Petar Ičko ( sr-cyr, Петар Ичко, 1755–1808) was an Ottoman and later Serbian diplomat, a merchant by profession from Ottoman Macedonia. He is remembered for instituting Ičko's Peace, though of short duration.

Biography

He was of Aromanian descent, born in the village of Katranitsa, at the time in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

(today Pyrgoi,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

), a place with developed merchant traditions. He resettled to the north, managing his own commercial business, and was employed as a ''

dragoman A dragoman or Interpretation was an interpreter, translator, and official guide between Turkish-, Arabic-, and Persian-speaking countries and polities of the Middle East and European embassies, consulates, vice-consulates and trading posts. A ...

'' in Ottoman diplomatic missions in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and probably in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Settling in Ottoman Belgrade towards the end of the 18th century, he became an affluent merchant. He closely collaborated with the Vizier of the

Pashaluk of Belgrade The Sanjak of Smederevo ( tr, Semendire Sancağı; sr, / ), also known in historiography as the Pashalik of Belgrade ( tr, Belgrad Paşalığı; sr, / ), was an Ottoman administrative unit (sanjak), that existed between the 15th and the out ...

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 according to some sources both of them were members of one

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

. After the return to power of the renegade Janissaries (''

Dahije The Dahije ( sr-cyr, Дахије) or Dahijas were the renegade Janissary officers who took power in the Sanjak of Smederevo (also known as the Belgrade Pashaluk), after murdering the Vizier Hadži Mustafa Pasha of Belgrade on 15 December 1801. Th ...

''), he was forced in 1802 to move to

Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; hu, Zimony) is a municipality in the city of Belgrade. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown Belgrade. The developme ...

, at that time a Habsburg

Military Frontier The Military Frontier (german: Militärgrenze, sh-Latn, Vojna krajina/Vojna granica, Војна крајина/Војна граница; hu, Katonai határőrvidék; ro, Graniță militară) was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and ...

town. After the outbreak 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 1 ...

(1804), he began supporting and working with the Serbian rebels led by

Karađorđe Đorđe Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе Петровић, ), better known by the sobriquet Karađorđe ( sr-Cyrl, Карађорђе, lit=Black George, ; – ), was a Serbian revolutionary who led the struggle for his country's independ ...

. He rendered them some valuable advice thanks to his diplomatic and trade skills. The rebel leaders sent him as their representative in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

where he managed to obtain for them a favourable peace treaty, known as " Ičko's Peace". He returned and lived in Belgrade as an honorary citizen, but died there soon after, on 5 May 1808, probably poisoned. His son Naum Ičko established the "Question-mark" bistro in 1823. His house is preserved today as "

Ičko's House Ičko’s House is a cultural monument of importance to Belgrade and is located in Zemun, at 18 Bežanijska Street. Description Ičko’s House is a Classical-style building, built in 1793. It consists of a basement, ground floor and partial se ...

Annotations

He was surnamed Itskoglou ( gr, Ιτσκογλου), rendered in Serbian as ''Ičkoglija'' (Ичкоглија) and ''Ičkoglić'' (Ичкоглић).

References

Sources

* * * * * * Stanford Jay Shaw. Between Old and New: the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Selim III, 1789-1807. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1971, pp. 342–356. * Paul Frederic Shupp. The European Powers and the Near Eastern Question, 1806-1807, Columbia university press, 1931, pp. 179–180. * Anatoliĭ Filippovich Miller. Mustapha Pacha Baĭraktar. Association internationale d'études du Sud-Est européen, 1975, p. 404. * Traian Stoianovich. "The Conquering Balkan Orthodox Merchant", Journal of Economic History, XX (June, 1960), pp. 234–313. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ičko, Petar 1775 births 1808 deaths Dragomans Serbian diplomats Serbian people of Aromanian descent People of the Serbian Revolution Aromanian revolutionaries People from Kozani (regional unit) 18th-century translators

Biography

Annotations

See also

References

Sources