free download here - Michael Llewellyn-Smith

The Great Island
Was he a foot or a hero, or both? To the poet he was a hero; but
when we look closely we find that a fair amount of what the poet tells
us is misleading, and can be corrected by documents from the Turkish
archives in Heraklion.
For instance: Pantzclios states, perhaps for the first time, what has
become an article of faith with historians of Sphakia- that the eparchy
was free of taxes. This is completely untrue. From early in the Turkish
occupation Sphakia was subject to the Vakoupkiko system, by which all
householders had to pay an annual tax towards the upkeep of some holy
building or some good cause. Sphakia’s money went to the poor of the
two holy cities, Medina and Mecca. From 1690 Sphakia was subject to
the capitation tax as well. The area was thus as badly off as any other
in Crete, and worse off than many. Naturally the Sphakians resisted as
best they could; in the year of the revolt they threw the tax-collector out
of the eparchy. But it was not till after 1760 when Sphakia was assigned by
the Sultan to the protection of Fatma Hatoum, grand-daughter of
Sultan Ahmed III, that there was any relief from these burdens.
(Pantzclios wrongly says that Sphakia was granted to the Sultana-
Mother.) Thus the popular theory of Sphakian independence, of an
island of wild Hellenism hardly violated by Venetian or Turk during
seven hundred years, must be modified. In 1672 there was a soubashi -
an agha’s representative or steward - living in the town of Sphakia. In
the eparchy the agha or his representative was rarely absent.
Pantzelios’s first mistake, then, is to exaggerate Sphakia’s autonomy.
He also exaggerates the strength of the Turkish forces used to crush the
revolt; the impression is of a steamroller cracking a nut. The revolt was
a serious threat to the Turks; strict security measures were imposed
even in distant Heraklion, where the pasha put a ban on gunshots at
night time, ordered the Christians to wear distinctive clothes and to
place a distinctive mark on their house doors, and prohibited the sale
of gunpowder. Nevertheless, the Turks did not send - they did not have
at their disposal - the sort of armies Pantzelios talks of - imperial
armies under the command of five pashas! The pasha of Heraklion in
fact remained at home. The secretary to the Turkish army wrote to
him in May 1770: ‘When they [clerics from PreveK monastery and
Tymbaki sent to collect information and parley with the insurgents]
went over to the place and were apprised of the situation of the disloyal
inhabitants of the eparchy, and spoke with them, Daskaloyiannis gave
them the following answer: "In no way are we to be at peace. We are
ready for war; we arc prepared for the battle. In no way do we
submit.”
86