Pashalik of Yanina

Not to be confused with Ioannina Eyalet, Janina vilayet, or Sanjak of Ioannina.

Pashalik of Yanina
1787–1822
Flag of Yanina
Flag
The Pashalik of Yanina (in red) at its greatest extent (c. 1819-1820) and excluding the Morea Eyalet).
The Pashalik of Yanina (in red) at its greatest extent (c. 1819-1820) and excluding the Morea Eyalet).
StatusAutonomous province of the Ottoman Empire, de facto independent[a]
CapitalYanina
39°40′N 20°51′E / 39.667°N 20.850°E / 39.667; 20.850
GovernmentPashalik
Pasha 
• 1787 – 1822
Ali Pasha
Historical eraEarly modern period
• Established
1787
• Disestablished
1822
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Ioannina Eyalet
Pashalik of Berat
Ioannina Eyalet

The Pashalik of Yanina, sometimes referred to as the Pashalik of Ioannina or Pashalik of Janina, was an autonomous pashalik within the Ottoman Empire between 1787 and 1822 covering large areas of Albania, Greece, and North Macedonia. Under the Ottoman Albanian ruler Ali Pasha, the pashalik acquired a high degree of autonomy and even managed to stay de facto independent,[a] though this was never officially recognized by the Ottoman Empire. Conceiving his territory in increasingly independent terms, Ali Pasha's correspondence and foreign Western correspondence frequently refer to the territories under Ali's control as Albania.[5]

The capital of the Pashalik was Ioannina, which along with Tepelena were Ali's headquarters.[6] At its peak, Ali Pasha and his sons ruled over southern and central Albania, the majority of mainland Greece, including Epirus, Thessaly, West Macedonia, western Central Macedonia, Continental Greece (excluding Attica), and the Peloponnese, and parts of southwestern North Macedonia around Ohrid and Manastir.[b] The subject population of Ali's domains was quite heterogeneous, including Albanians, Aromanians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Jews, Roma, Serbs, and Turks.[10][11][12] Greeks were the most numerous ethnic group,[13] while Orthodox Christians were the most numerous religious group, followed by Muslims.[10]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Albania and the surrounding world: papers from the British Albanian Colloquium, South East European Studies Association held at Pembroke College, Cambridge, 29–31 March 1994
  2. ^ Elsie 2012, pg. LVI.
  3. ^ Fleming 1999, pg 7: "...the nature and content of the diplomatic negotiations between these powers (France, Britain, Russia, Venice, and Austria) and Ali effectively demonstrate that at the turn of the century he was regarded, as he wished to be, as a de facto sovereign political entity."
  4. ^ Arafat, K.W. (1987). "A Legacy of Islam in Greece: 'Ali Pasha and Ioannina". Bulletin (British Society for Middle Eastern Studies). 14 (2): 176. JSTOR 194383. Retrieved 13 September 2021. Ali Pasha's creation of a virtually independent pashalik inevitable brought him into conflict with the Porte.
  5. ^ Fleming 2014, p. 116.
  6. ^ Tanner 2014, p. 21: "That the word 'Albania' was known at all to the English-speaking public in the early nineteenth century was largely down to Byron, who passed through on his first expedition to Greece, aged 21. After reaching Patras in September 1809, he made a detour lasting several weeks to Ioannina, which now lies in Greece but was then considered the de facto capital of south-ern Albania, the honour normally being accorded to Shkodra in the north. He also visited Tepelena, which, alongside Ioannina, was the headquarters of the notorious warlord, Ali Pasha."
  7. ^ "Visualizing Ali Pasha Order: Relations, Networks and Scales". Stanford University. Archived from the original on 14 October 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  8. ^ Fleming 1999, p. 7: "From Ioannina, Ali ruled over a territory that when combined with the neighbouring pasaliks (gubernatorial districts) of his sons covered almost the entirety of what today is mainland Greece. Only Athens and the surrounding portions of Attica were not under his control."
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fleming1999pg6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ a b Hoxha 2007, p. 94–96: "Në këtë shtet të madh jetonin afërsisht dy milionë banorë me shumicë shqiptarë dhe grekë, dhe pak vllahë e çifutë.3 [...] Një burim të vetëm e gjysmak e kemi nga autori frëng Bessier. Ai bën të ditur se në fillim të shek. XIX, popullsia e hapësirës gjeografike nën sundimin e Ali Pashë Janinës përbëhej prej 1.430.000 banorësh, prej të cilëve 748.000 grekë (ortodoksë shqiptarë e grekë), 662.000 myslimanë dhe 20.000 hebrenj.4"
  11. ^ Papageorgiou 2014, p. 11: "The multi-religious and multi-ethnic “state” of Tepedelenli included Orthodox Christians, Muslims (mostly Sunnis, as well as Bektaşis and members of other sufi Muslim orders), Jews, and other smaller ethnic or religious groups; its population was close to 1,500,000 inhabitants (the first Greek Kingdom according to the census of 1834 had 651,233 inhabitants), and its population consisted of Albanians, Bulgarians Greeks, Jews, Serbs, Turks, Vlachs, and Roma. It covered an area of 75,000 sq km, i.e. it was larger than the first Greek state (50,212 sq km), as well as from the present states of Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland.57"
  12. ^ Howard 2017, p. 234.
  13. ^ Fleming 2014, p. 157: Although his subject population -the vast majority of whom were Greek- have been noted for their nationalist impulses and cultural links to Enlightenment Europe, there is little evidence that Ali conceived of his desire for independence in such terms.