[3][4] He played a key role in relieving the First Siege of Missolonghi in 1822–1823 and was awarded the title of General of Western Greece by the revolutionary Greek government.

Markos was born in 1790 in Souli, the fifth child of Kitsos Botsaris from his first marriage with Chrysoula, one of the daughters of Papazotos Yotis, the priest of Variades, a village of Lakka (Tsarkovista).

[5] The Souliotes spoke Albanian originally, but during the eighteenth century they learnt to also use Greek via communication with their mostly Greek-speaking surroundings.

[10][11][12][13][14] According to an unclear narrative recorded by Christoforos Perraivos, which is considered implausible by contemporary historiography, the Botsaris clan came from the village of Dragani (today Ambelia), near Paramythia.

Thirteen year-old Markos used his limited literacy to record his anguish for the besieged Christians of Souli in a remembrance note of 3 November on the book cover of a Menaion of a chapel of Palaiokatouna (Voulgareli).

[20] After the surrender of Souli, Souliot clans chose divergent paths but many were ultimately led to move to the Ionian Islands and in south Greece.

In January 1804, they were attacked by Ali Pasha's army under Beqir Bey with support from the local armatoloi Zikos Michos, Tzimas Alexis and Poulis.

In Lefkada he lived in the same household (corporate household/extended patrilineage) like his father Kitsos who headed the household even after Markos was married, his father's third wife, his own wife (Eleni Karakitsou), his brothers and sisters, his deceased uncle's widow (Zoitsa Bakopani) and their housemaid.

[25][28] In 1820, with other Souliotes and his uncle Notis Botsaris, he came back to Epirus and fought against Ali Pasha and the Ottoman army at the Siege of Ioannina, but soon the Souliotes changed side and fought the Ottoman army together with the troops of Ali Pasha, in exchange for a promise of regaining their former region, Souli.

[30] Immediately afterwards he occupied the position of "Pente Pigadia", a junction between Arta and Ioannina, where he crushed a force of 5,000 Albanians sent against him.

In January 1821, an anti-Ottoman coalition was formed between the Souliot chieftains and Ali Pasha's lieutenants, aiming to break the siege of Ioannina.

[30][31] Negotiations began with the Ottomans and continued until March 1821, when Christoforos Perraivos arrived at Epirus and informed the Souliotes about the existence of Filiki Eteria and the upcoming war of independence.

At the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, he distinguished himself by his courage, tenacity and skill as a leader of the Souliots.

Several battles took place at Bogortsa, Variades, Pente Pigadia and Derviziana; in the latter, Botsaris used an elaborate plan to terminate a Turkish mercenary regiment from Macedonia.

Meanwhile, several fortresses, such as those of Lelova and Riniassa, fell, and in early May 1821 even the city of Preveza was put in danger of the revolutionary operations.

During autumn of 1821, Botsaris participated in the siege of Arta, which eventually led to the termination of the cooperation between Ali and the Souliots, when the lieutenants of the former were informed of the atrocities committed by the Greek revolutionaries against Muslim populations.

[36][37] During summer of 1823, Mustafa Pasha of Shkodër, leading 10,000 Ottoman Albanian soldiers, campaigned against Western Greece to conquer Missolonghi per the sultan’s orders.

At this time, the revolutionaries were divided because many unranked chieftains and warlords (most notably the Tzavellas clan) were infuriated with Botsaris's promotion to generalship.

In protest, Botsaris tore apart his own certificate of rank, also stating that he never sought higher commanding offices, but solely the revolution's success.

[38] Finally, Botsaris moved northwards, to Karpenisi, where Mustafa Pasha and his army were located, to halt the Ottoman advance before it reached Missolonghi.

Markos's son, Dimitrios Botsaris, born in 1813, was three times minister of war Kings Otto and George I.

Evangelis Zappas, the renowned benefactor and founder of the modern Olympic Games, was the aide-de-camp and close friend of Markos Botsaris.

[44] Botsaris is also widely considered to be the author of a Greek–Albanian lexicon written in Corfu in 1809, at the insistence of François Pouqueville, Napoleon Bonaparte's general consul at the court of Ali Pasha in Ioannina.

Similar lack of knowledge of Greek grammar, syntax and spelling is observed for all of the very few written documents by Souliotes.

[59] The monthly periodical Apollon, based in Piraeus, published a poem in May 1889 in honour of the Princess Alexandra on the occasion of her engagement to the son of the Russian emperor, Alexander II.