Today marks 203 years since the death of the most powerful ruler and feudal lord of Central and Southern Albania - Ali Pasha of Tepelena, known as the "Lion of Ioannina".

Ali Pasha Tepelena is best known in Albanian historiography as the founder of the autonomous Pashalik of Ioannina, as well as a rebel against the power of the Ottoman Porte in Albania.

"The Lion of Ioannina" was born around 1740-1750 in Tepelena, Labëria, and died on January 24, 1822, defending the Albanian lands of Epirus from Ottoman forces.

Ali Pasha's family was one of the most powerful families in the Albanian lands. His great-grandfather Muçoja was a Be from Gjirokastra and is believed to have been the sub-governor of the district of Tepelena, a city that was part of the Sanjak of Vlora.

His grandfather, Muhtar Pasha, was a warrior famous for his bravery. He died at the siege of Corfu (after destroying part of the Venetian walls) while commanding the Ottoman forces in 1716. Muhtar Pasha had 3 children: Salek, Mehmet and Veli.

Ali Pasha Tepelena as a young man quickly distinguished himself for his abilities and for the energy with which he pursued his ambitious plans to become the sole ruler of the country, using all means, violence, cunning, as well as family ties with other local feudal lords.

Moktar, his grandfather died, sword in hand, during the Ottoman expedition against Corfu in 1716. The death of his father, Veli, has devastated many families.

Aliu would join a band of robbers in his youth. He was responsible for various raids, until his arrest by the Pasha of Berat. He managed, however, to escape punishment by entering his service. He then went into the service of an enemy of the Pasha of Berat, the Pasha of Delvina. Aliu married a daughter of the latter. She bore him two sons, who were named: Moktar and Veli. It was not long before he intrigued against his father-in-law. He hoped, after his execution, to inherit his pashalik.

In 1784 he earned the rank of Pasha as a military commander under Valiut of Rumelia in Sofia. That same year, he secured the governance of the Delvina sandjak through war.

In the years 1786-88, he became a derbendpaşa and governor of the Sanjak of Tërhalla (Thessaly) and took over, especially with the support of the artisan-commercial bourgeoisie of the country, the government of the important Sanjak of Ioannina, thus extending his power over Epirus and a part of the southern Albanian lands.

Around 1787, summoned to Constantinople Tepelena Dervenci Ali-Pasha (Marshal, - military title) for all of Thessaly. He was allowed to keep four thousand men to fight against the Kachaks and Christians. A former Kachak himself, he knew all the Turks. He did not kill them, but took them into his service. The Sultan rewarded him successfully and with the name Ali Pasha (Pasha in Turkish) in Trikala, Thessaly.

As a large landowner, a tax collector, an active participant in commercial activity, and by protecting the interests of the young landowners and the commercial bourgeoisie, which he made his own with a policy of broad religious tolerance, Ali Pasha Tepelena sidelined the supporters of the central Ottoman government and the "petty tyrants" as the causes of feudal anarchy in the country.

He thus transformed the territories under his rule into a de facto autonomous state formation, which differed from other parts of the empire in terms of order, tranquility, and economic and cultural development.

Ioannina became one of the most important and prosperous cities in the Western Balkans, the center of the interprovincial market of Southern Rumelia, which also included a number of provinces of Albania, an educational and cultural center where Albanian began to be used as a written language in addition to Greek.

In the years 1798-1812, by subduing through war the rival governors of neighboring sanjaks as well as the self-governing provinces of Suli, Himara, etc. and by taking advantage of the difficult situation of the Ottoman Empire during the Napoleon Bonaparte wars, Ali Pasha Tepelena managed to expand and strengthen his power, encompassing the territories from the Gulf of Preveza to approximately the Shkumbi River.

The Pashalik of Ioannina became a factor of international importance when the French and Russian forces stationed in the Ionian Islands, as well as England, turned their attention to the powerful Albanian ruler and established direct diplomatic relations with him, bypassing the Porte.

Ali Pasha Tepelena had thus become a de facto independent ruler, but always careful not to create premature conflicts with the central government, waiting for an opportune moment to break away from it.