The Effect of Ali Pasha's Character on Lord Byron--Sketch of the
Career of Ali, and the Perseverance with which he pursued the Objects
of his Ambition
Although many traits and lineaments of Lord Byron's own character may
be traced in the portraits of his heroes, I have yet often thought
that Ali Pasha was the model from which he drew several of their most
remarkable features; and on this account it may be expedient to give
a sketch of that bold and stern personage--if I am correct in my
conjecture--and the reader can judge for himself when the picture is
before him--it would be a great defect, according to the plan of this
work, not to do so.
Ali Pasha was born at Tepellene, about the year 1750. His father was
a pasha of two tails, but possessed of little influence. At his
death Ali succeeded to no inheritance but the house in which he was
born; and it was his boast, in the plenitude of his power, that he
began his fortune with sixty paras, about eighteen pence sterling,
and a musket. At that time the country was much infested with
cattle-stealers, and the flocks and herds of the neighbouring
villages were often plundered.
Ali collected a few followers from among the retainers of his father,
made himself master, first of one village, then of another, amassed
money, increased his power, and at last found himself at the head of
a considerable body of Albanians, whom he paid by plunder; for he was
then only a great robber--the Rob Roy of Albania: in a word, one of
those independent freebooters who divide among themselves so much of
the riches and revenues of the Ottoman dominions.
In following up this career, he met with many adventures and
reverses, but his course was still onwards, and uniformly
distinguished by enterprise and cruelty. His enemies expected no
mercy when vanquished in the field; and when accidentally seized in
private, they were treated with equal rigour. It is reported that he
even roasted alive on spits some of his most distinguished
adversaries.
When he had collected money enough, he bought a pashalic; and being
invested with that dignity, he became still more eager to enlarge his
possessions. He continued in constant war with the neighbouring
pashas; and cultivating, by adroit agents, the most influential
interest at Constantinople, he finally obtained possession of
Joannina, and was confirmed pasha of the territory attached to it, by
an imperial firman. He then went to war with the pashas of Arta, of
Delvino, and of Ocrida, whom he subdued, together with that of
Triccala, and established a predominant influence over the agas of
Thessaly. The pasha of Vallona he poisoned in a bath at Sophia; and
strengthened his power by marrying his two sons, Mouctar and Velhi,
to the daughters of the successor and brother of the man whom he had
murdered. In The Bride of Abydos, Lord Byron describes the
assassination, but applies it to another party.
Reclined and feverish in the bath,
He, when the hunter's sport was up,
But little deem'd a brother's wrath
To quench his thirst had such a cup:
The bowl a bribed attendant bore--
He drank one draught, nor needed more.
During this progression of his fortunes, he had been more than once
called upon to furnish his quota of troops to the imperial armies,
and had served at their head with distinction against the Russians.
He knew his countrymen, however, too well ever to trust himself at
Constantinople. It was reported that he had frequently been offered
some of the highest offices in the empire, but he always declined
them and sought for power only among the fastnesses of his native
region. Stories of the skill and courage with which he counteracted
several machinations to procure his head were current and popular
throughout the country, and among the Greeks in general he was
certainly regarded as inferior only to the Grand Vizier himself. But
though distrusting and distrusted, he always in the field fought for
the Sultan with great bravery, particularly against the famous rebel
Paswan Oglou. On his return from that war in 1798, he was, in
consequence, made a pasha of three tails, or vizier, and was more
than once offered the ultimate dignity of Grand Vizier, but he still
declined all the honours of the metropolis. The object of his
ambition was not temporary power, but to found a kingdom.
He procured, however, pashalics for his two sons, the younger of
whom, Velhi, saved sufficient money in his first government to buy
the pashalic of the Morea, with the dignity of vizier, for which he
paid seventy-five thousand pounds sterling. His eldest son, Mouctar,
was of a more warlike turn, with less ambition than his brother. At
the epoch of which I am speaking, he supplied his father's place at
the head of the Albanians in the armies of the Sultan, in which he
greatly distinguished himself in the campaign of 1809 against the
Russians.
The difficulties which Ali Pasha had to encounter in establishing his
ascendancy, did not arise so much from the opposition he met with
from the neighbouring pashas as from the nature of the people, and of
the country of which he was determined to make himself master. Many
of the plains and valleys which composed his dominions were occupied
by inhabitants who had been always in rebellion, and were never
entirely conquered by the Turks, such as the Chimeriotes, the
Sulliotes, and the nations living among the mountains adjacent to the
coast of the Ionian Sea. Besides this, the woods and hills of every
part of his dominions were in a great degree possessed by formidable
bands of robbers, who, recruited and protected by the villages, and
commanded by chiefs as brave and as enterprising as himself, laid
extensive tracts under contribution, burning and plundering
regardless of his jurisdiction. Against these he proceeded with the
most iron severity; they were burned, hanged, beheaded, and impaled,
in all parts of the country, until they were either exterminated or
expelled.
A short time before the arrival of Lord Byron at Joannina, a large
body of insurgents who infested the mountains between that city and
Triccala, were defeated and dispersed by Mouctar Pasha, who cut to
pieces a hundred of them on the spot. These robbers had been headed
by a Greek priest, who, after the defeat, went to Constantinople and
procured a firman of protection, with which he ventured to return to
Joannina, where the Vizier invited him to a conference, and made him
a prisoner. In deference to the firman, Ali confined him in prison,
but used him well until a messenger could bring from Constantinople a
permission from the Porte to authorise him to do what he pleased with
the rebel. It was the arm of this man which Byron beheld suspended
from the bough on entering Joannina.
By these vigorous measures, Ali Pasha rendered the greater part of
Albania and the contiguous districts safely accessible, which were
before overrun by bandits and freebooters; and consequently, by
opening the country to merchants, and securing their persons and
goods, not only increased his own revenues, but improved the
condition of his subjects. He built bridges over the rivers, raised
causeways over the marshes, opened roads, adorned the country and the
towns with new buildings, and by many salutary regulations, acted the
part of a just, though a merciless, prince.
In private life he was no less distinguished for the same unmitigated
cruelty, but he afforded many examples of strong affection. The wife
of his son Mouctar was a great favourite with the old man. Upon
paying her a visit one morning, he found her in tears. He questioned
her several times as to the cause of her grief; she at last
reluctantly acknowledged that it arose from the diminution of her
husband's regard. He inquired if she thought he paid attention to
other women; the reply was in the affirmative; and she related that a
lady of the name of Phrosyne, the wife of a rich Jew, had beguiled
her of her husband's love; for she had seen at the bath, upon the
finger of Phrosyne, a rich ring, which had belonged to Mouctar, and
which she had often in vain entreated him to give to her. Ali
immediately ordered the lady to be seized, and to be tied up in a
sack, and cast into the lake. Various versions of this tragical tale
are met with in all parts of the country, and the fate of Phrosyne is
embodied in a ballad of touching pathos and melody.
That the character of this intrepid and ruthless warrior made a deep
impression on the mind of Byron cannot be questioned. The scenes in
which he acted were, as the poet traversed the country, everywhere
around him; and his achievements, bloody, dark, and brave, had become
themes of song and admiration.