Ilija Birčanin ( sr-cyr, Илија Бирчанин; 12 August 1764 – 4 January 1804) was a Serbian '' knez'' (Prince) who was killed during the '' Slaughter of the Dukes'', the incident that sparked the

First Serbian Uprising The First Serbian Uprising (; sr-Cyrl, Први српски устанак; ) was an uprising of Serbs in Orašac (Aranđelovac), Orašac against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 1804 to 7 October 1813. The uprising began as a local revolt ...

of the

Serbian Revolution The Serbian Revolution ( / ') was a national uprising and constitutional change in Serbia that took place between 1804 and 1835, during which this territory evolved from an Sanjak of Smederevo, Ottoman province into a Revolutionary Serbia, reb ...

, ultimately leading to

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

's liberation from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

.Histoire du peuple serbe
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Life

As was the case with most of the prominent 19th-century Serbian families who migrated from other Serbian lands to Serbia, the Birčanin family came from the Banjani Serbian tribe from Herzegovinian Birč near

Nikšić Nikšić (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Никшић, ), is the second largest city in Montenegro, with a total population of 32,046 (2023 census) located in the west of the country, in the centre of the spacious Nikšić field at the foot of Trebjesa ...

(

Old Herzegovina Old Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Stara Hercegovina, Стара Херцеговина) is a historical region, covering the eastern parts of historical Herzegovina, outside the scope of modern Herzegovina. A large section of ''Old Herzegovina'' ...

). At the end of November 1797 Ilija Birčanin together with two other ober knezes from

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 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 56,145 while the city admini ...

( Aleksa Nenadović and Nikola Grbović) brought Serb forces to Belgrade to support Hadži Mustafa Pasha to fight

Janissary A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted dur ...

forces and forced them to retreat. In January 1798 Mustafa Pasha sent forces under command of Ilija Birčanin to attack Janissary forces in

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, ...

. Ilija Birčanin is also famous in Serbia because of his appearance in the epic poem "Почетак буне против дахија" ("Onset of the uprising against the dahije"). In this poem, while the Turkish governors (or ''dahije'') are organising the Slaughter of the Dukes, they say how particularly glad they will be to kill Ilija Birčanin because of his cynical behavior. Although he was subject to the Turks and had to collect taxes for them, Birčanin used to act as if he were the chief and the Turks were his servants. Ilija Birčanin is described in the poem as "wearing his moustache under his hat". Birčanin and the Serb chieftain Aleksa Nenadović were brought before a large crowd of

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and

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onlookers in Valjevo, where Nenadovic was publicly accused of conspiring with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

ns against the sultan. The two were then publicly decapitated and their bodies were dumped in an open meadow by the Kolubara River, causing the residents to panic and flee.

References

Sources

* 1764 births 1804 deaths Military personnel from Valjevo People of the First Serbian Uprising Serbian soldiers Serbs from the Ottoman Empire 18th-century Serbian people 19th-century Serbian people People murdered in Serbia Executed Serbian people People executed by the Ottoman Empire by decapitation Burials at Serbian Orthodox monasteries and churches {{Serbia-noble-stub