Editing First Serbian Uprising (section)

==Prelude==
{{Further|Slaughter of the Knezes}}
On 15 December 1801, Belgrade [[Vizier]] [[Hadži Mustafa Pasha]] was executed by [[Kučuk-Alija]], one of four Janissaries originally from the [[Sanjak of Vidin]] (modern north-western [[Bulgaria]]). Alongside Haji Mustafa Pasha. Mehmed Foça-oğlu, Aganli-Bayraktar and [[Mula Jusuf|Mülla Yusuf]], the four Janissaries referred to themselves as [[Dahije]].{{sfn|Ćorović|2001|loc=ch. Почетак устанка у Србији}}{{sfn|Djokić|2023|p=213}} As a result, Belgrade was captured and the Sanjak of Smederevo was divided among them independently of the Ottoman government, and in defiance of the Sultan, despite the dispatch of a new Pasha from Constantinople.{{sfn|Djokić|2023|p=213}} 

The Janissaries enforced a system of arbitrary abuse unparalleled in the entire history of Ottoman misrule in the Balkans.<ref name="Moravcevich2005">{{cite book|author=Nicholas Moravcevich|title=Selected essays on Serbian and Russian literatures and history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O-hiAAAAMAAJ|year=2005|publisher=Stubovi kulture|pages=217–218|isbn=9788679791160}}</ref> The leaders divided the Sanjak into pashaliks,<ref name="Moravcevich2005" /> immediately suspending Serbian autonomy and significantly increasing taxes. Land confiscation and the introduction of forced labour, known as [[chiflik]], prompted many Serbs to flee to the mountains.<ref name="Reed 2018 p. 28">{{cite book | last=Reed | first=H.L. | title=Serbia: A Sketch | publisher=Outlook Verlag | year=2018 | isbn=978-3-7326-7904-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cupaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28 | language=de| page=28}}</ref> 

The Serbs petitioned the Sultan to inform him of the tyranny they were suffering,{{sfn|Morison|2012|p=xvii}} upon learning of this and in an attempt to prevent a rebellion, the Dahije decided to act first. At the end of January 1804, throughout the Sanjak, between 70 and 150 ''knezes'' (village leaders), livestock merchants and Orthodox priests were executed by the Dahije in an event known as the [[Slaughter of the Knezes]].{{sfn|Ranke|1847|p=119–120}} According to contemporary sources from [[Valjevo]], the severed heads of the leaders were displayed on the central square as a warning to those who might plot against the Dahije's rule.{{sfn|Ranke|1847|p=119–120}} Janissary atrocities fueled fear and anger among the Serbs, leading some to flee with their families into the woods while others organised themselves into self-defence units,<ref name="Moravcevich2005" /> as uncoordinated resistance erupted throughout the region.{{sfn|Djokić|2023|p=213}} 

The events in Serbia were being closely monitored by neighbouring Christian states such as [[Wallachia]], an [[Vassal and tributary states of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman client-state]] bordering Serbia to the northeast, and ruled by the [[Phanariote]] [[List of princes of Wallachia|Prince]] [[Constantine Ypsilantis]] (who was secretly hostile to Ottoman rule). During the early stages of the rebellion, the Belgrade Pashalik was visited by Ypisilantis' agents, including [[Dositei Filitti]].{{sfn|Trâpcea|1942|p=270}}