Zacharias Pantelakos (; 22 October 1759 – 20 July 1804), nicknamed Barbitsiotis () but more commonly known as ''Kapetan'' Zacharias (), was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

klepht Klephts (; Greek κλέφτης, ''kléftis'', pl. κλέφτες, ''kléftes'', which means "thieves" and perhaps originally meant just "brigand": "Other Greeks, taking to the mountains, became unofficial, self-appointed armatoles and were know ...

in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

during the last decades of

Ottoman rule The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

over

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. He is described by Kyriakos Kassis as the best klepht of

Taygetus The Taygetus, Taugetus, Taygetos or Taÿgetus () is a mountain range on the Peloponnese peninsula in Southern Greece. The highest mountain of the range is Mount Taygetus, also known as "Profitis Ilias", or "Prophet Elias" (Elijah). The name is o ...

.Kassis, "Mani's History", 37

Early life and career

Zacharias "Barbitsiotis" Pantelakos was born on 22 October 1759 in the town of Varvitsa,

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia (, , ) is a historical and Administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti (municipality), Sparta. The word ...

, though his family originated from Mani. His father's name was Theodoros Panteleakos and his mother's name was unknown. In 1775, his brother Pantelis, was murdered by the Turks. Zacharias, wanting revenge, went to the town of Loggastra in northern

where he joined a band of klephts under the command of kapetan (chieftain) Mantzaris.Roumelioti, ''Kapetan Zaharias'

The next year during the Battle of Rekitsa, Zacharias charged at the Turks without orders. The other klephts followed him and they chased after the Turks. This incident won Zacharias recognition from his comrades for his bravery. However, Mantzaris was angry with Zacharias as he had not followed orders and Zacharias left and founded his own group of sixty men under his own flag.Roumelioti, ''Kapetan Zaharias'

Rise to power

Zacharios' fame grew even more when he defeated the Turks at the Battle of Salesi in Arcadia. A. Kontakis, who was the leader of the village of Agios Petros in Arcadia, and who at first an enemy and later a friend of Zacharias described in his memoirs: In 1787, Zacharias invited all the chieftains of the bands of klephts in the Peloponnese to a meeting, and they formed a klepht-armatoloi federation. This federation brought more power to Zacharias who was made the commander-in-chief of the federation. Meanwhile, he had constructed his own fortress in the mountains of

Mani Mani may refer to: People * Mani (name), (), a given name and surname (including a list of people with the name) ** Mani (prophet) (c. 216–274), a 3rd century Iranian prophet who founded Manichaeism ** Mani (musician) (born 1962), an English ...

, and from there he launched his raids on the Turks. It was widely thought that Zacharias' aim was for the Turks to meet his demands, however, in reality what he wanted was the liberation of the Peloponnese from the Turks. Meanwhile, the klepht Andreas Androutsos (father of

Odysseas Androutsos Odysseas Androutsos (; 1788–1790 – 1825; born Odysseas Verousis ) was a Greek armatolos in eastern continental Greece and a prominent figure of the Greek War of Independence. Born in Ithaca (island), Ithaca, the son of an Arvanites, Arva ...

), was expelled by the Turks from his base in

Aegina Aegina (; ; ) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina (mythology), Aegina, the mother of the mythological hero Aeacus, who was born on the island and became its king. ...

and escaped on the ship of

Lambros Katsonis Lambros Katsonis (; ; 1752–1805) was a Greek privateer of the 18th century who would ultimately sail under the Russian flag with the rank of colonel. He became a knight of the Russian Empire and was awarded the Order of St. George. Early l ...

. They landed in Mani, where they were greeted by Zacharias and a young

Theodoros Kolokotronis Theodoros Kolokotronis (; 3 April 1770 – ) was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire. The son of a klepht leader who fought the Ottomans during the Orlov revolt ...

(a future Greek hero of whom Zacharias would be his mentor) and took him in his band.

Death

In 1804, the Turks extended their efforts to capture Zacharias as well as the former

Bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

of Mani, Tzanetos Grigorakis, who retreated to the mountains after being deposed and after the events of the 1803 Ottoman Invasion of Mani. The reason for this increased interest into Zacharias' capture was because it had been revealed that together with Tzanetos and other prominent

Maniots The Maniots () or Maniates () are an ethnic Greeks, Greek subgroup that traditionally inhabit the Mani Peninsula; located in western Laconia and eastern Messenia, in the southern Peloponnese, Greece. They were also formerly known as Mainotes, an ...

, he had been conspiring with

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, who had sent them French weapons. In charge of the attempt to capture Zacharias was Seremet, who had been instructed to capture Zacharias and hand him over to the higher authorities. Seremet, knowing that capturing Zacharias without any casualties was nearly impossible, decided to assassinate him. The Turks approached a Maniot by the name of Koukeas and organised the assassination attempt with him. Koukeas went to Zacharias and told him that a Turkish fleet had appeared off

Kitries Doloi () is a community of the municipality West Mani, in Messenia, southern Greece. The community consists of the villages Kato Doloi, Ano Doloi, Kitries, Kalianaiika and Geranou. Doloi is located in the northwestern part of the Mani peninsula, on ...

. When Zacharias went to investigate this himself, he was assassinated near

Kardamyli Kardamyli (, variously transliterated as ''Kardamyle'', ''Cardamyle'', ''Kardhamili'', and ''Kardamili'', and sometimes called "Skardamoula", especially on old maps) is a town by the sea thirty-five kilometers southeast of Kalamata, Greece. It i ...

.Roumelioti, ''Kapetan Zaharias'

References

Sources

*Kyriakos Kassis, (1979). Mani's History. Athens: Presoft * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbitsiotis, Zacharias 1759 births 1804 deaths People from Sparta, Peloponnese Maniots Greeks from the Ottoman Empire Greek revolutionaries 18th-century Greek people 19th-century Greek people Assassinated Greek people People assassinated in the 19th century