Uprising Against The Dahias
Serb leaders began to conspire about starting an uprising against the dahias. When the dahias found out about this, they captured and killed many of the Serbian leaders on February 4, 1804 in an event known today as the Slaughter of the knezes. This action by the Janissaries incited the uprising, as it angered the people and the leaders had nothing to lose.
On February 14, 1804, in the small Šumadija village of Orašac, nearby modern Aranđelovac, in Marićevića jaruga, the Serbs gathered and decided to undertake an uprising. Karađorđe Petrović was elected as the leader of the uprising, which started immediately. That afternoon, a Turkish inn (caravanserai) in Orašac was burned and its residents fled or were killed. Similar actions were undertaken in surrounding villages and then spread further. Soon the cities Valjevo and Požarevac were taken, and the siege of Belgrade started.
At this stage the Serbs were acting in the name of the Sultan and on the 12 March the Sultan issued a fermans ordering all to support the uprising against the Dahias. The Dahias fled from Belgrade, abandoning their followers, but they were captured on Ada Kaleh island on the Danube by 40 uprisers led by Milenko Stojković with knowledge and approval of the Ottoman authorities and executed. With the success of the uprising, Selim III started to negotiate with the rebels.
Read more about this topic: First Serbian Uprising
Famous quotes containing the word uprising:
“Ours is the old, old story of every uprising race or class or order. The work of elevation must be wrought by ourselves or not at all.”
—Frances Power Cobbe (1822–1904)