Souliotes

The Souliotes () are the bilingual Greek people of a village confederation called Souli ()... They lived in the mountains of Epirus in northwestern Greece. Souliotes fought in the Greek revolution of 1821 against the Ottoman Empire and its allies..

Name
The origins of the name Souli are unclear.. 

Languages
Souliotes spoke Greek and a southern dialect of Albanian called Tosk. They only used Greek in their writings.

History
Ottoman oppression forced Greek herders in Epirus to flee to the mountains during the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century.. There, they built a confederation of villages called the Tetrachori (, "Four Villages") also known as Souli.. The Souliotes resisted Ottoman rule during the 18th century.. They later participated in the Orlov Revolt, a failed Greek anti-Ottoman uprising that happened in the 1770s. 

When the Souliotes were betrayed to the Ottomans in 1803, some abandoned Souli while others killed themselves.. Among those who killed themselves were the women of Souli who threw themselves and their children off a cliff called Zaloggo in an event called the Dance of Zaloggo ().; ; ; . During the Greek revolution of 1821, the Souliotes defeated the Ottomans at the battle of the Five Wells in September of 1821..

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Category:Greek people