Editing Epirus (section)

===Ottoman rule===
{{POV section|date=June 2023}}

The [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] ruled Epirus for almost 500 years. Their rule in Epirus proved particularly damaging; the region was subjected to deforestation and excessive cultivation, which damaged the soil and drove many Epirotes to emigrate so as to escape the region's pervasive poverty.<ref name=Britannica/> Nonetheless, the Ottomans did not enjoy total control of Epirus. The [[Himara]] and [[Zagori]] regions managed to successfully resist Ottoman rule and maintained a degree of independence throughout this period. The Ottomans expelled the Venetians from almost the whole area in the late 15th century.

Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the city of Ioannina attained great prosperity and became a major center of the [[modern Greek Enlightenment]].<ref>{{harvnb|Sakellariou|1997|p=268}}.</ref><ref name=Fleming>{{harvnb|Fleming|1999|pp=63–66}}.</ref><ref>''[http://www.greece2001.gr/docs/67-132.pdf The Era of Enlightenment (Late 7th century–1821)]''. Εθνικό Kέντρο Bιβλίου, p. 13.</ref><ref>Υπουργείο Εσωτερικών, Αποκέντρωσης και Ηλεκρονικής Διακυβέρνησης [http://www.epirus.gov.gr/portal/index.php/epirus/genika-stoixeia/the-epirus.html Περιφέρεια Ηπείρου]: "Στη δεκαετία του 1790 ο νεοελληνικός διαφωτισμός έφθασε στο κορύφωμά του. Φορέας του πνεύματος στα Ιωάννινα είναι ο Αθανάσιος Ψαλίδας."</ref> Numerous schools were founded, such as the Balaneios, [[Maroutsaia School|Maroutsaia]], [[Kaplaneios School|Kaplaneios]], and [[Zosimaia School|Zosimaia]], teaching subjects such as literature, philosophy, mathematics and physical sciences. In the 18th century, as the power of the Ottoman Empire declined, Epirus became a ''de facto'' independent region under the despotic rule of [[Ali Pasha of Tepelena]], a Muslim [[Albanians|Albanian]] brigand who rose to become the provincial governor of Ioannina in 1788.<ref name=Britannica/> At the height of his power, he controlled all of Epirus, and much of the [[Peloponnese]], central Greece, and parts of western [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]]<ref name=Britannica/> Ali Pasha's campaign to subjugate the confederation of the settlements of [[Souli]] met with fierce resistance by the [[Souliotes|Souliot]] warriors of the mountainous area. After numerous failed attempts to defeat the Souliotes, his troops succeeded in conquering the area in 1803. On the other hand, Ali, who used Greek as official language, witnessed an increase of Greek cultural activity with the establishment of several educational institutions.{{sfn|Fleming|1999|p=64}}

When the [[Greek War of Independence]] broke out, the inhabitants of Epirus contributed greatly. Two of the founding members of the [[Filiki Eteria]] (the secret society of the Greek revolutionaries), [[Nikolaos Skoufas]] and Athanasios Tsakalov, came from the [[Arta (regional unit)|Arta]] area and the city of [[Ioannina]], respectively. Greece's first constitutional prime minister (1844–1847), [[Ioannis Kolettis]], was a native of the village of Syrrako in Epirus and was a former personal physician to Ali Pasha. Ali Pasha tried to use the war as an opportunity to make himself a fully independent ruler, but was assassinated by Ottoman agents in 1822. When Greece became independent in 1830, however, Epirus remained under Ottoman rule. In 1854, during the [[Crimean War]], a major local [[Epirus Revolt of 1854|rebellion broke out]]. Although the newly found Greek state tried tacitly to support it, the rebellion was suppressed by Ottoman forces after a few months.{{sfn|Reid|2000}} Another failed rebellion by local Greeks [[Epirus revolt of 1878|broke out in 1878]]. During this period, the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]] managed to shut down the few Albanian schools, considering teaching in Albanian a factor that would diminish its influence and lead to the creation of separate Albanian church, while publications in Albanian were banned by the Ottoman Empire.{{sfn|Jelavich|Jelavich|1977|p=226}}<ref name="Ramet1998">{{harvnb|Ramet|1998|p=205}}.</ref> In the late 19th century, the Kingdom of Italy opened various schools in the regions of [[Ioannina]] and [[Preveza]] in order to influence the local population. These schools began to attract students from the Greek language schools, but were ultimately closed after intervention and harassment by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.{{sfn|Blumi|2002|p=57}} Throughout, the late period of Ottoman rule (from the 18th century) Greek and Aromanian population of the region suffered from Albanians raiders, that sporadically continued after Ali Pasha's death, until 1912–1913.{{sfn|Hammond|1976|loc=p. 41: "Throughout this period bands of Albanians raiders pillaged and destroyed the villages of the Vlachs and the Greeks in Epirus, northern Pindus, the lakeland of Prespa and Ochrid, and parts of western Macedonia. One Albanian leader, 'Ali the Lion', emulated the achievements of 'John the Sword' and 'Peter the Pockmark' when he established himself as Ali Pasha, independent ruler of Ioannina. He and his Albanian soldiers, recruited mainly from his homeland in the Kurvelesh and the Drin valley of North Epirus, controlled the whole of Epirus and carried their raids far into western Macedonia and Thessaly. As we have seen, they destroyed the Vlach settlements in the lakeland and weakened those farther south. After the assassination of Ali Pasha in 1822 sporadic raids by bands of Albanians were a feature of life in northern Greece until the liberation of 1912–13"}}