Slaughter of the Knezes

The Slaughter of the Knezes, (Serbian: /Sea knezova), refers to a massacre that was committed in January 1804, on the central square of Valjevo and
other parts of the Belgrade Pashaluk (modern Serbia).
The victims were the most prominent Serbian nobles, titled Knezes (local dukes), of the Belgrade Pashaluk.
They were executed by the rebel Dahija, the Jannisary
junta that ruled Serbia at the time.[1] Total of some 70
Serbian nobles have fallen in this slaughter.

obor-knez Aleksa Nenadovi of Tamnava-Posava in

the Valjevo nahija.

The Dahias had taken power in the Pashaluk in deance

of the Sultan and they feared that the Sultan would make
use of the Serbs to oust them. To forestall this they decided to execute all noble Serbs throughout Serbia. Notable victims were Aleksa Nenadovi and Ilija Biranin.
The event triggered a widespread revolt which eventually
evolved into First Serbian Uprising, aimed at putting an
end to the 500 years of Ottoman occupation. According
to contemporary sources from Valjevo, the severed heads
of the murdered men were put on some sort of a public
display in the central square to serve as an example to
those who might plot against the rule of the Dahia.[1]

knez Petar of Resava in the Jagodina nahija.

obor-knez Ilija Biranin of Podgor in the Valjevo

nahija.
knez Stanoje Mihajlovi of Kolubara in the Belgrade
nahija.
knez Teofan of Oraje in the Smederevo nahija.

knez Marko arapi of Beli Potok in the Belgrade

nahija.
knez Stevan Andrejevi Palalija of Begaljica in the
Grocka nahija.[4]
buljukbaa Mata of Lipovac in the Kragujevac
nahija.
buljukbaa Gavrilo Budjevac.
kmet Janko Gagi of Bole in the Grocka nahija.

hegumen Hadi-Djera of the Monastery Moravica.

Background

archimandrite Hadi-Ruvim of the Monastery

Bogovadja.

While Knez is normally translated as prince, at this time

knez referred to the headmen that the Ottomans had relied on to organize the Orthodox population. Each village had a knez and 10 villages had an oborknez.[2] The
Muslim population of the Belgrade pashaluk was too few
for the Pasha to rely on them to defend the pashaluk,
hence the Pasha had the choice either of hiring mercenaries or raising troops from the Orthodox Christian population. In 1797 the Pasha had planned to raise taxes but the
Knezes had protested and persuaded him to rely on them
to organize the mustering of the local population[3] The
knezes were capable of mustering a force of over 10,000
men.[2] In the event the authorities in Istanbul were too
weak to prevent the Janissaries returning and establishing
the Dahia but the Knezes remained and were the obvious
means for Istanbul to oust the Dahia.

3 References
[1] History of Servia and the Servian Revolution-Leopold von
Ranke,tran:Louisa Hay Ker p 119-20
[2] Duan Panteli, Prilike u Beogradskom Paaluku pred
prvi Srpski ustanak 1794-1804 p123
[3] Duan Panteli, Prilike u Beogradskom Paaluku pred
prvi Srpski ustanak 1794-1804 p122
[4] Janicijevic 1998, p. 270

3.1 Sources
Prilike u Beogradskom Paaluku 1790-1804. godine i pocetak Prvog srpskog ustanka (Serbian)

List of victims

The slaughter of the knezes: the Serbian Uprisings and the Ottoman Empire, 1804-30 from The
Balkans: The Balkans Nationalism, War and the
Great Powers, 1804-1999 " by Misha Glenny

This list is incomplete; you can help by

expanding it.

3
Jovan Janiijevi (1998). The cultural treasury of
Serbia. Translated by Alice Copple-Toi (2 ed.).
IDEA.

REFERENCES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

4.1

Text

Slaughter of the Knezes Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughter%20of%20the%20Knezes?oldid=645593393 Contributors:

Denni, Dimadick, DragonySixtyseven, Klemen Kocjancic, D6, Duja, Polylerus, Dejvid, PANONIAN, GregorB, Rjwilmsi, Elmer Clark,
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Djidash, Tempo21, Addbot, AnomieBOT, ArthurBot, Orenburg1, EmausBot, Kovac09, Zoupan, Helpful Pixie Bot, BG19bot, BRS123,
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