Vizier Ömer Pasha Vrioni (in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
spelling: Ομέρ Βρυώνης, ''Omer Vryonis'') was a leading
Ottoman-
Albanian figure in the
Greek War of Independence.
Early life
Omer Vrioni was a
Muslim Tosk Albanian
Tosk ( sq-definite, toskërishtja) is the southern group of dialects of the Albanian language, spoken by the ethnographic group known as Tosks. The line of demarcation between Tosk and Gheg (the northern variety) is the Shkumbin River. Tosk is ...
from the village of
Vrioni Vrioni ( sq-definite, Vrioni) is a surname. The Vrioni family is an Albanian family from Vrion, Berat, Vrioni of Berat which was one of the biggest landowners in Albania, most of their lands being in the area around Berat and in the Myzeqe region. T ...
near
Berat
Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and east of Fier.
Berat is located in ...
(hence his surname), with a distinguished record in the battles in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
against
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
. When
Ali Pasha revolted against the
Sublime Porte
The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( ota, باب عالی, Bāb-ı Ālī or ''Babıali'', from ar, باب, bāb, gate and , , ), was a synecdoche for the central government of the Ottoman Empire.
History
The name ...
, Omer was his treasurer. He initially commanded the army tasked with defending the eastern approaches to
Ioannina, but entered into an agreement with Ismail Pasha, the then commander-in-chief of the Sultan's forces, disbanding his army in exchange for the
pashalik
Eyalets (Ottoman Turkish: ایالت, , English: State), also known as beylerbeyliks or pashaliks, were a primary administrative division of the Ottoman Empire.
From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ottoman local government ...
of Berat.
[Finlay, pp. 95-96.]
After the death of Ali Pasha Omer was among the commanders who were sent by
Hurşid Ahmed Pasha, the new commander-in-chief, to suppress the Greek Revolution which had broken out in March 1821. On 24 April 1821, he defeated the Greeks at the
Battle of Alamana and had their commander,
Athanasios Diakos
Athanasios Nikolaos Massavetas ( el, Αθανάσιος Νικόλαος Μασσαβέτας; 1788 – 24 April 1821) also known as Athanasios Diakos ( el, Αθανάσιος Διάκος) was a Greek military commander during the Greek War of ...
,
impaled. Vrioni's advance was temporarily halted by
Odysseas Androutsos
Odysseas Androutsos ( el, Οδυσσέας Ανδρούτσος; 1788 – 1825; born Odysseas Verousis el, Οδυσσέας Βερούσης) was a Greek military and political commander in eastern mainland Greece and a prominent figure of the ...
who, with a handful of men, inflicted heavy casualties upon him at the
Battle of the inn of Gravia on 8 May 1821.
Siege of Missolonghi
In late 1822, he and
Mehmed Reshid Pasha joined forces to besiege the town of
Missolonghi
Missolonghi or Messolonghi ( el, Μεσολόγγι, ) is a municipality of 34,416 people (according to the 2011 census) in western Greece. The town is the capital of Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit, and the seat of the municipality of Iera Polis ...
. The town was completely surrounded on 25 October, and might have fallen, had the locals left the city. However they resisted heroically and Vrioni resorted to negotiations in order to save his men, against the opinion of Mehmed Reshid and Yussuf Pasha. The besieged Greeks destroyed the morale of the Ottoman army and when they were reinforced by sea the novice Turkish captains and the two pashas scheduled their main assault for
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
night, 24 December, calculating that the Greeks would be caught by surprise. However, the attack failed. Six days later, the siege was lifted.
Later career
As a result of this failure, the antagonism between Omer Vrioni and Mehmed Reshid escalated, resulting in his recall by the Porte in 1824, when he was assigned a command in
Macedonia. During the later
Russo-Turkish War of 1828, he led a 20,000 strong army in an unsuccessful attempt to relieve the
siege of Varna
The siege of Varna (July–September 29, 1828) was a battle during the Russo-Turkish War, 1828–1829.
History
Varna was held by the Ottoman army. An approach to Varna by Russian forces was first attempted on June 28, but the Russian ava ...
.
References
Sources
*
* Brewer, David. ''The Greek War of Independence''. The Overlook Press, 2001.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vrioni, Omer
People from Berat
Pashas
Ottoman military personnel of the Greek War of Independence
19th-century Albanian people
Albanians from the Ottoman Empire
Omer
Omer may refer to:
__NOTOC__
* Omer (unit), an ancient unit of measure used in the era of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem
* The Counting of the Omer (''sefirat ha'omer''), a 49 day period in the Jewish calendar
* Omer (Book of Mormon), a Jaredite ...
Ali Pasha of Ioannina