Souliotes Souliotes ( , also spelled " Souliots " or " Suliots " ) were a warlike community from the area of Souli , in Greece , who became famous across Greece for their resistance against the local Ottoman Pashalik of Yanina ruled by the Muslim Albanian Ali Pasha . After their defeat in 1803 , the Souliotes were forced to move to the rest of Greece , and many of them played a prominent role in the Greek War of Independence starting in 1821 , under leaders such as Markos Botsaris and Kitsos Tzavelas . The Souliotes ' native language was Albanian but as part from the Rum millet they spoke also Greek . After their assimilation , a language shift to Greek occurred , while the Souliotic dialect became extinct . Geography . The Souliotes were named after the village of Souli , a mountain settlement in Thesprotia , Greece . The name Souli is of uncertain origin . It has been suggested that it derives from the ancient Greek region of " Selaida " " Σελάϊδα " or " Soulaida " ( " Σουλάϊδα " ) . Another view claims that it derives from the name of a Turk that was killed there . Yet another opinion based on etymology claims that the word derives from the Albanian term " sul " , which can be idiomatically interpreted as ' watchpost ' , ' lookout ' or ' mountain summit ' . Souli is a community originally settled by refugees who were hunted by the Ottomans in Paramythia , Thesprotia , Greece . In time , immigrants from elsewhere , attracted by the privileges of autonomy in Souli , assimilated and were also named Souliotes . The Greek peasants who tilled Souliot land were distinguished by the name of the village in which they dwelt . Clan , class and territorial labels had significance in addition to religion . Around 1730 Souli had not more than 200 men bearing arms . Inhabitants of the neighboring countryside would retire to the mountains to avoid Ottoman oppression and thus the Souliote population increased . Before the final war with Ali Pasha , the families of Souli were : In early modern times the total population of Souli was about 12 , 000 After their expulsion , the population of the region was significantly reduced . In the last Greek census of 2001 , the population of the community was 748 . The seat of the community is in Samoniva . The core of Souli consists of four villages ( ) , namely : Souli ( also known as Kakosouli ) , Kiafa , Navariko and Samoniva , which are believed to have been founded some time around 16th century . History . Souliote confederacy . The Souliotes established an autonomous confederacy dominating a large number of neighbouring villages in the remote mountainous areas of Epirus , where they could successfully resist Ottoman rule . At the height of its power , in the second half of the 18th century , the Souliot state is estimated to have comprised up to 12 , 000 inhabitants in about 60 villages . Wars . The Ottoman Turks attempted numerous times to conquer the territories of the Souliote Confederacy . The first conflicts between the Souliotes and the Ottomans date back to 1635 , if not earlier . In 1731 , Hadji Ahmed , pasha of Ioannina , received orders from the Sultan to subdue the Souliotes and he lost his army of 8000 men . In 1754 , Mustafa Pasha lost his army to the Souliotes as well . In the following years , Mustafa Koka came in with 4000 soldiers and Bekir Pasha with 5000 . In the end , both failed to defeat the Souliotes . In 1759 , Dost Bey , commander of Delvinë , was defeated by the Souliotes , and Mahmoud Aga of Margariti , the governor of Arta , suffered the same fate in 1762 . In 1772 , Suleyman Tsapari attacked the Souliotes with his army of 9000 men and was defeated . In 1775 , Kurt Pasha sent a military expedition to Souli that ultimately failed . When Ali became pasha of Ioannina in 1788 , he tried for 15 years to defeat the Souliotes . In 1792 , his army of 3000 was defeated . Although he held hostages ( such as Fotos Tzavellas , the son of Lambros Tzavellas ) , the Souliotes continued the struggle under the command of Georgios Botsaris , Lambros Tzavellas , and Dimos Drakos . Even women under the command of Moscho ( Lambros Tzavellas ' wife ) participated in the battle . Eventually , 2000 Ottomans and 74 Souliotes were killed . War of 1803 and capitulation . The Souliotes obtained all of their supplies from Parga , and also acquired support from Europe . Russia and France provided weapons and ammunition to them . For the European powers , the Souliotes were seen as an instrument to weaken the Ottoman Empire . When the British politicians turned to the Ottoman Empire in order to strengthen their forces against Napoleon , the weapons and ammunition supplies were interrupted . Without support from outside and wearied by years of siege , the unity of the Souliot clans started to split . The Botsaris family for political reasons left Souli and parleyed with Ali Pasha . However , the rest in Souli gathered together in Saint George ' s Orthodox Church and decided either to win or die . The remaining Souliotes numbered at no more than 2000 armed men . The main leaders were Fotos Tzavellas , Dimos Drakos , Tousas Zervas , Koutsonikas , Gogkas Daglis , Giannakis Sehos , Fotomaras , Tzavaras , Veikos , Panou , Zigouris Diamadis , and Georgios Bousbos . They won all of the decisive battles , which forced Ali Pasha to build castles in neighboring villages so as to prepare himself for a long siege . Although without food and ammunition , they could have held longer if not for a traitor named Pelios Gousis who helped the Ottomans to enter into the village of Souli , forcing a mass withdraw to the fortresses of Kiafa and Kougi , where they fought their last battle on December 7 , 1803 . They eventually capitulated and Ali Pasha promised to release them with all of their property and even weapons to the Ionian Islands . On December 12 , 1803 , the Souliotes left Souli towards the coast of Epirus . A monk named Samuel remained in Kughi and set fire to the powder magazines with a massive explosion that cost him his life . In the meantime , the Ottoman army attacked the other Souliotes , neglecting the promises Ali Pasha had made to them . In a famous incident on December 16 , 1803 , the so - called Dance of Zalongo , 22 Souliot women were trapped by enemy troops and committed suicide to avoid capture . According to tradition they did this by jumping off a steep cliff one after the other while dancing and singing . Other Souliotes also reached the harbor of Parga , which was under Russian control at the time . They either settled down in Parga or set off for the Ionian Islands . Life in exile . Many Souliotes entered service with the Russians on Corfu , where they became an important component of the Legion of Light Riflemen . This was a regiment of irregulars organized by the Russians among mainland refugees ; it not only included Souliotes , but also Himariotes , Maniots , " klepht s " ( Greek bandits ) and " armatoloi " ( Greek anti - klepht militias created by the Ottomans that actually supported the klephts ) . The formation of this unit was undertaken by the Russian colonel Papadopoulos ( Greek in ethnicity ) . The regiment , initially named " Papadopoulos ' Legion " , later developed to a formidable army . Its organization was laid down by Papadopoulos in a leaflet in Greek titled " " Explanations on the establishment of a legion of Epiro - Souliotes and Himaro - Peloponnesians in the service of His Imperial Majesty Alexander I . . . " " . He recognized that Souliotes and the others were already naturally trained in irregular tactics and did not have to conform to the Western regular tactics . This unit was eventually named " Legion of the Light Riflemen " . The Souliotes participated in campaigns in Naples in 1805 , Tenedos in 1806 , Dalmatia in 1806 , and during the defense of Lefkada in 1807 . With the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807 and the détente between Russia and France , the Russian forces withdrew from the Ionian Islands and the French occupied them . The Souliotes and other components of Russian units entered service with the French in various units , such as the " Battaglione dei Cacciatori Macedoni " and the " Régiment Albanais " ( Albanian Regiment ) , terms which did not have their later ethnic connotation , but were instead stylized terms that described the soldiers ' general origins or mode of fighting . Colonel Minot , the commander of the " Albanian Regiment " appointed as battalion captains mostly the leaders of Souliote clans who enjoyed the respect of the soldiers . Among them were : Tussa Zervas , George Dracos , Giotis Danglis , Panos Succos , Nastullis Panomaras , Kitsos Palaskas , Kitsos Paschos . Fotos Tzavellas ( had served under the Russians ) , Veicos Zervas . During the Anglo - French struggle over the Ionian Islands between 1810 and 1814 , the Souliotes in French service faced off against other refugees organized by the British into the Greek Light Infantry Regiment . Since the Souliotes were mostly garrisoned on Corfu , which remained under French control until 1814 , very few entered British service . The British disbanded the remnants of the Souliot Regiment in 1815 and subsequently decommissioned their own two Greek Light Regiments . This left many of the Souliotes and other military refugees without livelihoods . In 1817 , a group of veterans of Russian service on the Ionian Islands traveled to Russia to see if they could get patents of commission and employment in the Russian army . While unsuccessful in this endeavor , they joined the " Philike Etaireia " ( " Company of Friends " ) , the secret society founded in Odessa in 1814 for the purpose of liberating Greek lands from Ottoman rule . They returned to the Ionian Islands and elsewhere and began to recruit fellow veterans into the " Philike Etaireia " , including a number of Souliot leaders . The training experience of this period , as part of a regular army , would also serve its cause in the Greek revolution , where Souliotes along with the other warlike groups would form the movement ' s military core . Participation in the Greek War of Independence . When there were clear signs for the beginning of a Greek insurrection against Ottoman rule , Ali Pasha saw an opportunity to make Epirus into an independent state . On December 4 , 1820 , Ali Pasha and the Souliotes formed an anti - Ottoman coalition , in which the Souliotes contributed 3 , 000 soldiers . Ali Pasha gained the support of Souliotes mainly because he offered to allow the return of the Souliotes in their land and partially because of Ali ' s appeal based on shared Albanian origin . Οn December 12 , the Souliotes liberated the region of Souli , both from the Lab Albanians , who controlled the area from 1803 , and the Cham Albanians who fought together with the Ottoman troops of Pasho bey . They also captured the Kiafa fort . On the other hand , the coalition with Ali Pasha was successful and controlled most of the region , but when his loyal Muslim Albanian troops were informed of the beginning of the Greek revolts in the Peloponnese they abandoned it and joined the Ottomans . However , when the Greek War of Independence broke out this coalition was terminated and they participated in several conflicts . On the other hand , Ali Pasha ' s plans failed and he was killed in 1822 . In September 1822 , was dispatched to Fanari , Preveza , to supervise evacuation of the Souliotes after their capitulation . The Souliote leaders Markos Botsaris and Kitsos Tzavellas became distinguished generals of the Independence War . However , several Souliotes lost their lives , especially when defending the city of Missolongi . Lord Byron , the most prominent European philhellene volunteer and commander - in - chief of the Greek army in Western Greece , tried to integrate the Souliotes into a regular army . Scores of Souliotes were attached to Lord Byron in 1824 , attracted by the money that he was known to bring with him . After Independence . In 1854 , during the Crimean War , a number of Greek military officers of Souliote descent , under Kitsos Tzavelas , participated in a failed revolt in Epirus , demanding union with Greece . Until 1909 , the Turks kept a military base on the fortress of Kiafa . Finally in 1913 , during the Balkan Wars , the Ottomans lost Epirus and the southern part of the region became part of the Greek state . Members of the Souliote diaspora that lived in Greece played a major role in 19th and 20th politics and military affairs , like Dimitrios Botsaris , the son of Markos Botsaris , and the World War II resistance leader Napoleon Zervas . Identity . In Ottoman - ruled Epirus , national identity did not play a role to the social classification of the local society ; while religion was the key factor of classification of the local communities . The Orthodox congregation was included in a specific ethno - religious community under " Graeco - Byzantine " domination called Rum millet . Its name was derived from the Byzantine ( Roman ) subjects of the Ottoman Empire , but all Orthodox Christians were considered part of the same millet in spite of their differences in ethnicity and language . According to this , the Muslim communities in Epirus were classified as " Turks " , while the Orthodox ( Rum ) , like the Souliotes , were classified as " Greeks " . Among them were also the Souliotes , who had rather a strong local identity . The Souliotes were of Albanian origin ( ) , while the dialect they initially spoke is classified as one of Cham Albanian dialect s of Tosk Albanian . It has been recognized , though , that speaking Albanian in that region “ " is not a predictor with respect to other matters of identity " ” . Souliotes identified entirely with the Greek national cause . Moreover , religiously , they belonged to the Church of Constantinople , part of the larger Greek Orthodox Church . Further evidence on the language of the Souliotes is drawn from the Greek - Albanian dictionary composed in 1809 mainly by Markos Botsaris and his elders . Titos Yochalas who studied the dictionary concluded that either the mother tongue of the authors was Greek or the Greek language had a very strong influence on the local Albanian dialect , if the latter was possibly spoken in Souli . Another written account on the language they used is the diary of Fotos Tzavellas , written during his captivity by Ali Pasha ( 1792 - 1793 ) . This diary is written by F . Tzavellas himshelf in simple Greek with several spelling and punctuation mistakes . Emmanouel Protopsaltes , former professor of Modern Greek History at the University of Athens , who published and studied the dialect of this diary , concluded that Souliotes were Greek speakers originating from the area of Argyrkokastro or Chimara . Nevertheless , the Souliotes are also described with peculiar terms such as " Albanian - speaking Greeks " , while , some contemporary accounts of early 19th century report that the Souliotes were speaking " a little Illyrian " ( Byron ) or that their maternal language was Greek and knew also Albanian .