Petar Novaković ( sr-cyr, Петар Новаковић, d.

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, 1808), known as Petar Čardaklija (Петар Чардаклија), was a diplomat in 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 ...

. He got his nickname from the village of

Čardaklija Čardaklija () () is a village in the municipality of Štip, North Macedonia. Demographics According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 922 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the village include:Macedonian Census (2002) ''Book 5 - Total pop ...

because his Serbian antecedents were originally from that region.

Early life

Petar Novaković was born somewhere on the present-day border of

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

and

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

, possibly in the village of Leunovo, close to

Gostivar Gostivar ( ; sq-definite, Gostivari) is a city in North Macedonia, located in the upper Polog valley region. It is the seat of one of the larger municipalities in the country with a population of 59,770, and the town also covers . Gostivar has ...

. His early life is shrouded in mystery. In all probability he ran away from his native village northwards into Serbia (the

Sanjak of Smederevo The Sanjak of Smederevo (, ), also known in historiography as the Pashalik of Belgrade (, ), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman administrative unit (sanjak) centered on Smederevo, that existed between the 15th and the outset of the 19th centuries. It ...

) and started working as an innkeeper in

. During the

Austro-Turkish War (1787–91) The term Austro-Turkish War may refer to: * Austro-Turkish War (1593–1606) * Austro-Turkish War (1663–1664) * Austro-Turkish War (1683–1699) * Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718) * Austro-Turkish War (1737–1739) * Austro-Turkish War (178 ...

, he joined the

Serbian Free Corps The Serbian Free Corps (), known simply as ''frajkori'' ( sr-cyr, фрајкори), was a volunteer militia composed of ethnic Serbs, established by the Habsburg monarchy, to fight the Ottoman Empire during the Austro-Turkish War (1787–1791). T ...

, volunteer units made out of local Serbs, where he rose to the rank of captain. After the Austrian retreat, he went to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and then to

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

where he managed to establish close connections in aristocratic circles. His wife was an acquaintance or serving Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna, sister of the Russian emperor

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...

; princess Alexandra was married to Archduke Joseph, Habsburg governor of Hungary, and lived in

. It was in this period that Čardaklija got the title of ''Rittermeister''.

In the First Serbian Uprising

Čardaklija was keeping in touch with notable Serbs from Hungary hoping for the overthrow of Ottoman power in Serbia. When he learned about Karadjordje’s

uprising Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

he sent his wife off to

Kharkov Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

and then, in July 1804, he crossed into Serbia and put himself at the service of Karadjordje. As the Serbian insurrectionists decided to seek international support for their cause they first turned to Vienna but were refused. Čardaklija advised them to petition the Russian tzar since he would be more inclined on supporting them. Čardaklija persuaded Karadjordje that the best way to do this would be to send a delegation to

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Karadjordje agreed and on September 1 a Serbian delegation made out of

Mateja Nenadović Mateja () is a given name, variant of the Greek given name ''Mathias'' ( Matthew). In Serbian, it's a masculine name, while in Croatian and Slovene, it's a feminine name. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Mateja Andrlić (born 199 ...

, Jovan Protić and Čardaklija started its journey. In

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

they met with Russian foreign minister Prince Czartoryski, who listened to them and handed their petition to the Tsar. Prince also advised them to form a Serbian government and promised that Russia would help the Serbian cause influencing the Sultan. The delegation returned to Serbia in mid-December 1804. Čardaklija next took part in the national assembly in Pećani. In April 1805 he was again in a diplomatic delegation (together with Aleksa Lazarević, Jovan Protić, and Stevan Živković) that was sent to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. However, once there the deputies were ill-treated and had to escape to the Russian consulate and then flee from the city fearing for their lives. Čardaklija and Lazarević embarked on a Russian ship and escaped to

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

. From there they journeyed to

and then back to

. When in 1807 Russia decided to militarily help the Serbs, Čardaklija (together with Avram Lukić and Jeremeija Gagić) was sent to the HQ of the Russian expeditionary force which was stationed in

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

. There they asked for a man that would return with them to

to act as a Russian plenipotentiary in Serbia; their wish was granted. Čardaklija resided in

until his death in 1808. He was buried in Belgrade's Orthodox cathedral church. Speech at his funeral was held by his friend, the famous writer

Dositej Obradović Dositej Obradović ( sr-Cyrl, Доситеј Обрадовић, ; 17 February 1739 – 7 April 1811) was a Serbian writer, biographer, diarist, philosopher, pedagogue, educational reformer, linguist and the first minister of education of Se ...

, at the time minister of education in Serbia.Dr H. Polenaković, "Dositej Obradović kod Makedonaca" in ''Dositej Obradović'' (ed. M. Leskovac), Belgrade 1962 Obradović also wrote the epitaph on his tombstone in which he glorifies Čardaklija as an "immortal Serb".

Family

Čardaklija had a brother, Jovan, who also crossed to insurrectionist Serbia and worked as a government clerk until the Ottoman return in 1813. Jovan then fled to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

with other notable Serbs. That is also where he died.

References

Sources

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External links