Ali Pasha, or Ali Pasha of Tepelena, commonly known as Ali Pasha of Ioannina, was an Albanian ruler who served as Ottoman pasha of the Pashalik of Yanina, a large part of western Rumelia. Under his rule, it acquired a high degree of autonomy and even managed to stay de facto independent. The capital of the Pashalik was Ioannina, which, along with Tepelena, was Ali's headquarters. Conceiving his territory in increasingly independent terms, Ali Pasha's correspondence and foreign Western correspondence frequently refer to the territories under Ali's control as "Albania." This, by Ali's definition, included central and southern Albania, and parts of mainland Greece; in particular, most of the district of Epirus and the western parts of Thessaly and Macedonia. He managed to stretch his control over the sanjaks of Yanina, Delvina, Vlora and Berat, Elbasan, Ohrid and Monastir, Görice, and Tirhala. Ali was granted the Sanjak of Tirhala in 1787, and he delegated its government in 1788 to his second-born Veli Pasha, who also became Pasha of the Morea Eyalet in 1807. Ali's eldest son, Muhtar Pasha, was granted the Sanjak of Karli-Eli and the Sanjak of Eğriboz in 1792, stretching for the first time Ali's control down to Livadia and the Gulf of Corinth, except Attica. Muhtar Pasha also became governor of the Sanjak of Ohrid in 1796–7 and of the Sanjak of Vlora and Berat in 1810.
Ali Pasha at the Lake of Butrint, by Louis Dupré
The statue of Ali Pasha in Tepelenë
Portrait of Ali Pasha, drawn by Charles Robert Cockerell (published in 1820), based on Thomas Smart Hughes' travels in Albania in 1813.
"Ali Pasha of Janina hunting in the lake of Butrint in March 1819" by Louis Dupré (1825)
The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia as well as in Croatia, Greece, Italy and Turkey. They also constitute a large diaspora with several communities established across Europe, the Americas and Oceania.
Glass necklace, 7th – 8th century, Shurdhah
The city of Krujë served as the royal seat of the Principality of Arbanon and later as the noble residence of the Kastrioti family.
Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg led a successful rebellion to resist Ottoman expansion into Europe for 25 years.
Ali Pasha Tepelena was one of the most powerful autonomous Ottoman Albanian rulers and governed over the Pashalik of Yanina.