Ali Pasha and Arta
The powerful pasha of Ioannina, who controlled Epirus from Arta to Tepelenë.
- Born
- 1743 (sources differ)
- Pasha of Ioannina
- From 1788
- Control of Epirus
- 1802, from Arta to Tepelenë
- Killed
- 24 January 1822
Ali Pasha was born in 1743 in Beçisht or, by some accounts, Tepelena, and rose from mutasarrıf of Ioannina (1784/85) to pasha in 1788. In 1799 he became governor of Thessaly and in 1802 his control covered Epirus from Arta to Tepelenë and Vlorë.
Arta, Preveza, Parga
According to the English Wikipedia, from 1796 he allegedly held the governorship of Arta under the alias “Mustafa”. On 12 October 1798 his forces took Preveza from the French and he ordered the execution of 300 Greeks; the town's population reportedly fell from 16,000 to 3,000. His estates near Arta, such as Kalamia and Chalkiades, are mentioned on the page about the villages of the plain. Parga declined the autonomy he offered and was sold to him by the British in 1819.
Downfall
In 1820 he was declared a rebel by the Porte and on 24 January 1822 he was killed in Ioannina, aged 78 or 79, after an Ottoman campaign. The page also records his atrocities against the Greek population.