The Greek War of Independence actually began a few days earlier than its official declaration, with the liberation of Kalamata on March 23, 1821.
The uprising in Mani had begun in the first days of March, with Maniots and other Morias (Peloponnese) rebels taking up arms.
Theodoros Kolokotronis was in Kardamili, and the Filiki Eteria had put Petrobeys Mavromichalis at ease and overcome his objections that the revolution was untimely.
In mid-March, a ship loaded with ammunition, sent by Filiki Eteria from Smyrna to aid the Greek War of Independence, arrived at the port of Almyros, outside Kalamata.
Nikitaras and Anagnostaras, together with their men, undertook to transport the valuable cargo to a safe place.
The Ottoman authorities of Kalamata somehow found out about the arrival of a cargo and asked the city’s elite what the contents were — and why it was accompanied by armed men.
The reply was that the cargo was olive oil and the men who accompanied it were villagers who were armed for fear of robbers.
The army chief of Kalamata, Suleiman Aga Arnaoutoglou, warned the Turkish population to get ready to leave, and also asked for the help of Petrobeis Mavromichalis, who at the time was the “Bei”(chief) of the area.