Wallachian uprising of 1821
The uprising of 1821 was a social and political rebellion in Wallachia, which was at the time a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. It originated as a movement against the Phanariote administration, with backing from the more conservative boyars, but mutated into an attempted removal of the boyar class. Though not directed against Ottoman rule, the revolt espoused an early version of Romanian nationalism, and is described by historians as the first major event of a national awakening. The revolutionary force was centered on a group of Pandur irregulars, whose leader was Tudor Vladimirescu. Its nucleus was the Wallachian subregion of Oltenia, where Vladimirescu established his "Assembly of the People" in February.
Pandurs crossing the Olt River at Slatina, on May 10, 1821; the four men standing at the front of the barge are, from the left: Dimitrie Macedonski, Tudor Vladimirescu, Mihai Cioranu, and Hadži-Prodan. Lithograph by Carol Isler
Tismana Monastery, the Pandurs' original base
German print of 1821, depicting Fochianos and his Arnauts being massacred by Ottomans in Bucharest
Pandurs in Bucharest, with peasant women and wayside cross. Drawing by Michel Bouquet, 1841
Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Fanariots were members of prominent Greek families in Phanar, the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople where the Ecumenical Patriarchate is located, who traditionally occupied four important positions in the Ottoman Empire: Voivode of Moldavia, Voivode of Wallachia, Grand Dragoman of the Porte and Grand Dragoman of the Fleet. Despite their cosmopolitanism and often-Western education, the Phanariots were aware of their Greek ancestry and culture; according to Nicholas Mavrocordatos' Philotheou Parerga, "We are a race completely Hellenic".
View of the Phanarion quarter, the historical centre of the Greek community of Constantinople in Ottoman times, ca. 1900
Another view of the Phanarion quarter, ca. 1900. In the forefront: the Bulgarian Orthodox Church of St. Stephen; atop the hill: the Phanar Greek Orthodox College.
Engraving of Greek merchant by Cesare Vecellio (16th century)
Constantine Mavrocordatos, engraving from 1763