Kučuk-Alija ( sr-cyr, Кучук-Алија, tr, Küçük Ali; 1801 – 5 August 1804) was a

Janissary A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ( ...

, '' mutesellim'' of

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Serbia, and is situated on ...

and one of four Dahiyas (leaders of rebel

Janissaries A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ( ...

) who controlled the

Sanjak of Smederevo The Sanjak of Smederevo ( tr, Semendire Sancağı; sr, / ), also known in historiography as the Pashalik of Belgrade ( tr, Belgrad Paşalığı; sr, / ), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman administrative unit (sanjak), that existed between the 1 ...

(aka "Belgrade Pashalik") in the period between 15 December 1801 (when he killed Belgrade's vizier

Hadži Mustafa Pasha Hadji Mustafa Pasha ( sh, Hadži Mustafa-paša, Хаџи Мустафа-паша, tr, Hacı Mustafa Şinikoğlu Paşa; 1733—27 December 1801) was an Ottoman commander and politician of Greek Muslim origin who lived in Sanjak of Smederevo (in mo ...

) and the beginning of the

First Serbian Uprising The First Serbian Uprising ( sr, Prvi srpski ustanak, italics=yes, sr-Cyrl, Први српски устанак; tr, Birinci Sırp Ayaklanması) was an uprising of Serbs in the Sanjak of Smederevo against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 18 ...

in Spring 1804. He was a brother of

Sali Aga Sali Aga Đevrlić, also known as the Rudnik Bull, was a '' mutesellim'' (local governor) of the ''nahiyah'' ( Ottoman administrative district) of Rudnik in what is now Serbia at the beginning of the 19th century. He was a brother of Kučuk Alija ...

, a mutesellim of Rudnik Ottoman

nahiyah A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...

at the beginning of 19th century.

Biography

Alija was born in the Rudnik nahiyah and belonged to the Đevrlić family. He advanced in Ottoman service from regular Janissary to the position of mutesellim of Kragujevac. Recruited from the local Muslim population, he was a Yamak. Together with other renegade Janissaries, Alija captured

, the Vizier of Belgrade, in October 1801 and killed him on 15 December 1801 in the

Belgrade Fortress The Belgrade Fortress ( sr-Cyrl, Београдска тврђава, Beogradska tvrđava), consists of the old citadel (Upper and Lower Town) and Kalemegdan Park (Large and Little Kalemegdan) on the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, in a ...

. After the murder, Alija became one of four leaders, known as ''dahije'', who ruled the

(also known as the Belgrade Pashalik), alongside

Aganlija Aganlija ( sr-cyr, Аганлија; 1801–1804) was an Ottoman janissary leader who defected and along with three other janissary leaders took control over the Sanjak of Smederevo in 1801. These renegade janissaries were known as the Dahije. Th ...

Mula Jusuf Mula may refer to: Places * Mula, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province, Iran * Mula, Maldives, an island in the Maldives * Mula, Spain, a town in the autonomous community of Murcia, Spain * Muľa, a village and municipality in southern Slovak ...

and Mehmed-aga Fočić. His wife was the sister of one of his military commanders. In early March 1804, at the beginning of the First Serbian Uprising, rebels besieged Rudnik which was under control of Sali Aga, Kuchuk's brother. When four dahiyahs were informed about the rebellion they agreed that Kuchuk Ali should go from Belgrade to Rudnik with 600 Janissaries to release Rudnik from siege and to advance with his forces to

Šabac Šabac (Serbian Cyrillic: Шабац, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river Sava. , the city p ...

through

Valjevo Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the administrative area of Valjevo had 90,312 inhabitants, 59,07 ...

, while

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

was left under protection of three remaining dahiyahs. According to some sources Kuchuk Ali had intention to first go to

to gather more forces then to

Jagodina ) , image_shield = Jagodina-grb.png , image_flag = FLAG Jagodina.png , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = File:Municipalities of Serbia Jagodina.png , map_caption = Location of Jagodina w ...

to hire Halil Gušanac and his

Arnauts Arnaut ( ota, ارناود) is a Turkish ethnonym used to denote Albanians. ''Arvanid'' (), ''Arnavud'' (), plural: ''Arnavudlar'' (): modern Turkish: ''Arnavut'', plural: ''Arnavutlar''; are ethnonyms used mainly by Ottoman and contempor ...

and then to attack rebels. Gušanac with 1,600 Arnauts and Krdžalijas were sent by

Osman Pazvantoğlu Osman Pazvantoğlu (1758 – January 27, 1807 in Vidin) was an Ottoman soldier, governor of Vidin after 1794, and a rebel against Ottoman rule. He is also remembered as the friend of Rigas Feraios, a Greek revolutionary poet, whom he tried to r ...

to help dahiyah in suppressing the rebellion. When Kuchuk Ali advanced toward south he did not have information that rebels already captured Rudnik on 11 March. He attacked Karađorđe who was with Janko Katić and around hundred rebels in Vrbica, waiting for other rebels to join them. Kuchuk Ali was informed about Karađorđe's position by knez Maksim from

Guberevac Guberevac ( sr-cyrl, Губеревац) is a village in the municipality of Sopot, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situa ...

who was later killed by the rebels because of his treason. Karađorđe and his forces fled from the battle. After battle in Vrbica Kuchuk Ali and his horsemen continued their journey through

Šumadija Šumadija (, sr-Cyrl, Шумадија) is a geographical region in the central part of Serbia. The area used to be heavily covered with forests, hence the name (from ''šuma'' 'forest'). The city of Kragujevac is the administrative center of the ...

and reached

Ćuprija Ćuprija (Serbian Cyrillic: Ћуприја, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 19,380, while the municipality has 30,645 inhabitants. History The Romans founded the ...

and Jagodina via

on 15 March 1804. The rebels followed him and captured Kragujevac on 4 April 1804 after Kuchuk Ali already left it, taking 200 Janissaries from Kragujevac with him. The rebels attacked Kuchuk's forces near

Avala Avala ( sr-cyr, Авала, ) is a mountain in Serbia, overlooking Belgrade. It is situated in the south-eastern corner of the city and provides a great panoramic view of Belgrade, Vojvodina and Šumadija, as the surrounding area on all sides ...

and inflicted significant casualties to them. Kučuk Alija and other dahiyas fled from Belgrade abandoning their followers and went by boats to

Ada Kaleh Ada Kaleh (; from tr, Adakale, meaning "Island Fortress"; hu, Újorsova or ; Serbian and Bulgarian: Адакале, ''Adakale'') was a small island on the Danube in what is modern Romania, that was submerged during the construction of the ...

island on the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

. The rebel forces led by

Milenko Stojković Milenko Stojković ( sr-cyr, Миленко Стојковић; 1769, Kličevac, Požarevac – 1831, Bakhchysarai, Crimea) was a Serbian revolutionary and ''bimbaša'' in the First Serbian Uprising early in the 19th century. He is most fa ...

soon captured and executed them, with full knowledge and approval of the Ottoman authorities. Their bodies were decapitated and their heads (without head of Aganlija which was mistakenly dropped into Danube) were taken to the rebel camp on

Vračar Vračar ( sr-Cyrl, Врачар, ) is an affluent urban area and municipality of the city of Belgrade known as the location of many embassies and museums. According to the 2011 census results, the municipality has a population of 56,333 inhabitants ...

in Belgrade.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuchuk, Ali Civil servants from the Ottoman Empire Military personnel of the Ottoman Empire 1804 deaths People from the Ottoman Empire of Serbian descent Year of birth missing Ottoman military personnel of the Serbian Revolution Leaders who took power by coup Janissaries Rebels from the Ottoman Empire People from Gornji Milanovac