Zacharias Barbitsiotis Zacharias Pentalakos , nicknamed Barbitsiotis ( ) but more commonly known as " kapetan " Zacharias ( Καπετάν Ζαχαριάς , 22 October 1759 – 20 July 1804 ) was a Greek klepht in the Peloponnese during the last decades of Ottoman rule over Greece . He is described by Kyriakos Kassis as the best thief of Taygetus . Early life and career . Zacharias Pentalakos " Barbitsiotis " was born on 22 October 1759 in the town of Varvitsa , Laconia , although his family originated from Mani . His father ' s name was Theodoros and his mother ' s name is unknown . In 1775 , his brother , Pantelis , was murdered by the Turks . Zacharias , wanting revenge , went to the town of Loggastra in northern Laconia where he joined a klephtic group under the command of Captain Matzari . The next year during the Battle of Rekitsas , Zacharias charged at the Turks without orders . The other klephts followed him and they chased after the Turks . This incident won Zacharias recognition from his comrades for his bravery . However , Matzari was angry with Zacharias as he had not followed orders and Zacharias left the group and founded his own group of sixty men under his own flag . Rise to power . Zacharios ' fame grew even more when he defeated the Turks at the Battle of Salesi in Arcadia . A . Kontakis , who was the leader of the village of Agios Petros in Arcadia , and who at first an enemy and later a friend of Zacharias described in his memoirs : In 1787 , Zacharias invited all the leaders of the klephtic bands of the Peloponnese to a meeting and they formed a kleptho - armatoloi federation of the Peloponnese . This federation brought more power to Zacharias who was made the commader - in - chief of the federation . Meanwhile , he had constructed his own fortress , Barbitsa in the mountains of Mani and from there he launched his raids on the Turks . It was widely thought that Zacharias ' aim was for the Turks to meet his demands , however , in reality what he wanted was the liberation of the Peloponnese from the Turks . Meanwhile , the renowned klepht captain , Androutsos – father of Odysseas Androutsos – was expelled by the Turks from his base in Aegina and escaped on the ship of Lambros Katsonis , an equally renowned pirate captain . They landed in Mani , where they were greeted by Zacharias and a young Theodoros Kolokotronis – a future Greek hero – and took him to his base . Death . In 1804 , the Turks extended their efforts to capture Zacharias as well as the former Bey of Mani , Zanet Grigorakis , who retreated to the mountains after being deposed and after the events of the 1803 Ottoman Invasion of Mani . The reason for this increased interest into Zacharias ' capture was because it had been revealed that together with Zanet and other prominent Maniots , he had been conspiring with Napoleon Bonaparte , who had sent them French weapons . In charge of the attempt to capture Zacharias was Seremet , who had been instructed to capture Zacharias and hand him over to the higher authorities . Seremet , knowing that capturing Zacharias without any casualties was nearly impossible , decided to assassinate him . The Turks approached a Maniot by the name of Koukeas and organised the assassination attempt with him . Koukeas went to Zacharias and told him that a Turkish fleet had appeared off Kitries . When Zacharias went to investigate this himself , he was assassinated near Kardimili .