[1][9][10] They had achieved some stature by the 17th century; Ali's great-grandfather, Mustafa Yussuf from the Gjirokastër region, was a notable brigand, warrior and clan chieftain who eventually obtained the title of bey and possibly official recognition as the deputy governor of Tepelena.

[21] With this new Ottoman administrative position, Ali eliminated the military and civil officials appointed by Kurt in favour of his own men, and established a network between the leaders of Albanian bands and the captains of armatoli.

Similar intimidation tactics were used across Epirus by Ali, who although serving in this administrative position for only five months, managed to impose order and a systemic tax regime, as well as amass enormous personal wealth.

The Sublime Porte was forced to intervene in the situation, and Ottoman general Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha, who was already dispatched to dispose of the Albanian irregulars in the Morea, was instead sent to Macedonia and Thessaly to re-establish regional order.

[38] By the time of his accession to the Pashalik of Yanina, several almost-independent Albanian and Greek towns of the region reversed their approach of hostility against the Ottoman rule and pledged their loyalty to Ali.

[40] At this point, Ali Pasha's priority was to create a centralised governing system by neutralising the numerous disruptive factions vying for power in his Pashalik, including the klephts, armatoles, Christian notables, and Albanian beys and agas.

[41][42] In 1788, Ali's troops completed the destruction of Moscopole, a once-prosperous cultural centre in south-eastern Albania that had been continuously raided by Albanian irregulars from 1769 onwards due to their pro-Russian stance and support of the Orlov Revolt.

With a force of 3,000 men and aided by the Çapari family of Paramythia, Ali attacked Souli, but the assault failed with considerable losses even though a Russian support fleet never materialised to help the Souliotes.

This environment set the stage for Ali Pasha's manoeuvres to strengthen his position, and he formed an alliance with Napoleon I of France, who had established François Pouqueville as his general consul in Ioannina, with the complete consent of the Ottoman Sultan Selim III.

[65][64] Likewise, the British government, which opened in 1769 for the first time a consulate in Arta, established a permanent consular representation by 1803 and appointed John Philip Morier as "General Council in the Morea and Albania", centred in Ali Pasha's capital, Ioannina.

[68] Concurrently, during the winter of 1797-1798, Ali dealt with regional conflicts at the request of the Ottomans, particularly against the rebel governor Osman Pazvantoğlu who had begun carving out his own polity centred around Vidin in modern Bulgaria.

Recognizing the potential threat to his rule, Ali obtained special permission from the Sultan to return to Epirus to address these issues whilst maintaining diplomatic communications with the French as he still contemplated a strategic alliance with them.

[71] In October 1798, after securing Butrint and Igoumenitsa, Ali's troops attacked the coastal town of Preveza, which was defended by a small garrison of French soldiers, Souliote fighters, Ionian islanders and local pro-French Greeks.

Ali sent his son Veli Pasha to drive out the governor in Preveza and to subjugate Butrint, Igoumenitsa and Vonitsa, and he subsequently imposed his own system of governance and tax collection and confiscated properties in the cities.

[99] In 1812, as Napoleon retreated from Russia, Ali Pasha saw an opportunity to seize Parga and sent his son Mukhtar, his nephew Daut Bey, Omer Vrioni, Agos Vasiaris and 6,000 men to lay siege to the island.

Ali prepared to defend himself by fortifying strategic positions in the mountains under his captains Omer Vrioni and Odysseas Androutsos, while his sons and grandsons held key territories along the coast and further inland.

[116][117] Despite sensing that he was being deceived, Ali agreed to a truce and left the citadel with his wife, entourage and bodyguards and settled in the Monastery of St Panteleimon on the island in Lake Pamvotis, previously taken by the Ottoman army during the siege.

In one account, a few days later on January 24, 1822,[119] the Ottoman boats returned after which a senior official called Kiose Mehmed Pasha disembarked, claiming that he had in his possession the Sultan's firman for his execution.

After annexing Suli and Himara into his semi-independent state in 1798, he tried to organize the judiciary in every city and province according to the principle of social equality, enforcing his laws for the entire population, Muslims and Christians.

[160] The return of the exiled Souliotes to their homeland in Souli in December 1820 contributed to the creation of a revolutionary center in Epirus a fact that supported the developments for the upcoming Greek revolution in southern Greece.

[161] The collusions of Souliotes and Muslim Albanians for the defense of Ali Pasha, which led to a written agreement in January 15, and 1821 were in accordance with the positions of Alexandros Ypsilantis for the preparation of the Greek revolution.

[160] In late March-early April 1821 Christoforos Perraivos under order by Ypsilantis urged the Souliotes to maintain their alliance with Ali Pasha, but to ignore the military priorities of the latter and concentrate to armed operations that would facilitate the spread of the revolutionary movement in Epirus.

[164] In the beginning of September, the regional alliance reached its climax, involving Muslim Albanian beys, Souliote chieftains and Greek armatoles, who pledged to defend Ali Pasha's rebellion against the Ottoman army.

During this event some of the Greek bands plundered the homes of Christians and stole their possessions, even torturing people in boiling oil in order to extort information regarding the hiding places of their valuable belongings.

[165] At the beginning of December 1821 the allied forces managed to capture a greater part of the city, however, instead of concentrating on the fall of the garrison they turned into widespread looting and the siege was weakened and finally ceased.

[164] Around the same time, during the Ottoman siege of Ali Pasha's forces in Ioannina, Muslim Albanian leaders were being informed about events in the Morea, which led them to start doubting about the allegiance of their Greeks allies.

Systematic investigations of the archaeological sites and monuments of the region have been undertaken by French consul-general François Pouqueville and British diplomat-colonel William Martin Leake, who were both introduced in Ali's court.

[174] The museum also features caves that were inhabited by monks in the 15th century and that were used for shelter during World War II, as well as an exhibit dedicated to Kyra Frosini, one of 17 women that were executed by drowning by men following Ali Pasha's orders.

Ali Pasha is also a major character in the 1854 Mór Jókai's Hungarian novel Janicsárok végnapjai ("The Last Days of the Janissaries"), translated into English by R. Nisbet Bain, 1897, under the title The Lion of Janina.

Ali Pasha provokes the bey Mustapha (a fictional character) in Patrick O'Brian's 1981 The Ionian Mission to come out fighting on his own account, when the British navy is in the area seeking an ally to push the French off Corfu.