klepht

…armatoles and were known as klephts (from the Greek kleptes, “brigand”). These klephts might sometimes be recognized by the Turkish authorities as armatoles, while the armatoles who were out of favour continued as klephts. The two terms came to be used indiscriminately. Both armatoles and klephts played important roles in…

…extolling the adventures of the Klephts, Greek nationalists living as outlaws in the mountains during the period of Ottoman rule over Greece, which reached from 1453 until 1832, when Greece formally became independent. Containing some of the most beautiful and vivid verse in Modern Greek, the songs, mainly from the…

…against the Turks by the klephts (social bandits or brigands). In their banditry the klephts did not distinguish between Greek and Turk, but their attacks on such manifest symbols of Ottoman authority as tax collectors led to their being seen by Greeks in later periods as acting on behalf of…

…the valley”) in Anatolia and klephts or hayduks in Europe. Those individuals took more or less permanent control of large areas, creating a situation that in many ways resembled European feudalism much more than the traditional Ottoman timar system ever did. The notables were able to build up their power…