Souliote Confederacy

The Souliotes were an Orthodox Christian community of the area of Souli, in Epirus, known for their military prowess, their resistance to the local Ottoman ruler Ali Pasha, and their contribution to the Greek cause in the Greek War of Independence, under leaders such as Markos Botsaris and Kitsos Tzavelas. 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 community (also called "confederacy") is estimated to have consisted of up to 12,000 inhabitants in about 60 villages. The community was classified as Greek in the Ottoman system of social classification because they were Orthodox Christians, yet spoke Albanian besides Greek because of their Albanian origin. Following the Greek War of Independence, the Souliotes assimilated into the rest of Greek society, with many attaining high posts in the Greek government, including that of Prime Minister.

The Souliotes (Greek: Σουλιώτες; Albanian: Suljotë) were named after the village of Souli, a mountain settlement in modern Thesprotia, Greece. The name Souli is of uncertain origin. It has been suggested by French historian, François Pouqueville, and other contemporary European accounts that this name derives from the ancient Greek region of Selaida "Σελάϊδα" or "Soulaida" ("Σουλάϊδα") and its inhabitants, the Selloi. Another view by Greek historian, Christoforos Perraivos, who came in personal contact with members of the Souliote community, claimed that it derived from the name of a Turk who was killed there. Pouqueville said that the name was said to have come from xylon, "woody", but noted that it was improbable as there were no trees in the mountains. Yet another view based on etymology claims that the word derives from the Albanian term sul, which can be idiomatically interpreted as 'watchpost', 'lookout' or 'mountain summit'. In a study by scholar Petros Fourikis examining the onomastics of Souli, most of the toponyms and micro-toponyms such as: Kiafa, Koungi, Bira, Goura, Mourga, Feriza, Stret(h)eza, Dembes, Vreku i Vetetimese, Sen i Prempte and so on were found to be derived from the Albanian language.

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