| Dahije | |
|---|---|
| Dahije | |
 Dahije beheading a Serb knez (Slaughter of the Knezes). | |
| Leaders | |
| Dates of operation | 15 December 1799 — 5-6 August 1804 |
| Headquarters | Belgrade |
| Allies | Osman Pazvantoğlu's janissaries (Pashaluk of Vidin) |
| Opponents | Ottoman Empire Local Serbs |
Preceded by Janissary corps of the Sanjak of Smederevo | |
TheDahije (Serbian Cyrillic:Дахије) orDahijas were the renegadeJanissary officers who took power in theSanjak of Smederevo, after murdering the VizierHadži Mustafa Pasha of Belgrade on 15 December 1801. The four supreme dahije leaders wereKučuk Alija,Aganlija,Mula Jusuf andMehmed-aga Fočić. Rebels against theOttoman sultan, they were defeated by theSerbs in the initial phase of theFirst Serbian Uprising, which is also called "Uprising against the Dahije" (Serbian:Буна против дахија;Buna protiv dahija).
The renegade janissary leaders were calleddahije, from Ottoman Turkishdayı, meaning "uncle".[1][2] The lesser janissary commanders were calledkabadahije (s.kabadahija), referring to the Turkish phrase "kabadayı", a colloquial phrase for bullies.[2]
In 1788, during theAustro-Turkish War (1787–1791),Koča's frontier rebellion saw easternŠumadija occupied by AustrianSerbian Free Corps andhajduks, and subsequently, most of theSanjak of Smederevo wasoccupied by the Habsburg Monarchy (1788–91). TheSiege of Belgrade from 15 September to 8 October 1789, a Habsburg Austrian force besieged the fortress of Belgrade. The Austrians held the city until 1791 when it handed Belgrade back to the Ottomans according to the terms of theTreaty of Sistova. With the return of the sanjak to the Ottoman Empire the Serbs expected reprisals from the Turks due to their support to the Austrians.SultanSelim III had given complete command of the Sanjak of Smederevo and Belgrade to battle-hardenedJanissaries that had fought Christian forces during the Austro-Turkish War and many other conflicts. Although Selim III granted authority to the peacefulHadži Mustafa Pasha (1793), tensions between the Serbs and the janissary command did not subside.[3]
In 1793 and 1796 SultanSelim III proclaimedfirmans which gave more rights to Serbs. Among other things, taxes were to be collected by theobor-knez (dukes); freedom of trade and religion were granted and there was peace.Selim III also decreed that some unpopular janissaries were to leave the Belgrade Pashaluk as he saw them as a threat to the central authority ofHadži Mustafa Pasha. Many of those janissaries were employed by or found refuge withOsman Pazvantoğlu, a renegade opponent of SultanSelim III in theSanjak of Vidin. Fearing the dissolution of the janissary command in the Sanjak of Smederevo, Osman Pazvantoğlu launched a series of raids against Serbians without the permission of Sultan Selim III, causing much volatility and fear in the region.[4] Pazvantoğlu was defeated in 1793 by the Serbs at theBattle of Kolari.[5] In the summer of 1797 the sultan appointed Mustafa Pasha on position ofbeglerbeg ofRumelia Eyalet and he left Serbia forPlovdiv to fight against the Vidin rebels of Pazvantoğlu.[6] During the absence of Mustafa Pasha, the forces of Pazvantoğlu capturedPožarevac and besieged theBelgrade fortress.[7] At the end of November 1797 obor-knezesAleksa Nenadović,Ilija Birčanin andNikola Grbović from Valjevo brought their forces to Belgrade and forced the besieging janissary forces to retreat toSmederevo.[8][9]
By 1799, the janissary corps had returned to the sanjak, as they were pardoned by the Sultan's decree.
On 15 December 1801VizierHadji Mustafa Pasha of Belgrade was killed byKučuk-Alija, one of the four leading dahije.[10] This resulted in the Sanjak of Smederevo being ruled by these renegadejanissaries 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 Ottomansipahi 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 theAvala. This first attempt to remove the Dahije, erupting a day early in 1802 inPožarevac, 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 fromValjevo, 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 thesubaşi (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 ofOrašac nearAranđelovac, leading Serbsgathered and decided to undertake an uprising, choosingKarađorđe 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 thesipahi (cavalry corps).[15] For their small numbers, the Serbs had great military successes, having takenPožarevac,Šabac, and chargedSmederevo andBelgrade, 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 toAda Kale, an island on the Danube.[16] Bekir ordered the surrender of the dahije, meanwhile, Karađorđe sent his commanderMilenko 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 asUžice, 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] TheFirst Serbian Uprising, the first stage of theSerbian Revolution, had thus begun.
The janissaries chose four of their leading chiefs (Kučuk Alija,Aganlija,Mula Jusuf andMehmed-aga Fočić) to rule the sanjak after the murder of Mustafa Pasha. The leaders divided the sanjak into pashaluks.[12]
There are manySerbian epic poems regarding the dahija, such asPočetak bune protiv dahija ("Start of the revolt against the dahijas"), collected by blind bardFilip Višnjić (1767–1834).
U leto 1797. sultan ga je imenovao za rumeliskog begler-bega i Mustafa je otišao u Plovdiv, da rukovodi akcijom protiv buntovnika iz Vidina i u Rumeliji.
Za vreme njegova otsutstva vidinski gospodar sa janičarima naredio je brz napad i potukao je srpsku i pašinu vojsku kod Požarevca, pa je prodro sve do Beograda i zauzeo samu varoš.
Ваљевски кнезови Алекса Ненадовић, Илија Бирчанин и Никола Грбовић довели су своју војску у Београд и учествовали у оштрој борби са јаничарима који су се побеђени повукли.
Pred sam Božić stigoše u pomoć valjevski Srbi i sa njihovom pomoću turska gradska posada odbi napadače i očisti grad. Ilija Birčanin gonio je "Vidinlije" sve do Smedereva.
Bojeći se za njega, i akcije njegova sina, janjičari ga 15. decembra 1801. ubiše u beogradskom gradu. Potom uzeše vlast u svoje ruke, spremni da je brane svima sredstvima. Kao glavne njihove vođe istakoše se četiri dahije: Kučuk Alija, pašin ubica, Aganlija, Mula Jusuf i Mehmed-aga Fočić.
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