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{{Short description|Massacre following the capture of Tripolitsa in 1821}}{{Infobox civilian attack
{{Short description|Massacre of Turks and Jews in Tripolitsa}}
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{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Tripolitsa massacre
| title = Tripolitsa massacre
| location = Tripolitsa, Morean peninsula
| partof = [[Morean Massacre]]
| image = Report of Yusuf Aga on the Fall of Tripolitsa and Massacre in October 1821.png|caption=The report presented by Yusuf Agha, arriving from Anaboli (Nafplio), regarding the fall of Tripolitsa on October 5, 1821, and the massacre that took place in the city.
| location =[[Tripolitsa]], [[Morean peninsula]]
| target = [[Muslim]] and [[Jewish]] residents and [[refugees]] in the city
| date = {{Start date|1821|09|23}} – October 1821
| date = {{Start date|1821|09|23}} – October 1821
| image = Report of Yusuf Aga on the Fall of Tripolitsa and Massacre in October 1821.png
| caption = The report presented by Yusuf Agha, arriving from Anaboli (Nafplio), regarding the fall of Tripolitsa on October 5, 1821, and the massacre that took place in the city.
| target = Muslim and Jewish residents and refugees in the city
| fatalities = 8.000-32.000
| fatalities = 8.000-32.000
| perp = Greek rebels
| perp = Greek [[rebels]]
}}
}}
{{Morean Massacre}}
The '''Tripolitsa Massacre''' ({{langx|tr|Tripoliçe katliamı}}) was the final and largest in a sequence of massacres against [[Muslims]] in the [[Peloponnese]] during the first months of the revolt.In the three days following the city's capture, the inhabitants of [[Tripolitsa]] were massacred.<ref>Lieberman, Benjamin (2013). ''Terrible Fate: Ethnic Cleansing in the Making of Modern Europe''. [[Rowman & Littlefield]]. p.&#x20;9. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]]&#x20;[[Special:BookSources/978-1-4422-3038-5|<bdi>978-1-4422-3038-5</bdi>]]. <q>The fall of the Turkish fortress of Tripolitsa in the central Morea on October 5, 1821, brought the single worst massacre of the war. ... At least 8,000 Muslims and Jews died at Tripolitsa alone.</q></ref><ref>Katsikas, Stefanos (2021). ''Islam and Nationalism in Modern Greece, 1821–1940''. [[Oxford University Press]]. p.&#x20;23. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]]&#x20;[[Special:BookSources/978-0-19-065200-5|<bdi>978-0-19-065200-5</bdi>]]. <q>One of the worst atrocities, in terms of ferocity and number of victims, took place after the fall of Tripolitsa in September 1821. In the words of Alison Phillips: "the other atrocities of the Greeks paled before the awful scenes which followed the storming of Tripolitsa." In the heart of Morea, home to the Ottoman pasha (governor) of the region, Tripolitsa was estimated to have a population of 15,000 people before the Greek revolution that included 7,000 Muslims and 1,000 Greek-speaking (Romaniote) Jews. With the start of the revolution most of the Orthodox Christians fled the town, and the Muslims of the surrounding regions of Mistras, Bardounia, Leondari and Fanari, along with 9,000 Muslim troops, sought protection inside the walls of the citadel. It is estimated that approximately 25,000 souls were inside the citadel in the summer of 1821. Famine, disease, and fighting had thinned the population, yet it is believed that approximately 8,000 Muslims of every age and sex, but mostly women and children, perished when the Greeks sacked the citadel.</q></ref><ref>Heraclides, Alexis (2011). ''The essence of the Greek–Turkish rivalry: national narrative and identity''. Academic Paper. The London School of Economics and Political Science. p. 15. "On the Greek side, a case in point is the atrocious onslaught of the Greeks and Hellenised Christian Albanians against the city of Tripolitza in October 1821, which is justified by the Greeks ever since as the almost natural and predictable outcome of more than '400 years of slavery and dudgeon'."</ref>Historians estimate that upwards of twenty thousand Muslim men, women and children were killed during this time, often with the exhortation of the local [[clergy]].<ref>William St. Clair (1972) p. 12</ref><ref>Finlay, p. 172</ref><ref>Phillips (1897), pp. 57–61</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Bowman|first=Steven|url=http://www.umass.edu/judaic/anniversaryvolume/articles/30-F3-Bowman.pdf|title=The Jews in Greece|pages=419–435|author-link=Steven Bowman|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050219115941/http://www.umass.edu/judaic/anniversaryvolume/articles/30-F3-Bowman.pdf|archive-date=19 February 2005}}</ref>


The '''Tripolitsa Massacre''' was the massacre of Muslim and Jewish inhabitants of [[Tripoli, Greece|Tripolitsa]] following the capture of the city by Greek revolutionary forces during the [[Greek War of Independence]] in 1821.<ref>Lieberman, Benjamin (2013). ''Terrible Fate: Ethnic Cleansing in the Making of Modern Europe''. [[Rowman & Littlefield]]. p.&#x20;9. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]]&#x20;[[Special:BookSources/978-1-4422-3038-5|<bdi>978-1-4422-3038-5</bdi>]]. <q>The fall of the Turkish fortress of Tripolitsa in the central Morea on October 5, 1821, brought the single worst massacre of the war. ... At least 8,000 Muslims and Jews died at Tripolitsa alone.</q></ref><ref>Katsikas, Stefanos (2021). ''Islam and Nationalism in Modern Greece, 1821–1940''. [[Oxford_University_Press]]. p.&#x20;23. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]]&#x20;[[Special:BookSources/978-0-19-065200-5|<bdi>978-0-19-065200-5</bdi>]]. <q>One of the worst atrocities, in terms of ferocity and number of victims, took place after the fall of Tripolitsa in September 1821. In the words of Alison Phillips: "the other atrocities of the Greeks paled before the awful scenes which followed the storming of Tripolitsa." In the heart of Morea, home to the Ottoman pasha (governor) of the region, Tripolitsa was estimated to have a population of 15,000 people before the Greek revolution that included 7,000 Muslims and 1,000 Greek-speaking (Romaniote) Jews. With the start of the revolution most of the Orthodox Christians fled the town, and the Muslims of the surrounding regions of Mistras, Bardounia, Leondari and Fanari, along with 9,000 Muslim troops, sought protection inside the walls of the citadel. It is estimated that approximately 25,000 souls were inside the citadel in the summer of 1821. Famine, disease, and fighting had thinned the population, yet it is believed that approximately 8,000 Muslims of every age and sex, but mostly women and children, perished when the Greeks sacked the citadel.</q></ref><ref>Heraclides, Alexis (2011). <i>The essence of the Greek–Turkish rivalry: national narrative and identity</i>. Academic Paper. The London School of Economics and Political Science. p. 15. "On the Greek side, a case in point is the atrocious onslaught of the Greeks and Hellenised Christian Albanians against the city of Tripolitza in October 1821, which is justified by the Greeks ever since as the almost natural and predictable outcome of more than '400 years of slavery and dudgeon'."</ref> The killings took place during the three days following the city's capture and included combatants, former combatants and non-combatants.
== Background ==
Tripolitsa was located in the interior of the Morean peninsula, and there was no direct logistical support possibility to the city by sea; therefore, there was no possibility of evacuating the besieged city.<ref>BOA, HAT, 888/39242, 29 Zilhicce 1237/ 16 Eylül 1822.</ref>When the Ottoman plan to evacuate tens of thousands of Muslims who had taken refuge in Tripolitsa from Nafplion with a force of 3,500 men was abandoned, it was decided that the Ottoman soldiers in Nafplion would be transferred to Tripolitsa to protect the city's population. While this plan was being considered,Because the city of Tripolitsa was surrounded by walls, it was considered safe, so tens of thousands of Muslims from surrounding towns and villages took refuge there.In the centuries following the conquest of the Morean peninsula  by Mehmed the 2nd, a social order prevailed in the peninsula among the Greeks, Turks, and Jews living there,<ref>Christos Loukos, “Some Suggestion for a Bolder Incorporation of Studies of the Greek Re-volution of 1821 into their Ottoman Context”, Ottoman Rule and The Balkans, 1760-1850:Conflict, Transformation, Adaptation, Girit Üniversitesi Yay., Rethymno 2007, s. 197-198.</ref> apart from tensions and loss of life during periods of war.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=William |url=https://books.google.com.tr/books?lr=&redir_esc=y&hl=el&id=qUoMAAAAIAAJ |title=The Turkish Restoration in Greece, 1718–1797 |date=1921 |publisher=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge |pages=21 |language=en}}</ref>(like Russian backed [[Orlov revolt]] and its bloody suppression) However, the Turkish massacres during the rebellion and the [[Constantinople massacre of 1821|Ottoman retaliations against Greek its subjects]] strained relations.<ref name=":5">Flathe, T. (1905). ''Restoration and revolution'' (J. Hunter, J. H. Myers, & others, Trans.; J. H. Wright, Superv.). In: ''[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/A_history_of_all_nations_from_the_earliest_times%3B_being_a_universal_historical_library_%28IA_historyofallnati18wrig%29.pdf? A history of all nations from the earliest times: Being a universal historical library]'' (Vol. 18, p. 368). Lea Brothers & Co. (Original work published 1892)</ref>


==Background==
Before and during the siege,The population of the city under siege allowed the local Greek community to leave the city.<ref>{{cite book |last=Linner |first=Sture |title=W. H. Humphreys' First "Journal of the Greek War of Independence" (July 1821–February 1822) |publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell |location=Stockholm |year=1967}}</ref> but eight Greek Orthodox [[prelate]]s of [[Peloponnese]] were incarcerated inside the city, and five of them died before the fall, due to "hardships, torture, and illnesses".<ref>{{cite book|editor= Michael Angold|title=The Cambridge history of Christianity|year=2006|publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-81113-2|pages=230|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vBy7CTYVBeMC&q=orthodoxy%2Bpatriarch%2B1821%2Bgregory&pg=PA230|edition=1. publ.}}</ref> They were imprisoned by the Turks, chained in a cramped underground cell, suffered starvation and disease, and were in extremely poor physical condition by the time of the fall.<ref name=":6">Trikoupis, S. (1888). ''Ιστορία της Ελληνικής Επαναστάσεως'' (3rd ed., Vol. 2). Athens: Τυπογραφείο της «Ώρας».</ref> Two of them died before being released, while three died immediately, the day they were released and a few weeks before the city's fall.<ref name=":6" />Because of these refugees the population of the city reached 30.000-50.000.
[[File:Tripolizza Phase 1 (recolored version, light).png|thumb|Map showing the first phase of the siege of Tripolitsa during the [[Greek War of Independence]]]]
[[File:Siege of Tripolitsa.jpg|thumb|Plan of the siege of Tripolitsa. The detachments of Kolokotronis' division, which have surrounded the town are symbolized by the letter "O".]]


Tripolitsa was located in the interior of the Morean peninsula, and there was no direct logistical support possibility to the city by sea; therefore, there was no possibility of evacuating the besieged city.<ref>BOA, HAT, 888/39242, 29 Zilhicce 1237/ 16 Eylül 1822.</ref> When the Ottoman plan to evacuate tens of thousands of Muslims who had taken refuge in Tripolitsa from Nafplion with a force of 3,500 men was abandoned, it was decided that the Ottoman soldiers in Anabolu would be transferred to Tripolitsa to protect the city's population. While this plan was being considered, the families of some high-ranking commanders were also evacuated to Tripolitsa. In a short time, the population of Tripolitsa reached nearly 50,000.<ref>Kurşun, age., s. 107.</ref>
After Bayram Pasha's attempt to deliver aid to the city of Tripoli, which had been besieged for 5 months by 50-60 thousand soldiers, was defeated on September 7, 1821, the city began to suffer from a severe food and supply shortage.Severe food shortages and the spread of disease caused heavy casualties among the population of Tripolitsa, prompting the city's defenders to negotiate terms of surrender with the Greek forces. During these negotiations, the Greeks reached a separate agreement with the Albanian mercenary garrison, allowing them safe passage out of the city. On 23 September 1821, as the Albanian mercenaries withdrew through the city gates, Greek forces entered Tripolitsa. While the Albanians were spared, the entry of the Greek forces was followed by a three-day massacre of the Ottoman Muslim and Jewish inhabitants.<ref>Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü, Osmanlı Arşivi Daire Başkanlığı, Hattı Hümayun Tasnifi (HAT), nr. 37873</ref><ref>Mehmed Esad Efendi. Vak’anüvis Mehmed Es’ad Efendi Tarihi (Bâhir Efendi Zeyl ve İlâveleriyle) 1237-1241/1821-1826. Nşr. Z. Yılmazer, İstanbul: Osmanlı Araştırmaları Vakfı, 2000. </ref>


In the centuries following the conquest of the Morean peninsula  by Mehmed the 2nd, a social order prevailed in the peninsula among the Greeks, Turks, and Jews living there<ref>Christos Loukos, “Some Suggestion for a Bolder Incorporation of Studies of the Greek Re-volution of 1821 into their Ottoman Context”, Ottoman Rule and The Balkans, 1760-1850:Conflict, Transformation, Adaptation, Girit Üniversitesi Yay., Rethymno 2007, s. 197-198.</ref>, apart from tensions and loss of life during periods of war.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miller|first=William|url=https://books.google.com.tr/books?lr=&redir_esc=y&hl=el&id=qUoMAAAAIAAJ|title=The Turkish Restoration in Greece, 1718–1797|date=1921|publisher=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge|pages=21|language=en}}</ref> (like Russian backed [[Orlov revolt]] and its bloody suppression) However, the Turkish massacres during the rebellion and the [[Constantinople massacre of 1821|Ottoman retaliations]] [[Constantinople massacre of 1821|against Greek its subjects]] strained relations.<ref name=":52">Flathe, T. (1905). <i>Restoration and revolution</i> (J. Hunter, J. H. Myers, & others, Trans.; J. H. Wright, Superv.). In: ''[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/A_history_of_all_nations_from_the_earliest_times%3B_being_a_universal_historical_library_%28IA_historyofallnati18wrig%29.pdf? A history of all nations from the earliest times: Being a universal historical library]'' (Vol. 18, p. 368). Lea Brothers & Co. (Original work published 1892)</ref>
== Massacre ==
During the massacre, Greek gangs first tortured Halim Efendi, the Qadi of Tripoli, for the morale he had boosted among the city's inhabitants and refugees during the siege. They smeared him with oil and burned him alive. Afterwards, they dug up the bodies and bones from the Muslim cemetery in the city and burned them. After all the property in the city was plundered, the women and children were distributed as spoils of war.
<ref>{{cite document |title=BOA, C. HR, 19/926 |publisher=[[Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi|Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives]] |location=Istanbul |date=23 February 1822 |type=1 Gurre-i Cemaziyelâhir 1237}}</ref><ref>{{cite document |title=BOA, HAT, 841/37873 |publisher=[[Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi|Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives]] |location=Istanbul |date=24 March 1822 |type=1 Gurre-i Receb 1237}}</ref><ref>{{cite document |title=BOA, HAT, 871/38718-A |publisher=[[Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi|Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives]] |location=Istanbul |date=5 May 1823 |type=23 Şaban 1238}}</ref><ref>{{cite document |title=BOA, HAT, 877/38829 |publisher=[[Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi|Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives]] |location=Istanbul |date=19 November 1821 |type=23 Safer 1237}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gordon |first=Thomas |title=History of the Greek Revolution and the Wars and Campaigns Arising from the Struggle of the Greek Patriots in Emancipating their Country from The Turkish Yoke |volume=1 |publisher=William Blackwood |location=Edinburgh |year=1844}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mehmed Esad Efendi |editor-last=Yılmazer |editor-first=Ziya |title=Vak’anüvis Mehmed Es’ad Efendi Tarihi (Bâhir Efendi Zeyl ve İlâveleriyle) 1237-1241/1821 1826 |publisher=OSAV Yayınları |location=Istanbul |year=2000 |language=Turkish}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bass |first=Gary J. |title=Freedom’s Battle: The Origins of Humanitarian Intervention |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York |year=2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Linner |first=Sture |title=W. H. Humphreys’ First "Journal of the Greek War of Independence" (July 1821–February 1822) |publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell |location=Stockholm |year=1967}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Örenç |first=Ali Fuat |title=Yunanistan’ın Bağımsızlığı Sürecinde Yok Edilen Mora Türkleri |trans-title=The Turks of Morea Exterminated During the Process of Greek Independence |journal=Uluslararası Suçlar ve Tarih Dergisi |volume=11 |issue=1 |year=2011 |pages=5–32 |language=Turkish}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kurşun |first=Zekeriya |title=Nasuhzâde Ali Paşa ve Rum İsyanı |publisher=Vakıfbank Kültür Yayınları |location=Istanbul |year=2021 |language=Turkish}}</ref>
The Greek general Theodoros Kolokotronis opposed this massacre and slaughter that took place in the city.<ref>Veis, N. A. (1901). ''Ἔγγραφα ἀφορώντα εἰς τὴν πολιορκίαν καὶ ἅλωσιν τῆς Τριπόλεως'' (1821). Ἁρμονία, 2, 227–233.</ref> Ahmed Lûtfî Efendi, a chronicler who lived during the Ottoman period, states that during the rebellion in Morea, the Greeks annihilated the Muslims, executing and burning even the fetuses in the wombs of pregnant women, and that the rebels thus destroyed many women and children, driving the survivors from their homeland, and that in a short time, all the Turks in the entire Morea region were devastated.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lütfi Efendi |first=Ahmed |title=Vak’anüvis Ahmed Lûtfî Efendi Tarihi |volume=1 |pages=38-39 |language=tr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lütfi Efendi |first=Ahmed |title=Vak’anüvis Ahmed Lûtfî Efendi Tarihi |volume=2-3 |page=543 |language=tr}}</ref>


Before and during the siege,The population of the city under siege allowed the local Greek community to leave the city.<ref>{{cite book |last=Linner|first=Sture|title=W. H. Humphreys' First "Journal of the Greek War of Independence" (July 1821–February 1822)|publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell|location=Stockholm|year=1967}}</ref> but eight Greek Orthodox [[Prelate|prelates]] of [[Peloponnese]] were incarcerated inside the city, and five of them died before the fall, due to "hardships, torture, and illnesses".<ref>{{cite book|editor=Michael Angold|title=The Cambridge history of Christianity|year=2006|publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-81113-2|pages=230|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vBy7CTYVBeMC&q=orthodoxy%2Bpatriarch%2B1821%2Bgregory&pg=PA230|edition=1. publ.}}</ref> They were imprisoned by the Turks, chained in a cramped underground cell, suffered starvation and disease, and were in extremely poor physical condition by the time of the fall.<ref name=":62">Trikoupis, S. (1888). <i>Ιστορία της Ελληνικής Επαναστάσεως</i> (3rd ed., Vol. 2). Athens: Τυπογραφείο της «Ώρας».</ref> Two of them died before being released, while three died immediately, the day they were released and a few weeks before the city's fall.<ref name=":62" />
==Plunder==
As the administrative center of the Peloponnese, Tripolitsa was one of the region's wealthiest cities. Following its fall, widespread plundering occurred, resulting in significant wealth acquisition by the Greek forces and their commanders.<ref>{{cite document |title=BOA, HAT, 862/38442 |publisher=[[Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi|Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives]] |location=Istanbul |date=21 February 1822 |type=29 Cemâziyelevvel 1237}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ahmed Cevdet |title=Tarih-i Cevdet |volume=11–12 |publisher=Matbaa-i Âmire |location=Istanbul |year=1891 |orig-date=AH 1309 |language=Turkish}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mehmed Esad Efendi |editor-last=Yılmazer |editor-first=Ziya |title=Vak’anüvis Mehmed Es’ad Efendi Tarihi (Bâhir Efendi Zeyl ve İlâveleriyle) 1237-1241/1821-1826 |publisher=OSAV Yayınları |location=Istanbul |year=2000 |language=Turkish}}</ref> Contemporary accounts and historical sources note that prominent leaders, including Petrobey Mavromichalis and Theodoros Kolokotronis, acquired substantial spoils during the plunder of the city.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Peker |first=Gürkan |title=Yunan Tarih Yazıcılığında Mora İsyanı ve Yunanistan’ın Bağımsızlığı (1821-1829) |trans-title=The Morea Rebellion and the Independence of Greece in Greek Historiography (1821-1829) |type=Master's thesis |publisher=Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University |location=Çanakkale |year=2018 |language=Turkish}}</ref>


==Massacre==
== Jews ==
During the massacre, Greek gangs first tortured Halim Efendi, the Qadi of Tripoli, for the morale he had boosted among the city's inhabitants and refugees during the siege. They smeared him with oil and burned him alive. Afterwards, they dug up the bodies and bones from the Muslim cemetery in the city and burned them. After all the property in the city was plundered, the women and children were distributed as spoils of war. <ref>{{cite document |title=BOA, C. HR, 19/926|publisher=[[Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi|Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives]]|location=Istanbul|date=23 February 1822|type=1 Gurre-i Cemaziyelâhir 1237}}</ref><ref>{{cite document |title=BOA, HAT, 841/37873|publisher=[[Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi|Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives]]|location=Istanbul|date=24 March 1822|type=1 Gurre-i Receb 1237}}</ref><ref>{{cite document |title=BOA, HAT, 871/38718-A|publisher=[[Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi|Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives]]|location=Istanbul|date=5 May 1823|type=23 Şaban 1238}}</ref><ref>{{cite document |title=BOA, HAT, 877/38829|publisher=[[Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi|Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives]]|location=Istanbul|date=19 November 1821|type=23 Safer 1237}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gordon|first=Thomas|title=History of the Greek Revolution and the Wars and Campaigns Arising from the Struggle of the Greek Patriots in Emancipating their Country from The Turkish Yoke|volume=1|publisher=William Blackwood|location=Edinburgh|year=1844}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mehmed Esad Efendi|editor-last=Yılmazer|editor-first=Ziya|title=Vak’anüvis Mehmed Es’ad Efendi Tarihi (Bâhir Efendi Zeyl ve İlâveleriyle) 1237-1241/1821 1826|publisher=OSAV Yayınları|location=Istanbul|year=2000|language=Turkish}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bass |first=Gary J. |title=Freedom’s Battle: The Origins of Humanitarian Intervention |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York|year=2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Linner|first=Sture|title=W. H. Humphreys’ First "Journal of the Greek War of Independence" (July 1821–February 1822)|publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell|location=Stockholm|year=1967}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Örenç|first=Ali Fuat|title=Yunanistan’ın Bağımsızlığı Sürecinde Yok Edilen Mora Türkleri|trans-title=The Turks of Morea Exterminated During the Process of Greek Independence|journal=Uluslararası Suçlar ve Tarih Dergisi|volume=11|issue=1|year=2011|pages=5–32|language=Turkish}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kurşun |first=Zekeriya |title=Nasuhzâde Ali Paşa ve Rum İsyanı |publisher=Vakıfbank Kültür Yayınları |year=2021 |location=Istanbul |language=Turkish}}</ref> Furthermore, the Greek general Theodoros Kolokotronis approved of this massacre and slaughter that took place in the city. <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brengeri |year=1827 |title=Adventures of a foreigner in Greece |journal=London Magazine |language=en |volume=II |page=41}}</ref> Ahmed Lûtfî Efendi, a chronicler who lived during the Ottoman period, states that during the rebellion in Morea, the Greeks annihilated the Muslims, executing and burning even the fetuses in the wombs of pregnant women, and that the rebels thus destroyed many women and children, driving the survivors from their homeland, and that in a short time, all the Turks in the entire Morea region were devastated.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lütfi Efendi |first=Ahmed |title=Vak’anüvis Ahmed Lûtfî Efendi Tarihi |volume=1 |pages=38-39 |language=tr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lütfi Efendi |first=Ahmed |title=Vak’anüvis Ahmed Lûtfî Efendi Tarihi |volume=2-3 |page=543 |language=tr}}</ref>
In addition to the Muslim population of the Morea, Morean Jews were also targeted during the massacre. In many instances, they were subjected to even greater torture and killed in larger numbers than the Muslims.
 
=== Plunder ===
As the capital of the Peloponnese region, Tripoli was its wealthiest city. Therefore, the looting of the city brought great wealth to the perpetrators and heads of the massacre.For example, Petros Movromihalis of Mani, who participated in the massacre, could only transport the spoils he obtained from the city with 20 mules and 2 camels,<ref>{{cite document |date=21 February 1822 |title=BOA, HAT, 862/38442 |type=29 Cemâziyelevvel 1237 |location=Istanbul |publisher=[[Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi|Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ahmed Cevdet |title=Tarih-i Cevdet |publisher=Matbaa-i Âmire |year=1891 |volume=11–12 |location=Istanbul |language=Turkish |orig-date=AH 1309}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mehmed Esad Efendi |title=Vak’anüvis Mehmed Es’ad Efendi Tarihi (Bâhir Efendi Zeyl ve İlâveleriyle) 1237-1241/1821-1826 |publisher=OSAV Yayınları |year=2000 |editor-last=Yılmazer |editor-first=Ziya |location=Istanbul |language=Turkish}}</ref> or Theodoros Koloktronis, one of the generals during the massacre, was nicknamed the "booty hunter".<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Peker |first=Gürkan |title=Yunan Tarih Yazıcılığında Mora İsyanı ve Yunanistan’ın Bağımsızlığı (1821-1829) |type=Master's thesis |publisher=Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University |language=Turkish |trans-title=The Morea Rebellion and the Independence of Greece in Greek Historiography (1821-1829) |location=Çanakkale |year=2018}}</ref>
 
==Denial by Greek leaders==
According to reports by Greek leaders the massacre was not planned and was also opposed by [[Theodoros Kolokotronis]], {{Interlanguage link|Fotakos|el|Φώτιος Χρυσανθόπουλος}}, {{Interlanguage link|Spiliadis|el|Νικόλαος Σπηλιάδης}}, [[Petrobey Mavromichalis]], [[Alexandros Mavrokordatos]], [[Demetrios Ypsilantis]] and others, who allegedly made great efforts to stop it.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Doxiadis |first=Evdoxios |date=2022 |title=Defining a Hellene. Legal constructs and sectarian realities in the Greek War of Independence |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/openms-2022-0132/html |journal=Open Military Studies |language=en |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=148–164 |doi=10.1515/openms-2022-0132 |issn=2545-3254}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mylonas |first=Harris |last2=Vogli |first2=Elpida |date=2024 |title=Suppress or Support? Great Powers and Revolutionary Agency in the Greek War of Independence |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13537113.2024.2365052 |journal=Nationalism and Ethnic Politics |language=en |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=449–467 |doi=10.1080/13537113.2024.2365052 |issn=1353-7113}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kerem |first=Yitzchak |title=Decision Making and Change in the Ottoman Empire |publisher=Thomas Jefferson University Press at Northeast Missouri State University |year=1993 |isbn=9780943549156 |editor-last=Farah |editor-first=Caesar E. |location=Kirksville, Missouri |page=306 |chapter=The Influence of Anti-Semitism on Jewish Immigration Pattern from Greece to the Ottoman Empire in the Nineteenth Century}}</ref> Ypsilantis ordered that "we are fighting in order to be able to live with the Turks in a state based on law. The cities we conquer are our cities and you should not destroy them".<ref>Dakin, D. (1973). The Formation of the Greek State, 1821–33. In ''The Struggle for Greek Independence'' (pp. 156–181). Palgrave Macmillan UK.</ref> When Kolokotronis arrived, he immediately instructed his soldiers to protect Turkish homes and explicitly ordered for no innocent Turk to be harmed, stating in a written order that "whoever touches them shall receive punishment in the same manner in which they harm them, and even more".<ref>Veis, N. A. (1901). Ἔγγραφα ἀφορώντα εἰς τὴν πολιορκίαν καὶ ἅλωσιν τῆς Τριπόλεως (1821). ''Ἁρμονία, 2'', 227–233.</ref>
 
Fotakos wrote how he "begged them to cease the slaughter".<ref>[http://anemi.lib.uoc.gr/php/pdf_pager.php?rec=/metadata/0/4/f/metadata-70-0000183.tkl&do=140354.pdf&pageno=138&pagestart=1&width=359&height=549&maxpage=294&lang=el%20 Φωτάκος, Απομνημονεύματα, 1858,] p. 170</ref> The sole non-Greek witness to the massacre, [[Jean-François-Maxime Raybaud]], wrote that, apart from Fotakos, "many [other] captains and other Greeks out of compassion wanted to save some Turks".<ref name=":7">Raybaud, M. (1824). ''Mémoires sur la Grèce pour servir à l’histoire de la guerre de l’indépendance, accompagnés de plans topographiques'' (Vol. 1, pp. 467, 514). Paris, France.</ref> He reports that "Rhodios, Patroklos, and some Peloponnesian villagers" succeeded in saving many Turks.<ref name=":7" />
 
When the [[First Hellenic Republic]] was declared in 1822, the [[Greek Constitution of 1822|First Provisional Constitution]] banned troop misconduct and the Greek government passed a number of provisions and laws to make sure that such atrocities would not be repeated again.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mylonas |first=Harris |last2=Vogli |first2=Elpida |date=2024 |title=Suppress or Support? Great Powers and Revolutionary Agency in the Greek War of Independence |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13537113.2024.2365052 |journal=Nationalism and Ethnic Politics |language=en |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=449–467 |doi=10.1080/13537113.2024.2365052 |issn=1353-7113}}</ref>


==Death toll==
==Death toll==
The total number of Muslims, combatants and non-combatants, killed during the sack is unknown. {{Interlanguage link|Edward Blaquière|el|Έντουαρντ Μπλακιέρ}}, who arrived in Greece two years later, estimated around 6,000 dead.<ref>Blaquière, E. (1824). ''The Greek Revolution: Its origin and progress, together with some remarks on the religion, national character, &c. in Greece''. London: G. & W. B. Whittaker, p.{{nbsp}}146</ref> [[Josiah Conder (editor and author)|Josiah Conder]] and Thomas Curtis agreed with that number.<ref>Curtis, T. (1839). "Tripolizza". In ''The London Encyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Science, Art, Literature and Practical Mechanics'' (Vol. 17, p.{{nbsp}}646). London. </ref><ref>Conder, J. (1830). ''The modern traveller: A description, geographical, historical, and topographical, of the various countries of the globe. Vol. XV: Greece, Vol. I''. London: James Duncan, p.{{nbsp}}142.</ref> [[Thomas Gordon (British Army officer)|Thomas Gordon]], who arrived in the city shortly after its fall, estimated it at 8,000.<ref>Finlay, p. 269.</ref> Scholar Aristides N. Hatzis believes this to be the most realistic estimate.<ref name=":3">Hatzis, A. N. (2023). "The absolute barbarians as victims: Moral blame, historical disappointment and Orientalist double standards in rationalizing the Tripolitsa massacre". In N. Christofis, A. Lamprou, & L. Moiras (Eds.), ''The Greek War of Independence and the Ottomans''. Berghahn Books.</ref> Greek historians [[Spyridon Trikoupis]] and [[Ioannis Filimon]], both disavowing the atrocity, estimated the number at 10,000, including former combatants and non-combatants. This number is considered close to the truth by historian Kyriakos Simopoulos.<ref>Σιμόπουλος, Κ. (1979). ''Πώς είδαν οι ξένοι την Ελλάδα του '21: 1821–1822 (Τόμ. Α')''. Αθήνα: Στάχυ. pp.{{nbsp}}278–279, n.{{nbsp}}145</ref>
The total number of people killed during massacre differs by narattive.
 
*Theodoros Kolokotronis, the ringleader of the massacre, states that the number of people slaughtered was 32,000.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kolokotrones |first=Theodoros |editor-last=Edmonds |editor-first=Mrs. |title=Kolokotrones: The Klepht and the Warrior; Sixty Years of Peril and Daring: An Autobiography |publisher=T. Fisher Unwin |location=London |year=1892 |pages=135–156, 157–161}}</ref>
Historian Theophilus C. Prousis, citing David Brewer, reports that: "Flight, disease, starvation, and death in battle reduced the town’s population by almost one-half (from 30,000 to 15,000 residents). Nearly 8,000 Turks and Albanians died in combat during the siege, while an additional 2,000 non-combatants, mostly women and children, were massacred by Greek forces in a nearby gorge".<ref>Prousis, Theophilus C., "[https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/ahis_facpub/13/ Eastern Orthodoxy Under Siege in the Ottoman Levant: A View from Constantinople in 1821]" (2008). History Faculty Publications. 13.</ref> [[Hezekiah Niles]] quoted the ''London Courier'' in December 1821: "8,000 Turks bearing arms were put to the sword on the taking of Tripolitza".<ref name=":8">Booth, C. L. (2005). ''Let the American flag wave in the Aegean: America responds to the Greek War of Independence (1821–1824)'' [Doctoral dissertation, New York University]. </ref>
*{{Interlanguage link|Edward Blaquière|el|Έντουαρντ Μπλακιέρ}}, who arrived in Greece two years later, estimated around 6,000 dead.<ref>Blaquière, E. (1824). ''The Greek Revolution: Its origin and progress, together with some remarks on the religion, national character, &c. in Greece''. London: G. & W. B. Whittaker, p.{{nbsp}}146</ref>[[Josiah Conder (editor and author)|Josiah Conder]] and Thomas Curtis agreed with that number.<ref>Curtis, T. (1839). "Tripolizza". In ''The London Encyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Science, Art, Literature and Practical Mechanics'' (Vol. 17, p.{{nbsp}}646). London. </ref><ref>Conder, J. (1830). ''The modern traveller: A description, geographical, historical, and topographical, of the various countries of the globe. Vol. XV: Greece, Vol. I''. London: James Duncan, p.{{nbsp}}142.</ref>
 
*The French cavalry officer Maurice Persat, who came to the Morea, states in his memoirs published in 1910 that the death toll was 40,000.<ref>{{cite book |last=Persat |first=Maurice |editor-last=Schlumberger |editor-first=Gustave |title=Mémoires du Commandant Persat, 1806 à 1844 |publisher=Librairie Plon |location=Paris |year=1910 |language=French}}</ref>
Despite the high death toll, many Muslims were reportedly saved or spared.<ref name=":7" /> Some Greek officers and villagers allegedly saved many Turkish civilians.<ref name=":7" /> A tiny contingent of Turkish cavalry escaping to [[Nauplion]], a few women, most notable Turks, as well nearly all Albanians, i.e. around 2,000–4,000 individuals, were spared.<ref name=":2" /><ref>Finlay, p.{{nbsp}}269</ref> The commander of Hurshid Pasha's cavalry set fire to the ''[[seraglio]]'' in order to burn the harems with the women inside, but the Greeks managed to extinguish the fire in time, and the pashas' harem was placed under the protection of [[Petrobey Mavromichalis]] who later freed them.<ref>Trikoupis, S. (1978). ''Ἱστορία τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς Ἐπαναστάσεως'' (Vol. 2, p.{{nbsp}}94). Αθήνα: Εκδόσεις Γιοβάνης.</ref>
*Greek Historian Dimitris Stathakopulos estimates number of people killed as 10.000<ref>{{cite book |last=Kolokotrones |first=Theodoros |editor-last=Edmonds |editor-first=Mrs. |title=Kolokotrones: The Klepht and the Warrior; Sixty Years of Peril and Daring: An Autobiography |publisher=T. Fisher Unwin |location=London |year=1892 |pages=135–156, 157–161}}</ref>
 
* [[Thomas Gordon (British Army officer)|Thomas Gordon]], who arrived in the city shortly after its fall, estimated it at 8,000.<ref>Finlay, p. 269.</ref> Scholar Aristides N. Hatzis believes this to be the most realistic estimate.<ref name=":3">Hatzis, A. N. (2023). "The absolute barbarians as victims: Moral blame, historical disappointment and Orientalist double standards in rationalizing the Tripolitsa massacre". In N. Christofis, A. Lamprou, & L. Moiras (Eds.), ''The Greek War of Independence and the Ottomans''. Berghahn Books.</ref>
==Assessments==
*The Romanian Ottoman historian Nicolae Iorga estimated the death toll at 32,000.<ref>{{cite book |last=Iorga |first=Nicolae |translator-last=Epçeli |translator-first=Nilüfer |translator2-last=Beydilli |translator2-first=Kemal |title=Osmanlı İmparatorluğu Tarihi |trans-title=History of the Ottoman Empire |volume=5 |publisher=Yeditepe Yayınları |location=Istanbul |year=2005 |orig-year=1908–1913 |language=Turkish}}</ref>
Kolokotronis says in his memoirs:<ref>Kolokotronis (Edmonds) pp. 156–159.</ref>
* Greek historians [[Spyridon Trikoupis]] and [[Ioannis Filimon]], both disavowing the atrocity, estimated the number at 10,000, including former combatants and non-combatants. This number is considered close to the truth by historian Kyriakos Simopoulos.<ref>Σιμόπουλος, Κ. (1979). ''Πώς είδαν οι ξένοι την Ελλάδα του '21: 1821–1822 (Τόμ. Α')''. Αθήνα: Στάχυ. pp.{{nbsp}}278–279, n.{{nbsp}}145</ref>
 
*The European Philhellene William Henry Humphreys stated that the death toll was 10,000, including women and children.<ref>{{cite book |last=Linner |first=Sture |title=W. H. Humphreys' First "Journal of the Greek War of Independence" (July 1821–February 1822) |publisher=Almqvist & Wiksell |location=Stockholm |year=1967}}</ref>
<blockquote>Inside the town they had begun to massacre. ... I rushed to the place ... If you wish to hurt these Albanians, I cried, "kill me rather; for, while I am a living man, whoever first makes the attempt, him will I kill the first." ... I was faithful to my word of honor ... Tripolitsa was three miles in circumference. The [Greek] host which entered it, cut down and were slaying men, women, and children from Friday till Sunday. Thirty-two thousand were reported to have been slain. One Hydriote [boasted that he had] killed ninety. About a hundred Greeks were killed; but the end came [thus]: a proclamation was issued that the slaughter must cease. ... When I entered Tripolitsa, they showed me a plane tree in the market-place where the Greeks had always been hanged. I sighed. "Alas!" I said, "how many of my own clan – of my own race – have been hanged there!" And I ordered it to be cut down. I felt some consolation then from the slaughter of the Turks. ... [Before the fall] we had formed a plan of proposing to the Turks that they should deliver Tripolitsa into our hands, and that we should, in that case, send persons into it to gather the spoils together, which were then to be apportioned and divided among the different districts for the benefit of the nation; but who would listen?</blockquote>
*Historian Theophilus C. Prousis, citing David Brewer, reports that: "Flight, disease, starvation, and death in battle reduced the town’s population by almost one-half (from 30,000 to 15,000 residents). Nearly 8,000 Turks
 
Based upon accounts and descriptions provided by officers, William St. Clair wrote:
 
<blockquote>Upwards of ten thousand Turks were put to death. Prisoners who were suspected of having concealed their money were tortured. Their arms and legs were cut off and they were slowly roasted over fires. Pregnant women were cut open, their heads cut off, and dogs' heads stuck between their legs. From Friday to Sunday the air was filled with the sound of screams... One Greek boasted that he personally killed ninety people. The Jewish colony was systematically tortured... For weeks afterwards starving Turkish children running helplessly about the ruins were being cut down and shot at by exultant Greeks... The wells were poisoned by the bodies that had been thrown in...<ref name="St. Clair, p. 43">St. Clair, p.{{nbsp}}43.</ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>The Turks of Greece left few traces. They disappeared suddenly and finally in the spring of 1821 unmourned and unnoticed by the rest of the world....It was hard to believe then that Greece once contained a large population of Turkish descent, living in small communities all over the country, prosperous farmers, merchants, and officials, whose families had known no other home for hundreds of years...They were killed deliberately, without qualm or scruple, and there was no regrets either then or later.<ref>William St. Clair, That Greece Might Still Be Free – The Philhellenes in the War of Independence</ref></blockquote>
[[David Howarth (author)|David Howarth]], an author who wrote a work on Greek history, describes the massacre in this way:<blockquote>Within two days, not a single living soul remained in the city where tens of thousands of Turks had lived. Most of them had been killed, their heads, arms, and legs cut off. After this massacre, thousands of Greeks, who were wealthy in their own right, returned to their villages to hide the spoils they had obtained from the looting. The value of the captives had fallen so low that no one wanted to possess them anymore. Because no one buried the dead, an unbearable stench permeated the city of Tripoli, the drinking water was poisoned, and a cholera epidemic broke out. In reality, a Greek might deny what everyone knows, sees, and believes, claiming that such a thing never happened. But they all know from experience that the bandits and pirates, who are presented as national heroes, were in reality mangy, filthy, insatiable thieves. As Lord Byron said, "Greeks lack the ability to grasp reality. Every Greek has an exaggerated opinion of Greeks." Every open-minded traveler like myself cannot help but admire them. This is perhaps the result of sensitivity. I felt indebted to the Greeks for their gentleness. I pondered the reason why their ancestors had suddenly become so ferocious 150 years earlier. The general explanation was the hatred they had awakened in themselves towards the Turks after centuries of Turkish oppression. Therefore, they sought revenge. During the 1821 revolution, the number of foreigners living in Greece was negligible. Therefore, European countries were unaware of what was happening in Greece. Reports sent outside of Greece were prepared by enlightened romantics living in Athens who had not participated in the war, and were thus written in accordance with Greek ideals.<ref>Howarth, age., s. 27-32, 52-56.</ref></blockquote>Historian Kyriakos Simopoulos wrote that the spurious accounts cited by St. Clair were exaggerations, created simply by taking accounts of previous Ottoman crimes and projecting them onto the Greeks.<ref name=":4">Κυριάκος Σιμόπουλος, ''Πώς είδαν οι ξένοι την Ελλάδα του ’21'', 1982–1990. Α' σ. 383, υποσημ. 41.</ref> He notes that people who were actually present in the scene of the massacre state that Turks were killed simply by being shot, as the Greek soldiers did not want to get close to them due to the ongoing [[epidemic]] in the city.<ref name=":4" />
 
Accounts of the behavior of the Greek forces during the atrocity, and the religious exhortations associated with them, closely resemble what St. Clair describes as the longstanding Ottoman methods employed in the [[Massacre of Chios]], suffered by the Greeks themselves eight months later, in 1822.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.openedition.org/obp/710?lang=en|title=That Greece might still be free|chapter=7 Chios |series=OBP collection |date=11 January 2013 |pages=78–81 |publisher=openedition"|isbn=9781906924027 |access-date=13 February 2022}}</ref>
 
The massacre at Tripolitsa was the final and largest in a sequence of massacres against Muslims in the Peloponnese during the first months of the revolt. Historians estimate that upwards of twenty thousand Muslim men, women and children were killed during this time, often with the exhortation of the local clergy.<ref>William St. Clair (1972) p. 12</ref><ref>Finlay, p. 172</ref><ref>Phillips (1897), pp. 57–61</ref>
 
==Rationale==
{{Quote box
| quote = Our friends in Greece are getting on famously. All the Morea is subdued, and much treasure was acquired with the capture of Tripoliza. Some cruelties have ensued. But the oppressor must in the end buy tyranny with blood – such is the law of necessity.
| author = [[Mary Shelley]], author of ''[[Frankenstein]]''
| source = letter to [[Maria Gisborne]]
}}
 
The rationale behind the massacre has been debated. Although the Greek leaders definitively opposed the massacre, seeking to stop it, and most Greeks and other Europeans condemned it as well, some Greeks and non-Greek [[philhellenes]] tried to rationalize it in context.<ref name=":3" />
 
[[George Finlay]] suggested that the Greeks were simply imitating the cruelty they had endured, stripping them of total moral blame by pointing to their environment, a concept known as "[[mirroring]]".<ref name=":3" /> Meanwhile, [[Thomas Gordon (British Army officer)|Thomas Gordon]] said in an 1823 speech:<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kasdagli |first=Aglaia |date=1995 |title=Exploring the papers of the Scottish Philhellene Thomas Gordon (1788–1841) |url=https://pasithee.library.upatras.gr/kampos/article/view/4837 |journal=Kampos: Cambridge Papers in Modern Greek |language=en |volume=3 |issue=0 |doi=10.26220/kam.4837}}</ref>
 
{{Blockquote|text=...{{nbsp}}in a war of that description, when a whole country is attempted to be put to the sword, the war cannot be carried on according to those nice feelings of honour which have always distinguished the troops and inhabitants of this country. [The Greeks] were no common or ordinary sufferers [and] were justly enraged at the conduct of the Turks, in putting to death, impaling, and burning their friends and relatives.}}
 
[[Percy Bysshe Shelley]], in his poem ''[[Hellas (poem)|Hellas]]'', implied how extreme oppression naturally breeds extreme revenge.<ref name=":3" /> [[Samuel Gridley Howe]], recounting [[Olivier Voutier]]'s story of an old Greek shepherd whose son was killed by a Turk, wrote that: "Where is the father, with a soul so free from the frailties of human nature, as not to have exclaimed with the old shepherd – 'give me vengeance and let me die!'{{nnbsp}}".<ref name=":3" /> [[Mary Shelley]], novelist and author of ''[[Frankenstein]]'', wrote positively of the siege, while noting that the cruelties were plainly justified, as "the oppressor must in the end buy tyranny with blood – such is the law of necessity".<ref name=":3" />
 
Historian {{Interlanguage link|James Irving Manatt|el|Τζέιμς Ίρβινγκ Μανάττ}} considered the massacre:<ref>Manatt, J. I. (1898). [Review of ''The War of Greek Independence, 1821–1833'', by W. A. Phillips]. ''The American Historical Review'' (3), pp.{{nbsp}}538–539.</ref>
 
{{Blockquote|text=[a] natural result of the experience of four hundred years under the Muslims, of the subjection of the Greeks on Greek soil to a handful of foreign conquerors, diametrically opposed in race, religion and civilization, who drained their best blood to gratify their passion for lawless power and its enforcement, till the accumulated oppression ripened with an inevitable harvest into a national vendetta.}}
 
[[Abraham John Valpy]] shared a similar assessment. Valpy wrote:<ref>Abraham John Valpy, ''The Pamphleteer'', 1822, p.{{nbsp}}182</ref>
 
{{Blockquote|text=the most barbarous of all{{nbsp}}... is the attempt of some to assimilate the Greek character of 'systematic cruelty', as they call it, with that of the Turks themselves, and for this reason they are continually referring to the history of the atrocities committed at Tripolitza.{{nbsp}}... If we speak of systematic cruelties, we ought not to give so much attention to the horrid acts of war, dreadful as they are, as to those which for four successive centuries have been unilaterally inflicted upon their innocent victims.}}
 
[[Hezekiah Niles]] quoted an article in the ''London Courier'' without any personal comment: "But the Turks, acting under the orders of a legitimate government, may murder the Greeks, and their women and children—their patriarchs, archbishops and priests at". He then proceeded to note how, during the siege of the city, the Greeks had found out that the Turks had just murdered "12,000 to 13,000 [Greek] hostages of all ages and both sexes" in other parts of the Ottoman Empire. Historian Charles L. Booth wrote:<ref name=":8" />
 
{{Blockquote|text=Turkish cruelty was committed against innocent civilians, whereas the cruelty of the Greeks was a function of spontaneous rage by individuals who had lost helpless loved ones. This meant that Turkish cruelty was premeditated and vicious, perpetrated by officials of the Turkish state. What the Greeks did was spontaneous and unprovoked. One could, presumably, sympathize with Greek cruelty, but not with atrocities committed by the Turks. In its reprinting of the ''London Courier'' article, Niles itself in no way qualified what the ''Courier'' had reported. Both journals seemed to accept that Turkish violence was barbaric, whereas Greek violence was spontaneous and the product of justifiable provocation.}}
 
According to German historian {{Interlanguage link|Heinrich Theodor Flathe|de|Heinrich Theodor Flathe}}, the massacre was committed as retaliation to the [[Constantinople massacre of 1821]].<ref name=":5">Flathe, T. (1905). ''Restoration and revolution'' (J. Hunter, J. H. Myers, & others, Trans.; J. H. Wright, Superv.). In: ''[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/A_history_of_all_nations_from_the_earliest_times%3B_being_a_universal_historical_library_%28IA_historyofallnati18wrig%29.pdf? A history of all nations from the earliest times: Being a universal historical library]'' (Vol. 18, p. 368). Lea Brothers & Co. (Original work published 1892)</ref> [[Jean-François-Maxime Raybaud]], the sole non-Greek eyewitness to the massacre, agreed, writing that: "Alas, a considerable population was to be offered to the spirits of the victims of [[Smyrna]], [[Constantinople massacre of 1821|Constantinople]], [[Scala Nova|Scala-Nova]], and [[Ayvali]], and new sufferings, new outrages against humanity, were about to avenge four centuries of oppression and injury".<ref>Raybaud, M. (1824). ''Mémoires sur la Grèce pour servir à l’histoire de la guerre de l'indépendance, accompagnés de plans topographiques'' (Vol. 2, pp.{{nbsp}}469–470). Paris: Tournachon-Molin.</ref>
 
==Jews==
[[Steven Bowman]] believes that, although the Jews were murdered, they were not targeted specifically, in fact: "Such a tragedy seems to be more a side-effect of the butchering of the Turks of Tripolis, the last Ottoman stronghold in the South where the Jews had taken refuge from the fighting, than a specific action against Jews per se."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Bowman|first=Steven|url=http://www.umass.edu/judaic/anniversaryvolume/articles/30-F3-Bowman.pdf|title=The Jews in Greece|pages=419–435|author-link=Steven Bowman|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050219115941/http://www.umass.edu/judaic/anniversaryvolume/articles/30-F3-Bowman.pdf|archive-date=19 February 2005}}</ref> A friend of Kolokotronis, {{Interlanguage link|Anagnostis Zafeiropoulos|el|Αναγνώστης Ζαφειρόπουλος}}, along with [[:el:Φώτιος Χρυσανθόπουλος|Fotios Chrysanthopoulos]], rescued a Jewish family named Hanam before the siege. During the siege and the subsequent massacre, another Jew, called Levi, was rescued personally by Kolokotronis himself.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Doxiadis |first=Evdoxios |url= |title=State, Nationalism, and the Jewish Communities of Modern Greece |date=2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4742-6348-1 |page=71 |language=en}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{reflist}}


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[[Category:1821 conflicts]]
[[Category:1821 conflicts]]

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Template:Infobox civilian attack Template:Morean Massacre The Tripolitsa Massacre (Template:Langx) was the final and largest in a sequence of massacres against Muslims in the Peloponnese during the first months of the revolt.In the three days following the city's capture, the inhabitants of Tripolitsa were massacred.[1][2][3]Historians estimate that upwards of twenty thousand Muslim men, women and children were killed during this time, often with the exhortation of the local clergy.[4][5][6][7]

Background

Tripolitsa was located in the interior of the Morean peninsula, and there was no direct logistical support possibility to the city by sea; therefore, there was no possibility of evacuating the besieged city.[8]When the Ottoman plan to evacuate tens of thousands of Muslims who had taken refuge in Tripolitsa from Nafplion with a force of 3,500 men was abandoned, it was decided that the Ottoman soldiers in Nafplion would be transferred to Tripolitsa to protect the city's population. While this plan was being considered,Because the city of Tripolitsa was surrounded by walls, it was considered safe, so tens of thousands of Muslims from surrounding towns and villages took refuge there.In the centuries following the conquest of the Morean peninsula  by Mehmed the 2nd, a social order prevailed in the peninsula among the Greeks, Turks, and Jews living there,[9] apart from tensions and loss of life during periods of war.[10](like Russian backed Orlov revolt and its bloody suppression) However, the Turkish massacres during the rebellion and the Ottoman retaliations against Greek its subjects strained relations.[11]

Before and during the siege,The population of the city under siege allowed the local Greek community to leave the city.[12] but eight Greek Orthodox prelates of Peloponnese were incarcerated inside the city, and five of them died before the fall, due to "hardships, torture, and illnesses".[13] They were imprisoned by the Turks, chained in a cramped underground cell, suffered starvation and disease, and were in extremely poor physical condition by the time of the fall.[14] Two of them died before being released, while three died immediately, the day they were released and a few weeks before the city's fall.[14]Because of these refugees the population of the city reached 30.000-50.000.

After Bayram Pasha's attempt to deliver aid to the city of Tripoli, which had been besieged for 5 months by 50-60 thousand soldiers, was defeated on September 7, 1821, the city began to suffer from a severe food and supply shortage.Severe food shortages and the spread of disease caused heavy casualties among the population of Tripolitsa, prompting the city's defenders to negotiate terms of surrender with the Greek forces. During these negotiations, the Greeks reached a separate agreement with the Albanian mercenary garrison, allowing them safe passage out of the city. On 23 September 1821, as the Albanian mercenaries withdrew through the city gates, Greek forces entered Tripolitsa. While the Albanians were spared, the entry of the Greek forces was followed by a three-day massacre of the Ottoman Muslim and Jewish inhabitants.[15][16]

Massacre

During the massacre, Greek gangs first tortured Halim Efendi, the Qadi of Tripoli, for the morale he had boosted among the city's inhabitants and refugees during the siege. They smeared him with oil and burned him alive. Afterwards, they dug up the bodies and bones from the Muslim cemetery in the city and burned them. After all the property in the city was plundered, the women and children were distributed as spoils of war. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] The Greek general Theodoros Kolokotronis opposed this massacre and slaughter that took place in the city.[27] Ahmed Lûtfî Efendi, a chronicler who lived during the Ottoman period, states that during the rebellion in Morea, the Greeks annihilated the Muslims, executing and burning even the fetuses in the wombs of pregnant women, and that the rebels thus destroyed many women and children, driving the survivors from their homeland, and that in a short time, all the Turks in the entire Morea region were devastated.[28][29]

Plunder

As the administrative center of the Peloponnese, Tripolitsa was one of the region's wealthiest cities. Following its fall, widespread plundering occurred, resulting in significant wealth acquisition by the Greek forces and their commanders.[30][31][32] Contemporary accounts and historical sources note that prominent leaders, including Petrobey Mavromichalis and Theodoros Kolokotronis, acquired substantial spoils during the plunder of the city.[33]

Jews

In addition to the Muslim population of the Morea, Morean Jews were also targeted during the massacre. In many instances, they were subjected to even greater torture and killed in larger numbers than the Muslims.

Death toll

The total number of people killed during massacre differs by narattive.

  • Theodoros Kolokotronis, the ringleader of the massacre, states that the number of people slaughtered was 32,000.[34]
  • Template:Interlanguage link, who arrived in Greece two years later, estimated around 6,000 dead.[35]Josiah Conder and Thomas Curtis agreed with that number.[36][37]
  • The French cavalry officer Maurice Persat, who came to the Morea, states in his memoirs published in 1910 that the death toll was 40,000.[38]
  • Greek Historian Dimitris Stathakopulos estimates number of people killed as 10.000[39]
  • Thomas Gordon, who arrived in the city shortly after its fall, estimated it at 8,000.[40] Scholar Aristides N. Hatzis believes this to be the most realistic estimate.[41]
  • The Romanian Ottoman historian Nicolae Iorga estimated the death toll at 32,000.[42]
  • Greek historians Spyridon Trikoupis and Ioannis Filimon, both disavowing the atrocity, estimated the number at 10,000, including former combatants and non-combatants. This number is considered close to the truth by historian Kyriakos Simopoulos.[43]
  • The European Philhellene William Henry Humphreys stated that the death toll was 10,000, including women and children.[44]
  • Historian Theophilus C. Prousis, citing David Brewer, reports that: "Flight, disease, starvation, and death in battle reduced the town’s population by almost one-half (from 30,000 to 15,000 residents). Nearly 8,000 Turks

References

  1. ↑ Lieberman, Benjamin (2013). Terrible Fate: Ethnic Cleansing in the Making of Modern Europe. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4422-3038-5. The fall of the Turkish fortress of Tripolitsa in the central Morea on October 5, 1821, brought the single worst massacre of the war. ... At least 8,000 Muslims and Jews died at Tripolitsa alone.
  2. ↑ Katsikas, Stefanos (2021). Islam and Nationalism in Modern Greece, 1821–1940. Oxford University Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-19-065200-5. One of the worst atrocities, in terms of ferocity and number of victims, took place after the fall of Tripolitsa in September 1821. In the words of Alison Phillips: "the other atrocities of the Greeks paled before the awful scenes which followed the storming of Tripolitsa." In the heart of Morea, home to the Ottoman pasha (governor) of the region, Tripolitsa was estimated to have a population of 15,000 people before the Greek revolution that included 7,000 Muslims and 1,000 Greek-speaking (Romaniote) Jews. With the start of the revolution most of the Orthodox Christians fled the town, and the Muslims of the surrounding regions of Mistras, Bardounia, Leondari and Fanari, along with 9,000 Muslim troops, sought protection inside the walls of the citadel. It is estimated that approximately 25,000 souls were inside the citadel in the summer of 1821. Famine, disease, and fighting had thinned the population, yet it is believed that approximately 8,000 Muslims of every age and sex, but mostly women and children, perished when the Greeks sacked the citadel.
  3. ↑ Heraclides, Alexis (2011). The essence of the Greek–Turkish rivalry: national narrative and identity. Academic Paper. The London School of Economics and Political Science. p. 15. "On the Greek side, a case in point is the atrocious onslaught of the Greeks and Hellenised Christian Albanians against the city of Tripolitza in October 1821, which is justified by the Greeks ever since as the almost natural and predictable outcome of more than '400 years of slavery and dudgeon'."
  4. ↑ William St. Clair (1972) p. 12
  5. ↑ Finlay, p. 172
  6. ↑ Phillips (1897), pp. 57–61
  7. ↑ Bowman, Steven. The Jews in Greece. pp. 419–435. http://www.umass.edu/judaic/anniversaryvolume/articles/30-F3-Bowman.pdf. 
  8. ↑ BOA, HAT, 888/39242, 29 Zilhicce 1237/ 16 Eylül 1822.
  9. ↑ Christos Loukos, “Some Suggestion for a Bolder Incorporation of Studies of the Greek Re-volution of 1821 into their Ottoman Context”, Ottoman Rule and The Balkans, 1760-1850:Conflict, Transformation, Adaptation, Girit Üniversitesi Yay., Rethymno 2007, s. 197-198.
  10. ↑ Miller, William (1921) (in en). The Turkish Restoration in Greece, 1718–1797. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. pp. 21. https://books.google.com.tr/books?lr=&redir_esc=y&hl=el&id=qUoMAAAAIAAJ. 
  11. ↑ Flathe, T. (1905). Restoration and revolution (J. Hunter, J. H. Myers, & others, Trans.; J. H. Wright, Superv.). In: A history of all nations from the earliest times: Being a universal historical library (Vol. 18, p. 368). Lea Brothers & Co. (Original work published 1892)
  12. ↑ Linner, Sture (1967). W. H. Humphreys' First "Journal of the Greek War of Independence" (July 1821–February 1822). Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell. 
  13. ↑ Michael Angold, ed (2006). The Cambridge history of Christianity (1. publ. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. pp. 230. ISBN 978-0-521-81113-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=vBy7CTYVBeMC&q=orthodoxy%2Bpatriarch%2B1821%2Bgregory&pg=PA230. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Trikoupis, S. (1888). Ιστορία της Ελληνικής Επαναστάσεως (3rd ed., Vol. 2). Athens: Τυπογραφείο της «Ώρας».
  15. ↑ Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü, Osmanlı Arşivi Daire Başkanlığı, Hattı Hümayun Tasnifi (HAT), nr. 37873
  16. ↑ Mehmed Esad Efendi. Vak’anüvis Mehmed Es’ad Efendi Tarihi (Bâhir Efendi Zeyl ve İlâveleriyle) 1237-1241/1821-1826. Nşr. Z. Yılmazer, İstanbul: Osmanlı Araştırmaları Vakfı, 2000.
  17. ↑ Template:Cite document
  18. ↑ Template:Cite document
  19. ↑ Template:Cite document
  20. ↑ Template:Cite document
  21. ↑ Gordon, Thomas (1844). History of the Greek Revolution and the Wars and Campaigns Arising from the Struggle of the Greek Patriots in Emancipating their Country from The Turkish Yoke. 1. Edinburgh: William Blackwood. 
  22. ↑ Mehmed Esad Efendi (2000). Yılmazer, Ziya. ed (in Turkish). Vak’anüvis Mehmed Es’ad Efendi Tarihi (Bâhir Efendi Zeyl ve İlâveleriyle) 1237-1241/1821 1826. Istanbul: OSAV Yayınları. 
  23. ↑ Bass, Gary J. (2008). Freedom’s Battle: The Origins of Humanitarian Intervention. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 
  24. ↑ Linner, Sture (1967). W. H. Humphreys’ First "Journal of the Greek War of Independence" (July 1821–February 1822). Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell. 
  25. ↑ Örenç, Ali Fuat (2011). "Yunanistan’ın Bağımsızlığı Sürecinde Yok Edilen Mora Türkleri" (in Turkish). Uluslararası Suçlar ve Tarih Dergisi 11 (1): 5–32. 
  26. ↑ Kurşun, Zekeriya (2021) (in Turkish). Nasuhzâde Ali Paşa ve Rum İsyanı. Istanbul: Vakıfbank Kültür Yayınları. 
  27. ↑ Veis, N. A. (1901). Ἔγγραφα ἀφορώντα εἰς τὴν πολιορκίαν καὶ ἅλωσιν τῆς Τριπόλεως (1821). Ἁρμονία, 2, 227–233.
  28. ↑ Lütfi Efendi, Ahmed (in tr). Vak’anüvis Ahmed Lûtfî Efendi Tarihi. 1. pp. 38-39. 
  29. ↑ Lütfi Efendi, Ahmed (in tr). Vak’anüvis Ahmed Lûtfî Efendi Tarihi. 2-3. p. 543. 
  30. ↑ Template:Cite document
  31. ↑ Ahmed Cevdet (1891) (in Turkish). Tarih-i Cevdet. 11–12. Istanbul: Matbaa-i Âmire. 
  32. ↑ Mehmed Esad Efendi (2000). Yılmazer, Ziya. ed (in Turkish). Vak’anüvis Mehmed Es’ad Efendi Tarihi (Bâhir Efendi Zeyl ve İlâveleriyle) 1237-1241/1821-1826. Istanbul: OSAV Yayınları. 
  33. ↑ Template:Cite thesis
  34. ↑ Kolokotrones, Theodoros (1892). Edmonds, Mrs.. ed. Kolokotrones: The Klepht and the Warrior; Sixty Years of Peril and Daring: An Autobiography. London: T. Fisher Unwin. pp. 135–156, 157–161. 
  35. ↑ Blaquière, E. (1824). The Greek Revolution: Its origin and progress, together with some remarks on the religion, national character, &c. in Greece. London: G. & W. B. Whittaker, p.Template:Nbsp146
  36. ↑ Curtis, T. (1839). "Tripolizza". In The London Encyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Science, Art, Literature and Practical Mechanics (Vol. 17, p.Template:Nbsp646). London.
  37. ↑ Conder, J. (1830). The modern traveller: A description, geographical, historical, and topographical, of the various countries of the globe. Vol. XV: Greece, Vol. I. London: James Duncan, p.Template:Nbsp142.
  38. ↑ Persat, Maurice (1910). Schlumberger, Gustave. ed (in French). Mémoires du Commandant Persat, 1806 à 1844. Paris: Librairie Plon. 
  39. ↑ Kolokotrones, Theodoros (1892). Edmonds, Mrs.. ed. Kolokotrones: The Klepht and the Warrior; Sixty Years of Peril and Daring: An Autobiography. London: T. Fisher Unwin. pp. 135–156, 157–161. 
  40. ↑ Finlay, p. 269.
  41. ↑ Hatzis, A. N. (2023). "The absolute barbarians as victims: Moral blame, historical disappointment and Orientalist double standards in rationalizing the Tripolitsa massacre". In N. Christofis, A. Lamprou, & L. Moiras (Eds.), The Greek War of Independence and the Ottomans. Berghahn Books.
  42. ↑ Iorga, Nicolae (2005) (in Turkish). Osmanlı İmparatorluğu Tarihi. 5. Istanbul: Yeditepe Yayınları. 
  43. ↑ Σιμόπουλος, Κ. (1979). Πώς είδαν οι ξένοι την Ελλάδα του '21: 1821–1822 (Τόμ. Α'). Αθήνα: Στάχυ. pp.Template:Nbsp278–279, n.Template:Nbsp145
  44. ↑ Linner, Sture (1967). W. H. Humphreys' First "Journal of the Greek War of Independence" (July 1821–February 1822). Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell. 

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