Current region Central Albania | Place of origin Kruje | |
Members Essad Pasha Toptani
Abdi Toptani
Sadijé Toptani
Murat Toptani
Fuat Toptani Estate 50,000 hectares between Durres and Tirana | ||
The Toptani family was the leading Albanian noble family in the central Ottoman Albania at the beginning of the 20th century. The Toptani family belonged to a small number of noble families appointed by the Ottomans who used local chieftains to control Ottoman Albania more easily. Essad Pasha Toptani, a head of the family at the beginning of the 20th century, claimed that his family descend from the Thopia family. According to some sources the name of this family is derived from the word Top which mean a canon, because his family owned a canon when artillery was rare.
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Estates
The Toptani family initially lived in Kruje before they moved to Tirana during the 17th century when many sipahis moved from rural regions of the Ottoman Empire to the cities. Their move from Kruje to Tirana probably contributed to the development of the sharecropping in Albania. The Toptani family possessed around 50,000 hectares near Tirana and Durrës and remained one of the main landowners until the end of the Second World War. The 19th century house of the Toptani family situated in the center of Tirana was turned into a museum.
Notable members
Nobable members of this family include: