When the Greeks hoisted the flag for freedom against Ottoman rule in March 1821, the Turks did everything in their power to crush the Greeks both on land and sea. A dispatch was sent to the Governor of Egypt, Mehmed Ali Pasha on May 31, 1821 from the Ottoman central government to send ships to the Morea to defeat the Greeks.

This Ottoman document describes “sedition and strife that erupted in Wallachia and Moldavia” with Turkish suspicions of Russia aiding the rebels. Subsequently, the Greek revolt extended beyond the Morea with Athens, Livadia, and Amfissa joining the revolt.

The former Grand Vizier and later Governor of Rumelia and Commander-in-Chief of Ioannina, Hurshid Pasha “dispatched troops to the Morea by land” to defeat the insurgents.

Since the Greeks were considered ‘harbi’ (non-Muslims) under Sharia law, Muslims had the legal right to kill and enslave them. As “soldiers of Islam, [they could] seize their property as booty, in compliance with the fatwa of the Sheil-ul Islam.” Moreover, they had revolted against their lawful sovereign, the Sultan in Constantinople, who wanted this rebellion stamped out as quickly as possible.

The Ottoman Turks evoked the name of Islam and the name of their prophet, Muhammad to defeat the Greeks. The Greeks were described as “infidels” and the Orthodox Christian religion as a “false religion and engage[s] in all sorts of treacherous and abominable deeds against the nation of Muhammad.” It was the duty of all Muslims to defend their religion and state against the rebels and to act on “our loyalty to the Exalted Sultanate by rendering good service. The loyalty and industry of Your Excellency for the cause of His Imperial Majesty is evident by the deeds you performed for the sake of the Two Holy Cities [Mecca and Medina].”

The double strategy of the Turks on land and sea was to project their imperial power against rebels whom they thought would be easily crushed. Orders were issued to have a large Ottoman naval presence from “the Albanian coast to the coasts of the Morea.” The “infidels of Hydra and Spetses have the potential to attack ships carrying provisions to [Constantinople], as well as those transporting troops from Anatolia to Rumelia, for they have ships that are similar to English corvettes.” It is clear the Turks were worried about Greek ships from Hydra and Spetses threatening their naval communications along the Peloponnese coast.

The document also emphasizes the importance of Mehmed Ali Pasha dispatching a large number of ships “to demonstrate our might to the traitors rebelling in the Morea.” The rebels had to be defeated “as it was inconceivable to let them rule in the Morea, and, praise be to God, the winds are blowing for Islam with the infidels being put to the sword and exterminated.” It was also mentioned that the Governor of the Morea had slaughtered “many infidels in battle around Lamia and Ypati.”

The Turks believed that the revolt in the Morea and the threat posed by Greeks ships from Hydra and Spetses was likely “agitated by outsiders,” with Russia suspected of encouraging the rebels. Letters were addressed to the governors “to invite the provinces of Algeria, Tunisia, and Tripoli” to join in the war by adding more ships to fight against the Greeks.

There is an interesting part of this document that indicates that the threat extended beyong the Morea: “the couriers who were in possession of the said correspondence could not reach beyond Rhodes, as the heinous rebels had blocked the strait of Rhodes. The treachery and betrayal of the Greek infidels against the Mohammedan religion and state has thus become apparent.”

The Turks also received reports of “unspeakable treacheries toward Muslim pilgrims on their voyage to the Holy Land.” This targeting of Muslim pilgrims would have further inflamed Muslim hatred against the infidels, since the rebels as combatants felt that they had the right to attack them if they were being transported by the Ottoman navy. However, the document does not tell us what kind of ships transported the Muslim pilgrims.

The governor of the Morea reported that some Greek ships “appeared off Lamia and engaged with a ship patrolling in the vicinity.” The burning of the Turkish ship raised the morale of the insurgents and strengthened their cause of freedom. Such impudence forced the governor to request the dispatch of the imperial navy.

The Turks might have enjoyed success on land but the Greeks as a seafaring people had the advantage at sea. The latter issue was something that concerned the imperial government which felt that unless the rebellion was crushed swiftly, the Greeks could dominate the Mediterranean.

The document concludes: “It is not acceptable that our religion and our Sublime Mohammedan State, which has achieved a great many victories and conquests with the help and providence of God since the inception of Islam, be a victim to the treason and betrayal of these infidels. It is imperative on us that we, too, unite in alliance and inflict vengeance upon them, which makes rest and sleep a forbidden luxury for all the servants of the state. Since we expect great services for our religion from Your Excellency, we write to ask you to expend the utmost effort to do whatever is in your means and to dispatch an appropriate number of ships to the Morea, to bring down the sails of those pirates in the Mediterranean and smash their league, capture and enslave their offspring, distribute their property among the soldiers and hence do service to our religion and state.”

In conclusion, this document indicates that the Turks believed that they could defeat the Greeks on land but fighting them on the high seas was a different issue and would be more difficult. This was indeed the case throughout the long war, since the smaller Greek ships proved themselves capable of inflicting much damage upon their Muslim opponents because of their superior seamanship and tactics.