The population of Nafpaktos changed drastically when Greece gained its independence (1830). The Souliotes, fearsome warriors from the mountains of Epirus, whose homeland remained under the control of the Ottoman Empire, demanded that the Greek government give them land in Greece where they could establish a new town. Nafpaktos had already suffered a population drain during the period of Ali Pasha’s cruel rule, so the Greek government allowed the Souliotes to settle here. Their leaders moved into the grandest Ottoman mansions and acquired the best farmland and urban plots. Local families objected to this blatant appropriation of land they considered theirs by the Souliotes, but to no avail.