Klephts (/klɛfts/;Greekκλέφτης,kléftis, pl.κλέφτες,kléftes, which means "thieves" and perhaps originally meant just "brigand"[2]) werehighwaymen turned self-appointedarmatoloi, anti-Ottoman insurgents, and warlike mountain-folk who lived in the countryside whenGreece was a part of theOttoman Empire.[2][3] They were the descendants ofGreeks who retreated into the mountains during the 15th century in order to avoid Ottoman rule.[4] Klepht bands also included many ethnicAlbanians.[5] They carried on a continuous war against Ottoman rule and remained active as brigands until the 19th century.[4][6]
After theFall of Constantinople in 1453 and then the fall ofMistra in theDespotate of the Morea, most of the plains of present-day Greece fell entirely into the hands of theOttoman Empire. The only territories that did not fall under Ottoman rule were the mountain ranges (populated by Greeks and inaccessible to the Ottoman Turks), as well as a handful of islands and coastal possessions under the control ofVenice. This situation lasted until 1821. However, later acquired territories of Greece – includingMacedonia, Thrace andEpirus – were in Turkish hands until the 20th century. This period of time in Greece is known as theTurkocracy.
Ottoman lands were divided up intopashaliks, also calledeyalets; in the case of the lands that form present-day Greece, these wereMorea andRoumelia. Pashaliks were further sub-divided intosanjaks which were often divided into feudalchifliks (Turkishçiftlik (farm),Greekτσιφλίκιtsifliki). Any surviving Greek troops, whether regularByzantine forces, localmilitia, ormercenaries had either to join the Ottoman army asjanissaries, serve in theprivate army of a local Ottoman notable, or fend for themselves. Many Greeks wishing to preserve their Greek identity,Orthodox Christian religion, and independence chose the difficult but liberated life of a bandit. These bandit groups soon found their ranks swelled with impoverished and/or adventurous peasants, societal outcasts, and escaped criminals.
Klephts under Ottoman rule were generally men who were fleeingvendettas ortaxes,debts andreprisals from Ottoman officials. They raided travelers and isolated settlements and lived in the rugged mountains and back country. Most klephtic bands participated in some form in theGreek War of Independence. During the Greek War of Independence, the klephts, along with thearmatoloi, formed the nucleus of the Greek fighting forces, and played a prominent part throughout its duration. Despite being ineffective, they were the only viable military force for the provisional governments of the 1821–1827 period. During that time period, three attempts were made at creating a regular army, and one of the reasons for their failure was the resistance of the klepht and armatoles leaders.[8]Yannis Makriyannis referred to the "klephtes and armatoloi" as the "yeast of liberty".[9] John Koliopoulos studied the klephts in the 19th century, and stated that the principle of kinship and honour seen in Albanianbesa could be seen among the klephts after centuries of contact with Albanian irregulars.[10]
Contrary to conventional Greek history, many of the klephts and armatoles participated at theGreek War of Independence according to their own militaristic patron-client terms. They saw the war as an economic and political opportunity to expand their areas of operation.[8][11] Balkan bandits such as the klephts and armatoles – glorified in nationalist historiography as national heroes – were actually driven by economic interests, were not aware of national projects, made alliances with the Ottomans and robbed Christians as much as Muslims.[12][13]
Klephtic songs (κλέφτικα τραγούδια [el]), or ballads, were developed in mainland Greece.[14] They are part of theGreek folk music genre, which includes folk poetry, and are thematically oriented on either the achievements and death of a single klepht or the generic life of the klephts as a group.[14] Klephtic songs are especially popular inEpirus and thePeloponnese. TheCzech composerAntonín Dvořák wrote a song-cycle namedThree Modern Greek Poems: the first one is entitled "Koljas – Klepht Song" and tells the story of Koljas, the klepht who killed the famousAli Pasha.
The most famous klephtic and modern Greek folk song isThe Battle of Mount Olympus and Mount Kisavos, a ballad based on a musico-poetic motif dating back toclassical Greece (specifically tothe poetic song composed byCorinna pertaining to a contest betweenMount Helicon andMount Cithaeron).[14]
The famous Greek dishklephtiko (or kleftiko), a dish entailing slow-cooked lamb (or other meat), can be translated "in the style of the klephts". The klephts, not having flocks of their own, would steal lambs or goats and cook the meat in a sealed pit to avoid the smoke being seen.
^Dontas 1966, p. 24: "Born in 1800, Demetrios Makris, a kleftis, had succeeded his father to the kapetaniliki in the district of Zyghos. A simple yet very stubborn man, like Dimo - Tselios he was a great patriot."
^abEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc 1995, p. 564: "Other Greeks, taking to the mountains, became unofficial, self-appointed armatoles and were known as klephts (from the Greekkleptes, "brigand")."
^Sowards 1989, p. 75: "Greek irregulars had operated as banditklephts and anti-Ottoman insurgents since before the Greek War of Independence in the 1820s."
^abCavendish 2009, p. 1478: "The klephts were descendants of Greeks who fled into the mountains to avoid the Turks in the fifteenth century and who remained active as brigands into the nineteenth century."
^Erdem 2007, pp. 224–225: "He commanded the loyalty of the klepht bands, which had life styles similar to those of the Albanians and in fact included many ethnic Albanians."
^Encyclopedia Americana 1919, p. 472: "KLEPTHS, klēfts (Greek, "thieves"). Greek bandits who, after the conquest of Greece by the Turks in the 15th century, kept themselves free in the mountains of northern Greece and Macedonia, and carried on a perpetual war against Turkish rule, considering everything belonging to a Turk a lawful prize."
^Cronin, S. (2008).Subalterns and Social Protest: History from Below in the Middle East and North Africa. Routledge. p. 264.
^Malesevic, S. (2013).Nation-States and Nationalisms: Organization, Ideology and Solidarity. Polity Press. p. 111.
^Hall, J. A.; Malešević, S. (2013).Nationalism and War. Cambridge University Press. p. 258.
^abcTrypanis 1981, "The Klephtic ballads", pp. 592–594: "The Klephtic ballads developed in mainland Greece, and in the eighteenth century represented the final and supreme stage in the evolution of modern Greek folk poetry. They can be separated into two groups, one dealing with the achievements or the death of an individual Klepht and the second with the life of the Klephts in general...Among them is a notable series of songs that deal with battles between mountains, a motif that goes back to antiquity, as we know from a fragment of Corinna found on a second-century papyrus in which Mount Helicon and Mount Cithaeron are fighting. Such battles of mountains in Greek folk songs have survived in Crete and in Karpathos, but the most famous of all is the Pan-Hellenic ballad ofThe Battle between Mount Olympus and Mount Kisavos."
Baud-Bovy, Samuel (1958).Études sur la chanson cleftique, avec 17 chansons cleftiques de Roumelie transcrites d'après les disques des Archives musicales de folklore (in French). Athens: Inst. Francaises d'Athènes.
Dupré, Louis (1825).Voyage à Athènes et à Constantinople, ou Collection des portraits, de vues et costumes grecs et ottomans (in French). Paris: Dondey-Dupré.
