Ali Pasha Tepelena, 1744?–1822, Turkish pasha [military governor] of Yannina
(now Ioánnina, Greece), a province of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey).
He was called the Arslan [lion] of Yannina. His father, governor at Tepelene in
S Albania, was murdered, and Ali went to live with the mountain brigands who
infested the country. He soon rose to leadership among them, came to the
attention of the Turkish government, and as its agent put down the rebellion of
a governor at Scutari in Albania. About 1787 he became governor of Yannina,
where his power grew until he ruled as a quasi-independent despot over most of
Albania and Epirus. He made war on the French along the Adriatic coast and
entered an alliance (1814) with Great Britain. Valuing Ali's services, the
sultan let him do as he wished until, in 1820, Ali ordered the assassination of
an opponent in Constantinople. Sultan Mahmud II ordered Ali deposed. Ali refused
to comply, thus keeping Turkish troops engaged against himself while they were
needed against the Greeks, who had begun their fight for independence. Ali was
assassinated by an agent of the Turks; his head was exhibited at Constantinople.
The wild yet cultured court of Ali was described by French and English visitors,
notably by Byron in Childe Harold.
|
Albania