Armatoles
The armatoles (Greek: αρματολοί, romanized: armatoloi; Albanian: armatolë; Aromanian: armatoli; Bosnian: armatoli), or armatole in singular, were irregular soldiers, or militia, commissioned by the Ottomans to enforce the sultan's authority within an administrative district called an armatoliki (αρματολίκι in singular, αρματολίκια, armatolikia in plural). In Greek regions of the Ottoman Empire, they were composed of Greeks who were either former klephts or village stalwarts who had taken up arms against the klephts in the defense of their district.