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From Bandit to Pasha: First steps in the Rise to Power of Ali of Tepelen, 1750–17841

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2009

Dennis N. Skiotis
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Extract

Machiavelli, in The Prince, compared the Ottoman Sultan's authority with that of the King of France and found the latter wanting.

All the Turkish monarchy is governed by one ruler, the others are his servants, and dividing his kingdom into ‘sangiacates’, he sends to them various administrators, and changes or recalls them at his pleasure. But the King of France is surrounded by a large number of ancient nobles, recognised as such by their subjects, and loved by them; they have their prerogatives, of which the king cannot deprive them without danger to himself.

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International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 2 , Issue 3 , July 1971 , pp. 219 - 244
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

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References

page 219 note 2 The Prince and the Discourses, Modem Library College Editions (New York, 1950), pp. 15–16.Google Scholar

page 219 note 3 PRO, FO 78/40, Drummond, to Hawkesbury, , 7 06 1802.Google Scholar

page 220 note 1 Ottoman chroniclers usually call these provincial despots mütegallibe (usurpers) or simply hanedan (noble families), while modern scholars tend to classify them as either ayans (notables) or derebeys (valley lords). However, there is little agreement among scholars on the exact meaning of the last two terms. Thus, Mordtmann, J. H. and Lewis, B., in ‘Derebey’, Encyclopaedia of Islam: New Edition (hereafter El2), vol. 2, pp. 206–8,Google Scholar apply the term to rulers of a permanent kind in Asia Minor only, the distinction being made between these Anatolian derebeys who ruled autonomous and hereditary principalities and ‘usurping Pashas… in other Ottoman provinces’, which, presumably, include the Balkans. Uzunçarşili, I. H., in Meşhur Rumeli Âyanlarindan Tirsinkli İsmail, Yilik Oğlu Süleyman Ağalar ve Alemdar Mustafa Paşa [Tirsinikli İsmail Ağa, Yilik Oğlu Süleyman Ağa and Alemdar Mustafa Pasha—Famous Ayans of Rumeli] (Istanbul, 1942), p. 3,Google Scholar on the other hand, calls both the Anatolian and the Balkan despots ayans, and skirts the controversy. Lewis, Bernard, The Emergence of Modern Turkey (London, 1961), p. 441,Google Scholar notes that ‘at times there is no clear distinction’ between the Balkan ayans and Anatolian derebeys. For this ‘resemblance’ see also ‘Âyan’, in Mehmed, Zeki Pakalin, Osmanli Tarih Deyimleri ve Terimleri Sözlüğü [Dictionary of Terms and Expressions for Ottoman History], vol. I (Istanbul, 1946), pp. 120–2;Google Scholar and H. Bowen, ‘Â'yan‘, El2, vol. 1, p. 778. Gibb, H. A. R. and Bowen, H., in Islamic Society and the West, vol. 1, part 1 (London, 1960), pp. 193–4,Google Scholar proceed even further. They define derebeys as Pashas ‘that had contrived to defy the government and their rivals long enough to found a dynasty’ and after noting that the first derebey families were indeed located in Anatolia, go on to state unequivocally that ‘later, Dere-beyis were to appear also in Rumelia and to eclipse in political importance their Asiatic counterparts’. It is evident from the above sampling that depending on the authority selected both derebey and ayan are used to describe these permanent governors regardless of whether they happen to be in Anatolia or Rumeli. For example, Ali Pasha of Yannina, the subject of this study, is called an ayan by Halil, Inalcik, in ‘Sened-i Ittifak ye Gulhane Hatt-i Hümâyûnu’ [The Deed of Agreement and the Imperial Rescript of Gülhane], Belleten, vol. 28 (1964), p. 610,Google Scholar and is included among the derebeys by Davison, R. H., Reform in the Ottoman Empire: 1856–1876 (Princeton, 1963), p. 26. To avoid this confusion, which in the case of the Balkan overlords at least arises from the rather contrived attempts to subsume them under Turkish linguistic and sociological categories, I have preferred to stay on what seems to me to be the more straightforward path of calling Ali ‘tyrant’ or ‘despot’ or ‘satrap’, which is what the majority of his subjects, who were Greek, actually did.Google Scholar

page 220 note 2 Stavrianos, L. S., The Balkans since 1453 (New York, 1963), p. 218.Google Scholar

page 221 note 1 For only the most recent confirmation of Ali Pasha's primacy among the Balkan satraps see Arsh, G. L., Albaniia i Epir v kontse X VIII-nachale XIX v. [Albania and Epirus at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries] (Moscow, 1963), p. 302;Google Scholar for the same judgment by a Turkish historian see Halil, Inalcikop. cit. (page 220, note i), p.610.Google Scholar On population, since there are no official Turkish statistics for the Ottoman provinces at this time, reliance must be placed on European calculations. Contemporary estimates range as low as 1,000,000 for the area in continental Greece (bounded to the north by a straight line from the Thermaic Gulf to the Straits of Corfou) where ‘the Greek language is in common use’, in Leake, W. M., An Historical Outline of the Greek Revolution (London, 1826), pp. 20–1;Google Scholar and as high as 2,000,000 for the mixed Greek and Albanian population under Ali's rule in 1820, which would consequently exclude the inhabitants of the Morea, in PRO, CO 136/425, Meyer to Maitland, 10 Mar. 1820. The 1.5 million estimate was advanced by Bessières, J., in Mémoire sur la Vie et la Puissance d'Ali-Pacha (Paris, 1820), p. 34,Google Scholar often attributed incorrectly to F. C. H. L. Pouqueville. Bessières' calculations were based on detailed reports of French military intelligence. This estimate is accepted by Arsh, , Albaniia, p.260.Google Scholar Regarding the military forces Ali Pasha was able to raise in 1820, see CO 136/14, Maitland, to Bathurst, , 20 04 1820.Google Scholar On Ali's economic policies, besides the relevant chapters in the general biographies, see Patseles, N., He Oikonomike Politike kai ho Ploutos Ale Pasa ton loanninon [The Economic Policy and the Wealth of Ali Pasha of Yannina] (Athens, 1936);Google ScholarAndréadès, A., ‘Ali Pacha de Tébelin, économiste et financier', Revue des Études Grecques, vol. 25 (1912), pp. 427–60;CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Arsh, G. L., ‘K Voprosu ob ekonomicheskoi politike Ali-pashi Ianinskogo’ [On the question of the economic policy of Ali Pasha of Yannina], Novaia i Noveishaia Istoriia, No. 6 (1958), pp. 103–12.Google Scholar For Ottoman estimates of Ali's total revenues (the 20,000,000 piastres were about 18,000,000 French francs of that time), see AE Turquie, 235, Bulletin, 14 Feb. 1822, fol. 102. There is disagreement between Turkish and Greek historians regarding the number of çiftliks owned by Ali Pasha. Thus, Halil, Inalcik, in ‘Arnawutluk’ [Albania], EI2, vol. 1, p. 657,Google Scholar and Baysun, M. C., in ‘Au Paa, Tepedelenli’, Islâm Ansikiopedisi [in Turkish], vol. 1, p. 347,Google Scholar give the number as approximately 200, probably relying on Tarih-i Cevdet [Cevdet's History], vol. xii (Istanbul, A.H. 1309), p. 35,Google Scholar and Tarih-i Lûtft [Lûffi's History], vol. 1 (Istanbul, A.H. 1290), p. 230.Google Scholar But see the list of çiftliks in Aravantinos, S. P., Historia Ale Pasa tou Tepelenle [History of Ali Pasha of Tepelen] (Athens, 1895), pp. 601–10;Google Scholar and Patseles, , Oikonomike Politike, pp. 29–30;Google Scholar and also Tsopotos, D. K., Ge kai Georgoi tes Thessalias [Land and Farmers of Thessaly] (Volos, 1912), pp. 183–214, all of whom put the number at close to 1000. This last count seems more accurate since in only two of the dozen or so sancaks Ali ultimately controlled and owned lands in (those of Yannina and Aviona) it is certain that he possessed 230 çftliks. See BBA, HH, 39051.Google Scholar

page 221 note 2 Anderson, M. S., The Eastern Question: 1774–1923 (London, 1966), p. 41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

page 221 note 3 Ali Pasha was singularly unconcerned with religious questions except as they related to politics. When the British agent, Leake, spoke to him of Muhammad, he replied, ‘And I too am a prophet at loannina’, see Leake, W. M., Travels in Northern Greece, vol. iv (London, 1835), p. 285.Google Scholar His connexion with Bektashism (a pantheistic Muslim sect that took a liberal stand on social issues), noted by Birge, J. K., in The Bektashi Order of Dervishes (London, 1965), pp. 72–3,Google Scholar and Hasluck, F. W. in Christianity and Islam under the Sultans, vol. II (Oxford, 1929), pp. 537, 588, gave him leverage with both the many Albanians who belonged to the sect, as well as with the Janissary Corps, the real kingmaker in the capital.Google Scholar

page 222 note 1 Byron, of course, led the way in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. Ali Pasha and a fictitious daughter, ‘Haydée’, found their way into the Count of Monte Cristo, and Victor Hugo in the Introduction to a collection of his poems, including one based upon an episode of Ali's life, goes so far as to say that Ali was ‘le seul colosse que ce siècle puisse mettre en regard de Bonaparte…cet homme de génie, turc et tartare a la vérité, cet Ali-Pacha, qui est à Napoléon ce que le tigre est au lion, le vautour à l'aigle’. See Les Orientales in Œuvres Complètes de Victor Hugo (Paris, 1829), p. 5.Google Scholar

page 222 note 2 Byron's characterization. See Spender, H., Byron and Greece (London, 1924), p. 38.Google Scholar

page 222 note 3 For an informative discussion of travel reports as historical sources, see Lewis, B., ‘Some English Travellers in the East’, Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 4 (1968), pp. 296–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar For our purposes, the most reliable sources of this kind are: Leake, W. M., Travels in Northern Greece, 4 vols. (London, 1835);Google ScholarGuilluarne, de Vaudoncourt, Memoirs on the lonian Isles… including the Life and Character of Ali Pacha, the Present Ruler of Greece (London, 1816);Google ScholarHolland, H., Travels in the lonian Isles (London, 1815);Google ScholarHughes, T. S., Travels in Sicily, Greece and Albania, 2 vols. (London, 1820);Google Scholar and Bessières' Mémoire, previously cited. The works of F. C. H. L. Pouqueville, French consul in Yannina from 1806–13: (1) Voyage en Morée, 3 vols. (Paris, 1805);Google Scholar (2) Voyage de la Grece, 6 vols. (Paris, 1826–1827);Google Scholar (3) Histoire de la Régénération de la Grece, 6vols. (Brussels, 1843),Google Scholar though a mine of information on Ali, must be used with selectivity and caution as his narrative fairly teems with romantic exaggerations and purple patches. Besides the numerous early biographies, all largely based on Pouqueville, of which the best-known are Alphonse, de Beauchamp, Vie d'Ali Pacha (Paris, 1822),Google Scholar and Davenport, R. A., The Life of Ali Pasha (London, 1837),Google Scholar the single work that has most influenced subsequent writing on Ali Pasha is Aravantinos' Historia Ale Pasa, previously cited. In addition to a critical examination of most of the travellers, Aravantinos used Greek chronicles and other local documents. Ahmed, Müfid'sTepedelenli Ali Paşa: 1744–1822 (Istanbul, A.H. 1324),Google Scholar the only study in Ottoman Turkish, is little more than a condensation of Aravantinos. Both Boppe, A., L'Albanie et Napoléon (Paris, 1914)Google Scholar and Remérand, G., Ali de Tébélen: Pacha de Janina, 1744–1822 (Paris, 1928),Google Scholar draw on French diplomatic papers. But Boppe's subject is limited to the period suggested in his title, and Remérand's usefulness is diminished by the almost complete lack of references to the documents. A good, though very brief, survey of British relations with Ali is Baggally, J. W., Ali Pasha and Great Britain (Oxford, 1938).Google Scholar The best study, though not all of it devoted to Ali, is the previously cited work by Arsh, Albaniia…, which makes extensive use of Russian archival materials casting ample light on that side of Ali's foreign relations. Among popular biographies, Plomer's, W., Ali the Lion (London, 1936), is undoubtedly the most authentic and readable.Google Scholar

page 223 note 1 The cases of the villages Hormovo and Gardiki, destroyed in 1784 and 1812 respectively, come readily to mind.

page 224 note 1 Quotations are from: Brève Histoire de l'Albanie et du peuple Albanais (Bucharest, 1919), pp. 61–62Google Scholar (my translation), and History of the Greek Revolution, vol. I (Edinburgh, 1861), p. 80.Google Scholar

page 224 note 2 On this new attitude, see Vranouses, L. I., Athanasios Psalidas (Ioannina, 1952);Google ScholarMichalopoulos, F., Ta Giannena ki' he Neoellemike Anagennese [Yannina and the Modem Greek Renaissance] (Athens, 1930);Google ScholarZotos, D. A., He dikaiosyne eis to Kratos tou Ale Pasa [Justice in the State of Ali Pasha] (Athens, 1938).Google ScholarPeter, Topping, in ‘Greek Historical Writing on the Period 1453–1914’, The Journal of Modern History, vol. 33 (1961), p. 165,Google Scholar states that ‘A modern account of the famous vizir is a primary desideratum of Greek, Turkish, and Balkan historiography.’ For a similar view by a Greek scholar, see Tomadakes, N. B., ‘He 28e Oktobriou 1940 en shesei pros ten anthesin ton grammaton en Epeiro pro tou hierou agonos’ [The 28th of October in relation to the flowering of letters in Epirus before the sacred war], Episteimonike Epeteris tes Philosophikes Scholes tou Panepisteimiou Athenon, vol. 11 (1960–1), p. 63 and n.Google Scholar

page 224 note 3 This official was the Supreme Naval Commander in the Levant and Governor- General of the Ionian Islands. For his monitoring of the Turkish mainland, see ASV, Provv., Filza 1003, Relazione dell Eccmo Sig Fran Grimani Provv Gnl da Mar all Eccmo Sig Alvise Contarini suo successore, 31 Aug. 1761.

page 225 note 1 PRO, FO 42/2, Spiridion, Foresti to Grenville, , 28 05 1795.Google Scholar

page 225 note 2 Kosma, tou Thesprotou, ‘Perigraphe Geographike Albanias’ [Geographical Description of Albania], Geographia Albanias kai Epeirou [Geography of Albania and Epirus], ed. Papacharises, A. H. (Ioannina, 1964), p. 20.Google Scholar

page 225 note 3 Albanian historians, in Historia e Shqipërisë [History of Albania], vol. I (Tirana, 1959), p. 433,Google Scholar claim Ali was actually born in Beçisht, a small suburb of Tepelen (Tepedelen in Turkish). Tepelen and its environs constituted a nahiye (administrative sub-district) of the sancak of Avlona (BBA, Cevdet T, 4971, 2710, 2699). According to Müfid, Tepedelenli Ali, p. 32Google Scholar (see also the genealogical table, p. 192), Ali's earliest known ancestor was a Mevlevi dervish, Nazif, originally from Kütahya in Asia Minor, who settled in Tepelen at the beginning of the seventeenth century; in succession after Nazif came Hüseyin, Mustafa, Salib, Muhtar, and Veli, who was Ali's father. Aravantinos, Historia, pp. 1–2, claims that Hüseyin was the first to come from Asia Minor and moreover shows Mustafa as the father of Muhtar, omitting Salih altogether (p. 4). On the latter point, Aravantinos is correct (BBA, Cevdet D, 11047). In Semseddin Sâmi, ‘Ali Paşa, Tepedelenli’, Kamus al-a'lâm [Dictionary of proper names], vol. IV (Istanbul, A.H. 1311), p. 3190,Google Scholar Ali's grandfather is incorrectly given the name of the grandson. However, Hughes, Travels, vol. II, p. 100n, who examined Ali's origins thoroughly, is of the opinion, as are most the other travellers, that Ali's ancestors were native Christian feudal lords who converted to Islam as did many of that class. On the Moutzohoussates, see Leake, , Travels, vol. I, pp. 41–2.Google Scholar We can be certain that Moutzo Housso became a Bey because his sons inherited the title, see BBA, Cevdet D, 11047. It is Müfid, p. 32, who asserts that he also held the post of mütesellim. The ballad appears, in Greek, in Aravantinos, P. A., Sylloge Demodon asmaton tes Epeirou [Collection of Folk Songs of Epirus] (Athens, 1880), No. 31, p. 27 (my translation).Google Scholar

page 226 note 1 BBA, Cevdet D, 11047. This type of brigand should not be confused with the Christian klepht discussed below. The distinction is that between ‘landlords’ bandits’ and ‘peasant bandits’ made by Hobsbawm, E. J., in Primitive Rebels (New York, 1965), p. 13.Google Scholar

page 226 note 2 See Hatze, Sehretes, ‘He Alepasias’, Historikai Diatribai, ed. Sathas, K., Part 3 (Athens, 1870), p. 132.Google Scholar Sathas published most of the MS which carries the story to 1812 (over 10,000 verses) now located in the National Library in Athens; and Leake, who acquired another copy of the MS (but one which covered events only to 1804) included portions of it in his Travels, vol. I, pp. 463–97. Despite the poet's flattery, this much neglected source is of great value, as the poet is well informed and has made an accurate record of events, including many good analyses of the motivations of the principals. There is another more legible copy of the MS in the Gennadeios Library in Athens, which differs in minor respects from the one in the National Library.Google Scholar

page 226 note 3 On these conflicts in Albania, see Finlay, , History, vol. 1, pp. 44–5.Google Scholar For the villages under the Moutzohoussates, see ‘Chronikon Anekdoton Epeirou’ [Unpublished Chronicle of Epirus], ed. Sathas, K., in Pandora, vol. 15 (1864), p. 263, very informative on Ali's ancestry and early life. Most Greek historians attribute this chronicle to G. Tourtoures, one of Ali's Greek advisors. The ‘Riza’ area included other villages as well. See A. Psalida, ‘Perigraphe Geographike tes Epeirou’ [Geographical Description of Epirus], Geographia, ed. A. H. Papacharises.Google Scholar

page 226 note 4 BBA, Cevdet D, 17006.

page 227 note 1 BBA, Cevdet Z, 1102.

page 227 note 2 BBA, Cevdet D, 14418; and ASV, Provv., 1007, Contarini, to Doge, , 25 12 1762,Google Scholar from which we learn that Veli Pasha arrived in Delvino in Dec. at the head of 2000 men. On Veli's being a Pasha, see also ‘Chronikon Anekdoton’, 263; Hatze Sehretes, 130 et passim; ‘Historika Epanorthomata’ [Historical Rectifications], ed. Kremos, G., Parnassos, vol. 7 (1883), 950Google Scholar (a chronicle generally attributed to G. Oikonomou); Généalogie d'Ali Pacha, No. 18 of Collection de Monuments pour servir à l'étude de la Langue Néo-Hellenique (Paris, 1871), ed. Legrande, E., p. 9. A Veli Pasha is also shown as mutasarrif of the sancak of Aviona, in February 1763, who is most probably the same person (BBA, MD, 163, p. 65).Google Scholar

page 227 note 3 Aravantinos, Historia, pp. 6Google Scholar and n. and 7, asserts that neither Islâm nor Veli was ever a Pasha. The Ottoman chroniclers and reference works, which are not very reliable on the numerous Pashas of Albania, make the same error. See Tarih-i Cevdet, vol. XII, p. 34,Google Scholar and Mehmed, Süreyya, ‘Ali Paşa’, Sicill-i Osmani [Ottoman Register], vol. III (Istanbul, A.H. 1311), p. 558.Google ScholarMüfid, , p. 34, shows Veli as a Pasha, but with the position of mütesellim of Tepelen. M. C. Baysun op. cit. does the same.Google Scholar

page 227 note 4 ‘Perigraphe tea Bor. Albanias kai tes Bor. Epeirou apo to G. Demetriou ex Argyrokastrou (1783)’ [Description of Northern Albania and Northern Epirus by G. Demetriou of Argyrokastron], trans. and ed. Laīos, G., in Epeirotike Hestia, vol. 5 (1956), p. 650Google Scholar n. A most valuable source by a knowledgeable contemporary, only recently made available to students of Ali and Epirus through the research of Mr Laīos in the Austrian Archives. The opinion of Leake, , Travels, vol. 1, p. 61,Google Scholar and Aravantinos, , Historia, p. 476, that Ali might have belonged to the Liape tribe of Albanians rather than the Tosk, must, therefore, be rejected.Google Scholar

page 227 note 5 According to Leake, , Travels, vol. 1, pp. 37–8,Google Scholar Ali could read and write Greek as well as read Ottoman Turkish in addition, of course, to his native Albanian, which at that time was only a spoken language. In the course of my research I have found a number of documents with annotations in the margins in Greek that appear to be in Ali's own hand. One such document was published by Müfid, p. 5. On Ali as a pupil, see Pouqueville, , Histoire, vol. 1, p. 13,Google Scholar who quotes Jérôme de la Lance, an Italian who had sought refuge near Veli Pasha and ‘practised’ medicine in Yanrnna until 1806. Also Hughes, , Travels, vol. 2, p. 102.Google Scholar

page 228 note 1 Pouqueville, , Histoire, vol. 1, p. 15.Google Scholar

page 228 note 2 The date of the marriage is unknown. Aravantinos, Historia, pp. 23–4,Google Scholar relying on Pouqueville, , Histoire, vol. 1, pp. 20–2,Google Scholar puts it at 1768. Both writers proceed to show how Ali consequently intrigued with the Porte and succeeded in having his father-in-law executed for treason because he would not participate in a campaign against the rebellious Montenegrins. But numerous Ottoman documents (for example: BBA, Cevdet D, 4944, 927, 17105, Cevdet Z, 242) show that Kaplan Pasha was executed in very early 1766 for having committed the usual offenses (theft of tax moneys, murder of his rivals, etc.), while mutasarrif of Delvino in the year 1763 (BBA, MD, 163, p. 112; Cevdet D, 15547; Cevdet M, 7293, 29471), and there is no evidence that Ali had any part in this affair. Aravantinos, P. A., in Chronographia tes Epeirou [Chronicle of Epirus], vol. I (Athens, 1856), p. 261,Google Scholar gives the marriage date as 1764, which would be consistent with all the other writers' view that Kaplan Pasha was living when Ali married his daughter. There is, however, no compelling reason in the form of documentary evidence to assume that Ali must have married before Kaplan Pasha's death. In fact, if his sons' age is any indication, it appears quite possible that the marriage occurred some time after 1770. Finally, all the sources, excepting Müfid, , Tepedelenli Ali, p. 42,Google Scholar and Remérand, , Ali de Tébélen, p. 20,Google Scholar give the name of Ali's wife as ‘Eminé’, but there is no doubt it was, in fact, Urnmügulsüm, as inscribed on her tombstone. See Christos, Soules, ‘Tourkikai Epigraphai loanninon’ [Turkish Inscriptions of Yannina], Epeirotika Chronika, vol. 8 (1933), p. 91.Google Scholar

page 228 note 3 For a detailed treatment of this process, see Everett, E. Hagen, On the Theory of Social Change (Homewood: Dorsey Press, 1962), pp. 82 ff.Google Scholar

page 228 note 4 Pouqueville, , Histoire, p. 6;Google ScholarIbrahim, Manzour Efendi, Mémoires sur la Grèce et l'Albanie (Paris, 1828), p. 4;Google Scholarcf., Hughes, Travels, vol. 2, p. 100;Google ScholarHolland, , Travels, p. 103;Google ScholarVaudoncourt, , Memoirs, p. 217;Google ScholarHobhouse, J. C., A Journey through Albania, vol. I (London, 1813), p. 114;Google ScholarPerraibos, C., Apomnemoneumata Polemika [War Memoirs], vol. II of Apomnemoneumata Agoniston tou 21 [Memoirs of the Fighters of (18)21], ed. Protopsaltes, E. G. (Athens, 1956), p. 70.Google Scholar

page 229 note 1 See: ‘Perigraphe-Demetriou’, p. 645, which puts the date of birth at 1750; Psalidas, A., Historia tes Poliorkias ton Ioanninon: 1820–1822 [History of the Siege of Yannina], ed. Papakostas, A. N., reprint from Neos Koubaras, vol. 2 (1962), p. 56,Google Scholar which gives it as 1752, and PRO FO 78/44, Morier, to Hawkesbury, , 30 06 1804, also 1752; and AE Turquie, 191, Hénin to Comité de Salut Public, 12 Messidor An 3 (30 June 1795), which places it sometime between 1745–1750.Google Scholar

page 229 note 2 See Vaudoncourt, , Memoirs, p. 257, and especially ‘Perigraphe-Demetriou’, p. 650 n. ‘Ali was still a boy when his father died… when he became 12 years of age he set forth to assume the management of his House.’Google Scholar

page 229 note 3 Hughes, , Travels, vol. 2, p. 93.Google Scholar

page 229 note 4 ‘Anekdoton Chronilcon’, pp. 263–6 and 285–6.

page 229 note 5 Ali's capture by Kurt Pasha is another of these thorny and unresolved problems of his early life. The generally accepted version, again based on Pouqueville, is that he was taken prisoner in 1764, before his marriage and at a time when Kurt Pasha was Derbendler Başbğu (Guardian of the Passes) and mutasarrif of Avlona. According to Ottoman documents, however, Kurt did not become mutasarrif of Delvino until 1771, of Avlona until 1772, and Derbendler Başbuğu until 1774 (BBA MD, 170, p. 2; 171, p. 76; and 169, p. 77). This discrepancy can only be resolved if we date Ali's capture or connexion with Kurt Pasha much later, in 1775, when we know that All was in Kurt's service (p. 230 below), or if we accept the view advanced by Vaudoncourt, , Memoirs, pp. 222–30,Google Scholar and Hughes, , Travels, vol. 2, pp. 109–11 that Ali was captured or otherwise connected with Kurt not once but twice, the former instance occurring at some unverified earlier date when Kurt was probably no more than a Bey himself.Google Scholar

page 230 note 1 ‘Anekdoton Chronikon’, pp. 286–7.

page 230 note 2 However, there are some tantalizing passages in a number of Venetian documents that might be referring to young Ali but which await corroboration to make absolutely certain. In the spring of 1772 a number of Muslim Albanians under Süleyman Ağa of Margariti were engaged in hostilities against the Christian tribe of Suliotes. Frequent mention is made of ‘Beys of Tepelen’ (ASV Provv., 1021, Mayors of Parga to Querini, 13 April 1772, filed as insert 7 in dispatch of Querini to Doge, 23 May 1772), but it is quite evident that since they are persons of relatively minor importance the Venetians often confuse them with other Beys from other areas. For example, one document (ASV Provv., 1021, Querini to Doge, 10 June 1772) speaks of ‘Silam’ Bey of ‘Tepeteni’, ‘Saglian’ Bey, and Ali Bey of Clissura, while the report from which this information was extracted (Provv. of Santa Maura to Querini, 31 May 1772, filed as insert No. 2 a to above) refers to ‘Assulam’ Bey of Clissura and Ibrahim Bey of Tepelen, etc. Since we know that Ali of Tepelen was, later in 1775, fighting alongside his kinsman, Islâm Bey of Clissura, and since these two proper names and place names are juxtaposed quite frequently in the above documents, it is possible to make an educated guess and hazard the opinion that Ali of Tepelen participated in this war of 1772 against the Suliotes. From another document (ASV, Provv., 1024, Renier to Doge, 27 June 1773), we are informed that great numbers of Albanians led by ‘Velli Passà di Zepeleni’ and the Turkish ‘Sagiambej’ of Clissura (the same combination again), were threatening Yannina and Arta and intended to march south to Xeromero. Since the collective weight of the available evidence clearly shows that Veil was long dead by this time (p. 229 above), it is extremely probable, barring the marvellous, that this last document does indeed refer to Ali and Islâm Bey of Clissura. (My guess is that the dispatch writer simply omitted the son's name when transcribing from their various agents’ reports; unfortunately, the relevant inserts are missing in this Filza.)

page 230 note 3 For quotations, and the conflict between the two Pashas, see ASV Provv., 1026, Renier, to Doge, , 14 03 1775. On Ali's role, see ‘Perigraphe-Demetriou’, pp. 648–9 n.Google Scholar

page 231 note 1 See ‘Perigraphe-Demetriou’, pp. 645, 649–50 n. Also PRO, FO 78/44, Morier, to Hawkesbury, , 30 06 1804. ‘Rumeli’ is used here in a regional rather than in the Ottoman administrative sense. To the Greeks of the eighteenth century it meant the mainland north of the Morea, from Attica to Bulgaria and from the Straits to Albania.Google Scholar

page 231 note 2 BBA, HH, 57874, 57875; Bessières, , Mémoire, p. 2;Google Scholar ‘Perigraphe-Demetriou’, pp. 644–5; and Papadopoulos-Kerameus, A., ‘Thessalika Semeiomata’ [Thessalian Notes], Epeteris Parnassou, vol. 6 (1902), pp. 143–4.Google Scholar

page 231 note 3 Finlay, , History, vol. 1, p. 50. Most of the Turks in Greece had settled in the choice, fertile areas east of the Pindus range, especially in Thessaly.Google Scholar

page 231 note 4 ASV, Provv., 1031, Barozzi, to Nani, , 16 11 1778,Google Scholar filed as Insert No. 1 to dispatch of Nani, to Doge, , 29 12 1778.Google Scholar

page 231 note 5 AE Turquie, 220, ‘Traduction d'un mémoire Généalogique de Tépédélénlu Ali Pacha, Chargé par Interim du Gouvermement de L'Epire, à Sa Hautesse’, 4 Dec. 1810, fol. 382. One of a number of memoirs of Demetrios Palaiopoulos, a former Greek primate of Karpenisi, submitted to Sultan Mahmud II, informing him of Ali's achievements, current ambitions, and the threat he represents to Ottoman interests. (Hereafter ‘Palaiopoulos-Mémoire’.)

page 232 note 1 Leake, , Historical Outline, pp. 31–1.Google Scholar

page 232 note 2 For an excellent analysis of the ‘social bandit’ see Hobsbawm, E. J., Primitive Rebels, pp. 12–29.Google Scholar On the klephts and armatoloi in Rumeli, see Vakalopoulos, A. E., Historia tou Neou Hellenismou, vol. 1, (Thessalonike, 1961), pp. 212–17, and vol. II, Pt. I (Thessaloni ke 1964), pp. 314–36. The most scholarly and up-to-date survey of the history of latande, post Byzantine Hellenism to the end of the seventeenth century. Additional volumes are projected.Google Scholar

page 233 note 1 See Orhonlu, Cengiz, Osimanli Imparatorl unda Derbend Teşkilâtz [The Organization of the passes in the Ottoman Empire] (Istanbul, 1967), pp. 87–8, the only scholarly monograph on the subject based on Ottoman archival materials.Google Scholar

page 233 note 2 Vasdravelles, I. K., Armatoloi kai klephtes eis ten Makedonian [Armatoloi and Klephts in Macedonia] (Thessalonike, 1948), p. 12. The author makes extensive use of Ottoman documents (located in various archives in Macedonia), most of which he has subsequently published in Greek translation in numerous volumes.Google Scholar

page 233 note 3 Orhonlu, , pp. 89–90, 125–28.Google Scholar

page 233 note 4 See Wolff, R. L., The Balkans in Our Time (Cambridge, Mass., 1956), pp. 30–31,Google Scholar and Inalcik, Halil, ‘Arnawutluk’, El2, vol. 1, pp. 656–7.Google Scholar

page 233 note 5 See for example Finlay, , History, vol. 1, pp. 25–8.Google Scholar Most of these writers are obviously relying on the ‘Chronikon’ (of Epirus), Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae (Bonn, 1849), pp. 260–2.Google Scholar Vasdravelles also draws attention to this error in Hoi Makedones Kata ten Epanastasin tou 1821 [Macedonians in the Revolution of 1821] (Thessalonike, 1967), p. 19 n.Google Scholar

page 233 note 6 Orhonlu, , p. 132Google Scholar. Vasdravelles, , Armatoloi, p. 12et passim.Google Scholar

page 234 note 1 Orhonlu, , pp. 132–3. Similar posts, but of lesser importance, were created in Drama, Plovdiv (Philippopolis), and Skopje.Google Scholar

page 234 note 2 On the Ottoman ruling élite see Stanford, J. Shaw, ‘The Ottoman View of the Balkans’, The Balkans in Transition, ed. Charles, and Barbara, Jelavich (Berkeley, 1963), pp. 58–62.Google Scholar

page 234 note 3 Plomer, W., Ali the Lion, p. 41.Google Scholar

page 234 note 4 See Papadopoulos-Kerameus, A., ‘Thessalika Semeiomata’, p. 144, ‘And then Kurt's men fled like women'; also for Ali's employment of Christians in his service.Google Scholar

page 234 note 5 PRO, SP 97/54, Ainslie, to Weymouth, , 18 03 1778; ‘Perigraphe-Demetriou’, p. 645; on orders, see BBA, HH, 1291, 1311, 1314.Google Scholar

page 235 note 1 AE Turquie, ‘Palaiopoulos-Mémoire’, fol. 382 (my translation).

page 235 note 2 ASV, Prow., 1031, Nani, to Doge, , 29 12 1778.Google Scholar

page 235 note 3 Memoirs, p. 233.Google Scholar

page 236 note 1 ASV, Provv., 1031, Nani, to Doge, , 20 04 1777 ‘Perigraphe-Demetriou’, p. 645.Google Scholar

page 236 note 2 AE Turquie, 220, ‘Palaiopoulos-Mémoire’, fol. 382.

page 236 note 3 See Jacob, Jonas Björnstähl, Briefe auf Seinen Auslandischen Reisen, trans. from the Swedish by Christian, Heinrich Groskurd, vol. vi (Leipzig and Rostock, 1783), Pp. 139–42.Google Scholar The quotation is from p. 140 (my translation). Oddly enough, this first eyewitness account of young Ali by a Western traveller has escaped the notice of all but one of those who later wrote about him. Although Björnstahl did not identify Ali as the Bey of Tepelen, a careful reading of the relevant passages would have left little doubt (his enmity with Kurt, etc.). Only Holland (Travels, p. 105Google Scholar and n.) advanced it as a possibility, but enmeshed in the web of his own reconstruction of events, he antedated Björnstahl's encounter with All and placed it in the year 1770, ‘when he [Ali] was about 20 years of age’. Of course, with the corroborative evidence cited, the identification is now positive. The ‘dsalfikar’ (zülfikar) drawn on the banner of the Albanians is the famed two-bladed or cleft-sword of Ali, the fourth Caliph, who is the center of worship for the Bektashis. Thus Ali's connexion with this sect is once again underscored. It might also be mentioned that Ali's great seal bore the inscription in Persian: ‘Let there be hope from Ali-Asker’, a reference to the above mentioned Caliph and yet another proof of his public profession of Bektashism. See Uzunçarşih, I. H., ‘Osmanli Devieti zamanmda kullanilmiş olan bazi, mühürler hakkinda bir tetkik’ [A study on some seals used in the time of the Ottoman State], Belleten, vol. 4 (1960), p. 522.Google Scholar Ali was especially interested in wandering ‘holy men’, mostly Bektashis, undoubtedly because of their popularity with the people and their claims to foretell the future. Local tradition abounds with tales of such contacts, including that with the Greek Orthodox Saint Kosmas in 1778, who foretold young Ali Bey's future (Hasluck, , Christianity and Islam under the Sultans, vol. 2, pp. 586 ff.).Google Scholar

page 237 note 1 On Süleyman Ağa, who also quartered his troops in the city, including some in the residence of the again discomfited Consul Barozzi, see ASV, Provv., 1031, Barozzi to Dona (?), 27 Mar. 1779, filed as Insert No. 7 to dispatch of Nani, to Doge, , 20 04 1779, and da Riva to Morosini, 9 Apr. 1779, filed as Insert No. 4 to same. The quotation is from Morosini to Nani, is Apr. 1779, filed as Insert No.11 a to above.Google Scholar

page 237 note 2 See Inserts 2, 4, in above note.

page 237 note 3 ASV, Provv., 1031, Barozzi, to Nani, , 7 04 1779,Google Scholar filed as unnumbered Insert to dispatch of Nani, to Doge, , 30 04 1779. Barozzi himself was forced to flee from Missolonghi and seek refuge in Anatoliko.Google Scholar

page 238 note 1 See BBA, Cevdet D, 4620; AN Aff. Etr., BI., Nauplie, 905 (2), Amoreux to Foreign Minister, 22 May 1776. Mertzios, K. D., Mnemeia Makedonikes Historias [Records of Macedonian History] (Thessalonike, 1947), pp. 425–6.Google Scholar Albanians were once again pouring into the Morea in 1780, according to PRO, FO 78/I, Ainslie, to Hilisborough, , 17 02 1780.Google Scholar

page 238 note 2 ‘Perigraphe-Demetriou’, p. 645; Bessières, , Mémoire, p. 2.Google Scholar

page 238 note 3 ‘Perigraphe-Demetriou’, p. 645; ‘Anekdoton Chronikon’, pp. 286–7; Hatze, Sehretes, pp. 11–8.Google Scholar

page 238 note 4 ‘Perigraphe-Demetriou’, p. 645; Hatze, Sehretes, pp. 159 –60.Google Scholar

page 239 note 1 ‘Perigraphe-Demetriou’, pp. 645–6. Historika Archeia Makedonias, vol. II, Archeion Veroias-Naouses: 1598–1886 [Historical Archives of Macedonia, II, Archive of VeroiaNaousa] (Salonika, 1954), p. 219, Doc. 229. The date of the document ‘mid Rebiyülevvel 1196’ does not correspond with 7 June 1782 as indicated in the Greek translation, but with the end of Feb.-beginning of Mar. 1782.Google Scholar

page 239 note 2 Quotations are from: ASV, Provv., 1040, Gradenigo, to Doge, , 11 03 1782,Google Scholar and Gradenigo, to Doge, , 30 03 1782.Google Scholar See also ANAff. Etr., B1, Nauplie, 906(3), Grimaldy, to Chateauneuf, , 1 06 1782,Google Scholar filed as Insert in Chateauneuf to Foreign Minister, 10 June 1782, and Mertzios, K. D., ‘Anekdota Historika Stoiheia peri Ale Passa Tepelenle’ [Unpublished Historical Data on Ali Pasha of Tepelen], Epeirotike Hestia, vol.3 (1954).Google Scholar This is a useful collection of Greek translations of portions of Venetian documents (only a few are translated in their entirety) dealing with Ali Pasha. The collection does not include any documents prior to 1782, nor any from the dispatches of the Baili in Constantinople. Similarly, the first reference to Ali drawn from Russian archival sources in Arsh, , Albaniia, p. 134, concerns events of 1782.Google Scholar

page 239 note 3 ASV, Provv., 1040, Gradenigo, to Doge, , 11 05 1782, and 30 05 1782;Google Scholar 1041, Gradenigo, to Doge, , 11 08 1782Google Scholar, and Inserts and 3 to same; Mertzios, , ‘Anekdota’, pp. 6–7.Google Scholar

page 240 note 1 Historika Archeia Makedonias, vol. II, p. 219,Google Scholar Doc. 229; ASV, Provv., 1040, Gradenigo, to Doge, , 30 03 1782;Google Scholar 1041, Gradenigo, to Doge, , 15 08 1782;Google Scholar PRO, FO 78/3, Ainslie, to Fox, , 25 06 1782;Google ScholarMertzois, , ‘Anekdota’, p. 7.Google Scholar

page 240 note 2 ASV, Prow., 1041, Gradenigo, to Doge, , 1108 1782,Google Scholar and Inserts to same; PRO, FO 78/3, Ainslie, to Fox, , 10 07 1782;Google Scholar AN Aff. Etr., B1, Nauplie, 906 (3), Grimaldi, to Chateauneuf, , 24 06 1782,Google Scholar filed as Insert to dispatch of Chateauneuf to Foreign Minister, II July 1782; Mertzios, , ‘Anekdota’, p. 7.Google Scholar

page 240 note 3 The quotations are from PRO, FO 78/3, Ainslie, to Fox, , 10 07 1782.Google Scholar Ainslie himself was dubious about Kurt's claims and notes that the disorders were not ‘totally quieted’, nor were Ali's troops ‘as yet dispersed’. Arsh, , Albanija, p. 134, also makes the point that unrest continued in southern Albania in the fall of 1782.Google Scholar

page 241 note 1 ‘Perigraphe-Demetriou’, p. 646.

page 241 note 2 See for example, ASV, Provv., 1038, Gradenigo, to Doge, , 24 06 1781, and 26 08 1781;Google Scholar 1039, Gradenigo, to Doge, , 20 03 1782;Google Scholar Amb. Cost., Filza 223, Garzoni, to Doge, , 23 09 1782; Bailo, Filza 102, the dispatches of the Baio to the Doge dated 25 June 1782, 26 Mar. 1783, 10 Dec. 1783, 10 May 178.Google Scholar

page 241 note 3 BBA, MD, z8i, p. z; ASV, Bailo, 102, Bailo, to Doge, , 25 09 1782.Google Scholar

page 242 note 1 ASV, Provv., 1042, Foscari, to Doge, , 24 03 1783;Google Scholar for the Italian translation of Ali's letter, see Insert no. I to above, and for Foscari's reply, see Insert no. 8, dated 8 March 1782. Also Mertzios, , ‘Anekdota’, pp. 8–9.Google Scholar

page 242 note 2 ASV, Provv., 1042, Auto Foscari, filed as Insert no. 3 to dispatch of Foscari, to Doge, , 3 03 1783;Google Scholar also Mertzios, , ‘Anekdota’, p. 9.Google Scholar

page 242 note 3 ASV, Prow., 1042, Foscari, to Doge, , 3 05 1783;Google Scholar AN Aff. Etr., B1, Nauplie, 906 (3), Chateauneuf to Foreign Minister, 1 Aug. 1783. Arsh, , Albaniia, pp. 134–5.Google Scholar

page 242 note 4 Arsh, , Albaniia, pp. 134–5; ‘Perigraphe-Demetriou’, p. 649 n.Google Scholar

page 243 note 1 Arsh, , Albaniia, p. 335.Google Scholar It does not appear likely that Ali participated in a campaign under the orders of the Sofya Serasker as ordered, for it is known that in the summer of 1784 he attacked and overwhelmed the ever-recalcitrant inhabitants of Hormovo, whose loyalty to their feudal over-lord was questionable since the days when they had abused his mother Hamko. Ali levelled the village and roasted alive its leader, Çvuş Prift, on a spit over an open fire. See Bees, N. A., ‘Ho Christophoros Barlaamites kai to brachy chronikon autou’ [Christophoros Barlaamites and his brief chronicle], Epeirotika Chronika, vol. 1 (1926), pp 120–8;Google Scholar ‘Chronikon Anekdoton’, p. 288; Hatze, Sehretes, pp. 160–3.Google Scholar

page 243 note 2 BBA, MD, 182, p. 140.

page 243 note 3 For Trikkala and the post of Derbendler Başbuğu, see BBA, MD, 284, p. zo, and 384, p. 79. Ali Pasha was first appointed mutasarrif of Yannina sometime in late 1784 or early 3785, but he was soon thereafter deposed as a result of protests from the leading townspeople, both Turks and Greeks; when he refused to comply with the Porte's order to relinquish Yannina, Kurt Pasha expelled his men from the city by military force. See Baysun, M. C., ‘Mi Paa Tepedelenli’, p. 343;Google Scholar ASV, Provv., 118, Erizzo, to Doge, , 10 07 1785;Google Scholar PRO, FO 78/6, Ainslie, to Carmarthen, , 25 08 1785.Google Scholar Ali Pasha regained control of Yannina, not in 1788 as is generally believed, but in the spring of 1787, when Kurt Pasha died. His de facto possession was confirmed at the end of the year or perhaps at the very beginning of the next as a reward for his billiant campaign against the rebellious Kara Mahmud Bushatli, Pasha of Scutari, in the summer of 1787. See ASV, Amb. Cost., 227, Zulian, to Doge, , 7 04 1787, and 25 04 1787.Google Scholar This conclusion was also reached by Dora, d'Istria, ‘Gli Albanesi Mussulmani’, Part 2, ‘Berath e Janina’, Nuova Antologia di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, vol. 14 (1870), pp. 37–8,Google Scholar and Arsh, , Albaniia, p. 143.Google Scholar

page 243 note 4 Holland, , Travels, p. 98.Google Scholar