Dahije

Dahije killing Mustafa Pasha.

On 15 December 1801 Vizier Hadji Mustafa Pasha of Belgrade was killed by Kučuk-Alija, one of the four leading dahije.[10] This resulted in the Sanjak of Smederevo being ruled by these renegade janissaries independently from the Ottoman government, in defiance to the Sultan.[11] The janissaries imposed "a system of arbitrary abuse that was unmatched by anything similar in the entire history of Ottoman misrule in the Balkans".[12] The leaders divided the sanjak into pashaluks.[12] They immediately suspended the Serbian autonomy and drastically increased taxes, land was seized, forced labour (čitlučenje) was introduced, and many Serbs fled the janissaries in fear.

Some Ottoman sipahi and Mustafa Pasha's men plotted, and agreed with Serbian knezes to rise against the Dahije, on a given day. Ammunition was smuggled from the Habsburg Monarchy, some given out to the Serbs, and some hid on the Avala. This first attempt to remove the Dahije, erupting a day early in 1802 in Požarevac, was stopped, and the Dahije continued ruling the pashalik.[13]

The tyranny endured by the Serbs caused them to send a petition to the Sultan, which the dahije learnt of.[14] The dahije started to fear that the Sultan would make use of the Serbs to oust them. To forestall this they decided to execute leading Serbs throughout the sanjak, in the event known as the "Slaughter of the Knezes", which took place in late January 1804.[11] According to contemporary sources from Valjevo, the severed heads of the murdered leaders were put on public display in the central square to serve as an example to those who might plot against the rule of the dahije.[11] This enraged the Serbs, who led their families into the woods and started murdering the subaşi (village overseers) that had been employed by the dahije, and also attacking Ottoman forces.[14] The dahije sent out the most diplomatic, Aganlija, with a strong force to frighten and calm them down, in order to avoid escalation into armed conflict which would be hard for the janissaries to manage, but to no avail.[12]

On 14 February 1804, in the small village of Orašac near Aranđelovac, leading Serbs gathered and decided to undertake an uprising, choosing Karađorđe Petrović as their leader. The Serbs, at first technically fighting on the behalf of the Sultan against the janissaries, were encouraged and aided by a certain Ottoman official and the sipahi (cavalry corps).[15] For their small numbers, the Serbs had great military successes, having taken Požarevac, Šabac, and charged Smederevo and Belgrade, in a quick succession.[15] The Sultan, who feared that the Serb movement might get out of hand, sent the former pasha of Belgrade, and now Vizier of Bosnia, Bekir Pasha, to officially assist the Serbs, but in reality to keep them under control.[15] Alija Gušanac, the janissary commander of Belgrade, faced by both Serbs and Imperial authority, decided to let Bekir Pasha into the city in July 1804.[15] The dahije had previously fled east to Ada Kale, an island on the Danube.[16] Bekir ordered the surrender of the dahije, meanwhile, Karađorđe sent his commander Milenko Stojković to the island.[17] The dahije refused, upon which Stojković attacked and captured them, and had them beheaded, on the night of 5–6 August 1804.[17] After crushing the power of the dahije, Bekir Pasha wanted the Serbs to be disbanded, however, as the janissaries still held important towns, such as Užice, the Serbs were unwilling to halt without guarantees.[16] The Sultan now ordered the surroundings pashaliks to suppress the Serbs, realizing the threat.[16] The Serbs sought foreign help, sending a delegation to St. Petersburg in September 1804, which returned with money and promise of diplomatic support.[16] The First Serbian Uprising, the first stage of the Serbian Revolution, had thus begun.