Labëria

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Labëria is a historic region that is roughly situated in the northern parts of Epirus (present-day Southern Albania). Its inhabitants are known as Labs (Λιάπης) and its boundaries reach from Vlorë to Himara in the south, to the Greek border near Sarandë, incorporating the Kuverlesh region of Gjirokastër District and extending east to the city of Tepelenë.

Labëria is culturally distinguishable from the rest of Albania in its traditions and folklore. The Labs were warlike pastoral people who lived mainly in the mountains of Kurvelesh, Progonat and Vlorë during the Ottoman invasion of Albania. However, due to mass migrations to urban areas following World War II, the population is now concentrated in the cities of Vlorë, Tepelenë, Gjirokastër and Sarandë.

Historically the Labs were followers of the Eastern Orthodox Christianity but many converted to Islam in the late 16th century. Many Labs were recruited by the Ottoman Jannissary corps due to their warlike nature and the Ottomans' initial preference for recruiting Christian Greeks and Albanians after their invasion of the Balkans. After the disbandment of the Jannissary corps by Sultan Mahmud II in 1826, the Sufi branch of the Bektashi Order, a core Janissary institution, was also disbanded, and its followers executed or exiled to Southern Albania. As a result, the majority of the Labs today belong to the Bektashi faith with Orthodox Christians concentrated in the Himara coastal region.

Labëria's most famous son is Ali Pasha of Tepelena or of Yanina (Ioannina), surnamed Aslan, "the Lion", or the "Lion of Yannina" (1740–1822), who ruled the western part of Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire's European territory which was also called Pashalik of Yanina. His court was in Ioannina. Ali had three sons: Ahmet Muhtar Pasha (served in the 1809 war against the Russians), Veli Pasha of Morea and Salih Pasha of Vlore. Ali Pasha of Tepelena died fighting on February 5, 1822, at the age of 82.

Labëria

See also