AHC: Ali Pasha as the king of independent Greece

I somehow doubt that many Greeks would be willing to stomach a Muslim Albanian becoming their monarch unless he would convert to Orthodoxy. Or at the very least present himself as an Orthodox Christian and even then his successors would be pressured to be Christian. There also comes to the matter of the European powers who would prefer one of their own be crowned and should the Greeks accept Ali Pasha, they would expect a lot less European support against the Ottomans.
 
Actually I was thinking of a Muhammed Ali situation: Ali Pasha's powers grows to a point that independence is seen as fait accompli both by the Europeans and the Ottomans. However, I have some trouble to establish how plausible it would be. He and his court used Greek as their main language, but he was seem as a particularly cruel ruler. If he makes some concessions can he acquire some support from the revolutionary Greeks? Let's say, if we cut financial support from Western Europe and Ali is still there can he expand his dominions to most of Greece with revolutionary help?
 
The title says it all.

Bonus if you can keep him as a Muslim and unifies most of the Balkans.

He would most likely have to convert back to Orthodoxy for that.

I remember he had a Greek wife. So maybe it could have worked. What if he instead were to marry a descendant of a Byzantine family? I think that could make him legitimate in the eyes of the Greeks.
 
He would most likely have to convert back to Orthodoxy for that.

I remember he had a Greek wife. So maybe it could have worked. What if he instead were to marry a descendant of a Byzantine family? I think that could make him legitimate in the eyes of the Greeks.

You might be able to keep him Muslim as long as his descendants are Greek Orthodox. This is what happened to Romania with the Catholic Hohenzollerns. Carol I and Ferdinand I remained Catholic, Ferdinand's children were all baptized Orthodox. Same thing with Bulgaria, Ferdinand I of Bulgaria and his son, Boris (agains the wishes of Boris's mother, Marie-Louise of Bourbon-Parma).

Of course, a Muslim ruler agreeing to raise his children Christian is a far different matter and may be seen as anti-Islamic and apostasy as it is.

I just don't think this is too realistic. The Greeks wouldn't go for it.
 
Simply converting to Orthodoxy wouldn't work, since his Janissaries and other Muslim soldiers and servants would be very unpleasantly surprised...to have a chance, he'd have to basically ditch the entirety of his old life and reinvent himself as an Orthodox Greek revolutionary. Then climb the ladder to authority and popularity in Greece and get himself elected King at an opportune moment. That's very unlikely from the beginning, but even if he did it - I'm not sure if that man would even "count" as Ali-pasha any more.

If the Ottomans don't stop the breakdown of order and central authority in early 19th century, Ali-pasha could emerge as an independent ruler in Greece...but not a Kingdom nor a Greek state as such. And he'd probably be overthrown. Ali-pasha's religion was only the first among many problems with his subjects, he seems to have been a very cruel and arbitrary ruler as well.
 
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