Armatoles

The armatoles (Greek: αρματολοί, romanized: armatoloi; Albanian: armatolë; Aromanian: armatoli; Bosnian: armatoli), or armatole in singular, were irregular soldiers, or militia, commissioned by the Ottomans to enforce the sultan's authority within an administrative district called an armatoliki (αρματολίκι in singular, αρματολίκια, armatolikia in plural).^[1] In Greek regions of the Ottoman Empire, they were composed of Greeks who were either former klephts or village stalwarts who had taken up arms against the klephts in the defense of their district.^[1][2][3]

The Greek armatoles had a semi-independent status all over the Greek peninsula,^[4] and armatolikia were created in areas that had high levels of brigandage (i.e. klephts), or in regions that were difficult for Ottoman authorities to govern due to the inaccessible terrain, such as the Agrafa mountains of Thessaly, where the first armatoliki was established in the 15th century. Over time, the roles of the armatoles and klephtes became blurred, with both reversing their roles and allegiances as the situation demanded, all the while maintaining the delicate status-quo with the Ottoman authorities. They were armed men who were enforcing the law according to their desires with the force of their guns, armata, since the authority of the Ottoman Empire was very limited in the areas that they were acting, as the Ottoman Empire where the armatoles were present was a failed state.^[5] Albanian armatoles were employed by Ottoman authorities, and in particular in the latter half of the 18th century, during the administration of the Ottoman Albanian ruler Ali Pasha of the increasingly independent Pashalik of Yanina he replaced Greek armatoles, making the regions armatoles almost exclusively Albanian. The thus deposed Greek armatoles became klephts and their subsequent anti-armatoloi activity was not only brigandage, but also a form of resistance against Ottoman rule.^[3]

During the Greek War of Independence, the Greek armatoles, along with the klephts, formed the nucleus of the Greek fighting forces, and played a prominent part throughout its duration. Yannis Makriyannis referred to them and klephts as the "yeast of liberty" (μαγιά της λευτεριάς).^[6] Despite being ineffective, they were the only viable military force for the provisional governments of the 1821-1827 period. During that time period, three attempts were made at creating a regular army, and one of the reasons for their failure was the resistance of the klepht and armatoles leaders.^[7] Their motive to fight the Ottomans was more personal gain than national aspirations;^[7][8] they were not aware of national projects, made alliances with the Ottomans and robbed Christians as much as Muslims.^[9][10]

There were also some Bosnian armatoles, who were drawn from the local Muslim populations,^[3][11][12] as well as some Aromanian armatoles, many of whom cooperated with pro-Bulgarian komitadjis.^[13][14][15] There also were Megleno-Romanian armatoles.^[16]