Queen B
06-24-2012, 08:35 PM
In March 1822, as the Greek revolt gathered strength on the mainland, several hundred armed Greeks from the neighbouring island of Samos landed in Chios. They began the fight for independence from foreign rule and started attacking the Turks, who retreated to the citadel. Many islanders also decided to join the revolution. However, the vast majority of the population had by all accounts done nothing to provoke the massacre,[clarification needed] and had not joined other Greeks in their revolt against the Ottoman Empire.
Reinforcements in the form of a Turkish fleet under the Kapudan Pasha Nasuhzade Ali Pasha arrived on the island on 22 March. They quickly pillaged and looted the town. On 31 March, orders were given to burn down the town, and over the next four months, an estimated 40,000 Turkish troops, including convicts, arrived. In addition to setting fires, the troops were ordered to kill all infants under three years old, all males 12 years and older, and all females 40 and older, except those willing to convert to Islam.
Approximately 20,000 Chians were killed or starved to death and 23,000 were exiled. The Greek word sfaghi (English: butchery or massacre) is commonly used to describe these events since the island itself was devastated[clarification needed] and the few survivors that dispersed throughout Europe became part of the Chian Diaspora.[clarification needed] Some young Greeks enslaved during the massacre were adopted by wealthy Ottomans and converted to Islam. Some even managed to rise to levels of prominence in the Ottoman Empire, such as Georgios Stravelakis (later renamed Mustapha Khaznadar) and İbrahim Edhem Pasha.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix_-_Le_Massacre_de_Scio.jpg/300px-Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix_-_Le_Massacre_de_Scio.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chios_Massacre
Reinforcements in the form of a Turkish fleet under the Kapudan Pasha Nasuhzade Ali Pasha arrived on the island on 22 March. They quickly pillaged and looted the town. On 31 March, orders were given to burn down the town, and over the next four months, an estimated 40,000 Turkish troops, including convicts, arrived. In addition to setting fires, the troops were ordered to kill all infants under three years old, all males 12 years and older, and all females 40 and older, except those willing to convert to Islam.
Approximately 20,000 Chians were killed or starved to death and 23,000 were exiled. The Greek word sfaghi (English: butchery or massacre) is commonly used to describe these events since the island itself was devastated[clarification needed] and the few survivors that dispersed throughout Europe became part of the Chian Diaspora.[clarification needed] Some young Greeks enslaved during the massacre were adopted by wealthy Ottomans and converted to Islam. Some even managed to rise to levels of prominence in the Ottoman Empire, such as Georgios Stravelakis (later renamed Mustapha Khaznadar) and İbrahim Edhem Pasha.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix_-_Le_Massacre_de_Scio.jpg/300px-Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix_-_Le_Massacre_de_Scio.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chios_Massacre