tribes or brotherhoods known as primates in relevant documents. The Albanians in southern Albania and northern Greece were not divided in fis like northern and central Albanians, but in [[Albanian tribes|fara']] or gjeri ("common thing"). Among the lineages was that of Himarë. In 1532, the Himarë region, which still included all of Labëria, was considered under "Albanian lordship", and could field 20,000 warriors against the Ottomans. The Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent personally mounted an expedition in 1537 that destroyed or captured many surrounding villages but did not manage to subdue the area. The Ottomans found it necessary to compromise with the inhabitants by giving them a series of privileges: local self-government, the right to bear arms, exemption from taxes, the right to sail under their own flag into any Ottoman port and to provide military service in time of war. However, despite the privileges, the Himariotes revolted during the following conflicts: Ottoman–Venetian War (1537–40), Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–73), Morean War (1684–99), Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–18) and the Russo-Turkish wars of the 18th century. On the other hand, Ottoman reprisals depopulated the area and led to forced Islamizations which finally limited the area's Christian population by the 18th century to the town of Himarë and six villages. Additionally the Himariotes were often attacked by the Labs, a nearby Albanian tribe, on the grounds of race and religion. In 1567, Himariots are counted among Albanians that could be rallied against the Ottoman, as they, together with other Albanians, had caused great damage to the Ottomans since 1537. In one occasion, in 1577, the villages of the bishopric of Himarë appealed to the Pope for arms and supplies promising to fight the Ottomans. They also promised to transfer their religious allegiance to Rome, provided that they would retain their Eastern Orthodox liturgical customs; the letter concludes with "From Himarra, i.e. Epiros of the Arvanids [Albanians], on July 12th 1577". The term "Albanian" was used by the Himariotes, both as an identifier of local Himariotes, and as an identifier of "otherness" (as for example in letters from 1532 and 1578), which has led some to suggest that it indicated that Himariotes consisted of both Albanians and non-Albanians. In various letters to European rulers the Himariotes claimed that they were once ruled by leaders such as Alexander the Great, Pyrrhus of Epirus and Skanderbeg, personalities with which the Himariotes formed identitarian historical memory; as they later