Pasha from the
Ottomans due to his support in suppressing the
Albanian Revolt of 1843–44 against the
Tanzimat reforms. He spent his youth in
Istanbul and returned to Mirdita in 1876. During the
Great Eastern Crisis,
Montenegro attempted to get Albanian tribes to revolt against the empire and Ottoman-Albanian officials of Shkodër attempted to counter those actions through negotiations with Doda. He was a contributor to the Albanian
League of Prizren in 1878. Dervish Pasha ordered the arrest of some of Albanian League notables and tribal chieftains for disobedience which included Doda.
Exile Doda was exiled to Anatolia by the Ottoman government and later given a post of Brigadier General in the palace of Sultan
Abdul Hamid II. While in Istanbul, Doda had become a member of the Young Turks. Local Muslim and Christian Albanian highlanders (Malisors) viewed Doda's return as more important than the Ottoman constitution. During the Albanian alphabet
Congress of Monastir of 1908, Doda sent a telegram of support for the
Bashkimi Alphabet which he viewed practical for communication and commerce. Doda offered assistance from his tribe during the
31 March Incident to quell the uprising and these sentiments where more due to fears that the Hamidian regime could return than loyalty toward the CUP. By 1911, Doda was a deputy in the Ottoman parliament and had expressed concerns to the Austro-Hungarian ambassador
Johann von Pallavicini in Istanbul about possible partition of Albania by its neighbours
Bulgaria,
Montenegro and
Serbia. Relations with the Young Turks broke down and Doda received overtures of support from Montenegro to establish an autonomous Catholic Albanian state provided he assisted Montenegrin forces during the
Balkan Wars. Doda having fallen led rebellions against the empire, on October 26, 1911 he founded in Mirdita a Provision Government of Albania together with
Terenzio Tocci, overruled by the Ottomans at that time.
Independent Albania In order to gain support of the
Mirdita Catholic volunteers from the northern mountains during the
Muslim Uprising in Albania in 1914
Prince of Wied appointed Doda to be the foreign minister of the
Principality of Albania. The government was paying a force of 5,000 to 7,000 under Doda's command. Doda's volunteers and the
International Dutch Gendarmerie were also joined by
Isa Boletini and his men, mostly from
Kosovo, as well as 2,000 tribesmen of
Mat under the command of
Ahmet Zogu. After
World War I, he served as Deputy Prime Minister in the government of
Turhan Pasha Permeti. He was in a very tense relationship with the Italian authorities established in Albania, and in a very good relations with the British diplomats. On 22 March 1919, while traveling from
Durrës to
Shëngjin in company of British diplomat Eden, he was targeted and killed in an ambush. ==See also==