The 1770 Ottoman Invasion of Mani was one of a series of invasions by the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

to subdue the

Maniots The Maniots or Maniates ( el, Μανιάτες) are the inhabitants of Mani Peninsula, located in western Laconia and eastern Messenia, in the southern Peloponnese, Greece. They were also formerly known as Mainotes and the peninsula as ''Maina''. ...

Mani Mani may refer to: Geography * Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia * Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad * Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece * Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshi ...

was one region of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

that the Ottomans had not occupied due to the rough terrain and the rebellious spirit of Maniots. The Maniots caused damage to the Ottomans by allying with the Venetians whenever there was a war between Venice and the Ottomans, and also habitually engaged in piracy. After the failed Orlov revolt of 1770, in which the Maniots took part, Muslim Albanians (also known as

Turkoalbanians Turco-Albanian ( el, Τουρκαλβανοί, ''Tourk-alvanoi'') is an ethnographic, religious, and derogatory term used by Greeks for Muslim Albanians from 1715 and thereafter.Millas, Iraklis (2006). "Tourkokratia: History and the image of Turk ...

) ravaged the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

and kept the Maniots cooped up inside Mani. In 1770 the Ottoman bey of the Peloponnese saw his chance to invade Mani and subjugate them once and for all. With a large force of Muslim Albanians he penetrated into Mani and laid siege to the tower of the powerful Grigorakos of Ayeranos and Skoutari. The Grigorakos' tower held out for three days before being destroyed. The Ottomans then fought a battle against the Maniot army and lost and were forced to withdraw from Mani.

Prelude

The failed Orlov Revolt of 1770 was a disaster for

. The

were bottled up inside Mani and were forced to pay a tribute of 1,500

groschen Groschen (; from la, grossus "thick", via Old Czech ') a (sometimes colloquial) name for various coins, especially a silver coin used in various states of the Holy Roman Empire and other parts of Europe. The word is borrowed from the late Lat ...

to the

.Greenhalgh and Eliopoulos. ''Deep into Mani: Journey to the Southern Tip of Greece''. The Ottomans also appointed a Maniot bey to govern the Maniots. The Ottomans sent parties of Muslim Albanians troops to raid Mani. The Maniots still caused some trouble for the Ottomans with their ships. The Ottoman

pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, gener ...

of the

, Hatzi Osman, thought it was his chance to take over Mani once and for all and to impress the

sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

. He gathered a large and seasoned group of Muslim Albanians soldiers to accompany him in his invasion of Mani. When the Maniots heard of the Ottoman preparations they gathered their army under the command of Éxarchos Grigorakis and his nephew Tzanetos Grigorakis who were from the powerful clan of Ayeranos and Skoutari in the mountains above

Parasyros Parasyros ( el, Παρασυρός) is a village of the municipality of East Mani. Before the 2011 local government reform it was a part of the municipality of Gytheio. Parasyros is part of the community of Skoutari. Parasyros is located 2 km ...

and waited for the Ottomans to arrive.

Invasion

The Ottomans then headed to Skoutari only to find it abandoned except for the Grigorakos' tower in the centre of the town which was garrisoned by fifteen men under the command of Yanis Katsanos.Ramp,Mani The Ottomans laid siege to the tower, but were repulsed for the first three days by the small force. On the third night Hasan Ghazi, frustrated by not having captured the tower, had it undermined. Once the mine was completed, he loaded it with gunpowder, which he ignited, killing all the men in the tower. The Ottoman army then proceeded to the plain between Parasyros and Skoutari which was called 'Agio Pigada' which means 'Holy Wells' because of the monastery on the hill above the plain being surrounded by wells. The Maniot army advance to Parasyros and sent three brothers as envoys to Hasan Ghazi. They demanded that Hasan Ghazi and his men retreat or they would face to fight the Maniot army. Seeing that his army outnumbered than the Maniot army, he responded by beheading the Maniots' envoys and sending their heads to the Maniots on silver plates. The infuriated Maniot army charged down the hill, and before the Ottomans had a chance to prepare, the Maniots were upon them. The battle ended in a rout with the Ottoman army suffering heavy casualties. The rest of the Ottoman army retreated. The Maniots had nowhere to bury so many corpses, so they threw them down wells. The plain later got the name 'Vromopigada,' which means 'Dirty Wells'.

Aftermath

The Ottomans then tried to destroy Zanetos in

1803 Events * January 1 – The first edition of Alexandre Balthazar Laurent Grimod de La Reynière's ''Almanach des gourmands'', the first guide to restaurant cooking, is published in Paris. * January 5 – William Symington demonstrates his ...

and

1807 Events January–March * January 7 – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland issues an Order in Council prohibiting British ships from trading with France or its allies. * January 20 – The Sierra Leone Company, faced with b ...

. The Ottomans tried to subdue Mani again in 1815 by capturing Skoutari but the men of Skoutari beat back the attack and in 1821 the rest of Greece declared their independence from the Ottomans.

Notes

Sources

*Peter Greenhalgh and Edward Eliopoulos. Deep into Mani: Journey to the Southern Tip of Greece. *Philip Ramp. Mani. *Γιάννη Χ. Πουμελιώτη. Ηρωίδες της Λακωνίας και της Μάνης Όλης (1453–1944). {{DEFAULTSORT:Ottoman Invasion of Mani (1770) Conflicts in 1770 18th century in Greece Ottoman invasions of Mani 1770 in the Ottoman Empire