Ballaban Badera

Ballaban Badera (also known as Ballaban Pasha) was a battle-hardened and experienced Ottoman commander from Mat, Albania.

He was a product of the Devshirme system just as was Skanderbeg of the Ottoman Army and one of the best generals on the employee of Sultan Mehmed II.

Ballaban fought Skanderbeg in April 1465 close to Ohrid. The Albanians were once more victorious, but a great many officers were lost, and among them Moisi Arianit Golemi of Dibra. They were sent to Constantinople, where they suffered an ignominious death after Mehmet II had failed in his attempts to turn them against Scanderbeg. These officers were subsequently skinned alive publicly in Istanbul. Ballaban Pasha received further help from the Sultan and was sent against Skanderbeg once more, this time near Upper Dibra, in the Valley of Vajkal where he was again defeated. He later came as a commanding general of the army under Mehmet II during the Third Siege of Kruja, where he kept the city besieged for just under a year. Badera was killed by an arquebus shot to the neck by Gjergj Aleksi, a defender of the city and a hunter is his civilian life. After his death the army lost its unity and was soon defeated.

Popular Culture

* Ballaban is one of the characters introduced in the Ballad of Heores expansion pack to the game Legendary Warriors. He is portrayed as a very powerful warrior and a skilled commander, and a rival to Skanderbeg. He spends much of the game in albania fighting Skanderbeg, so is not closely associated with the other ottoman generals. He wields a pair of large cutlesses.

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