Arvanites

The Arvanites () are a bilingual Greek people speaking both the Greek language and a dialect of the Albanian language called "Arvanitika". They moved from the regions of northern Epirus and central Albania to the Greek peninsula during the Middle Ages. The Arvanites settled as farmers and soldiers ("stradioti") getting land as payment for their work. They were organized into clans called "fares" (), or "sogia" (Arvanitika: σόjτε), and their culture was Byzantine Greek. They fought in the Greek revolution of 1821 against the Ottoman Empire and its allies. The name "Arvanites", or "Arnauts", was also used to describe Greeks from Roumeli, Albanians ("Shqiptarët"), Bulgarians and Serbs who all served as bodyguards for royals.