Iskander is better known as Skanderbeg a prince and national hero of Albania. Iskander was a young prince when his father's lands (Epirus) was taken over by the Turks. He was brought up a Moslem although secretly remaining Christian. When his father died the Turks saw Iskander's potential as an officer in their armies. Iskander was posted to Athens happily working with the Prince of Athens suppressing subjects insurrections.
The Rise of Iskander is typical of Disraeli's early fiction which featured messianistic heroes "whose political aims concentrated on national renewal because [Disraeli] also saw himself as a person of great promise who was strongly committed to upholding Britain's place in the world and its imperial authority.