Istorija ulcinjskog gusarstva u periodu otomanske vladavine
The history of Ulcinj piracy in the period of the Ottoman occupation

Summary/Abstract: A whole century before Ulcinj got under the Turkish rule Herceg Novi had already been occupied by the Turks. There were occasional pirates in it, but it was mainly a state port used by the Navy. The occupied Ulcinj was inhabited by 400 Algerian pirates. That enforced Moslem piracy in the area. While the pirates of Ulcinj immediately showed their ability to the Venetians, they had a fairly long period of trade and friendly relations with the Republik of Dubrovnik. The main area of the raids by the pirates of Ulcinj was the north of Albania with the ports in which Christian merchants loaded their ships with grain, wool and other products. Herceg Novi, on the other hand, was directed towards Dubrovnik area and coordination with the battle boats in the mouth of the Neretva. There were usually 3 to 4 boats, in 1625 9 were registered in Herceg Novi. The pirates of Ulcinj built many more boats as they were less controled by Venise and Dubrovnik. From the breakout of the Crete War, in particular from 1650 the great era of the piracy of Ulcinj began. The same period was the era of the development of the grain trade in the Venice governed town of Perast. Therefore it is no wonder that the pirates of Ulcinj and the merchants of Perast were the most frequent rivals in the ports of northern Albania. At the demand of the Christian forces the Turkish government had a part of Ulcinj boats burnt (1652, 1674, 1676), but the pirates of Ulcinj kept recovering. Their prestige was helped by the coordination with the pirates of Santa Maura. From 1660 on, the renegades of Ulcinj took those as far as the coast of Istria. It was the time when the known pirates Moro (1667) and Ramadan (1673) lived in Ulcinj. At the time Ulcinj became a large slave market. The slave trade was not actually run by the pirates themselves but the agents who sometimes happened to be pashas, janissaries and local military commanders.

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