Born in Frashëri village in the District of Përmet, he was part of a family of a declassed Spahi of Ottoman Albania, and the impoverished Bey from Permet.
The same Persian word reached English via another route in the form of spahi.
Sipahi |
He played with such famous names as Nesrin Sipahi and Zeki Müren.
He returned to French Sudan with the rank of Major in July 1895, distinguishing himself against the Tuaregs, that he defeated in a series of battles fought in 1897–98, that helped to secure French control on Timbuktu, endangered by the massacre near the city of a platoon of Sipahis in June 1897.