page_title: Karađorđe
section_title: Early military exploits
hierarchical_section_title: Karađorđe / Early military exploits
caption_attribution_description: English: Serbian, Wurmser, Odonel and Mahony Free Corps in 1798. Rudolf Otto von Ottenfeld. Русский: Добровольческие части Сербская, Вюрмзера, О'донела и Махони (1798) Рудольф фон Оттенфельд
context_page_description: Đorđe Petrović OSA, better known by the sobriquet Black George, or Karađorđe, was a Serbian revolutionary who led the struggle for his country's independence from the Ottoman Empire during the First Serbian Uprising of 1804–1813.
  Born into an impoverished family in the Šumadija region of Ottoman Serbia, Karađorđe distinguished himself during the Austro-Turkish War of 1788–1791 as a member of the Serbian Free Corps, a militia made up of Habsburg and Ottoman Serbs that was armed and trained by the Austrians. Fearing retribution following the Austrians' and Serb rebels' defeat in 1791, he and his family fled to the Austrian Empire, where they were to live until 1794, when a general amnesty was declared. Karađorđe subsequently returned to Šumadija and became a livestock merchant. In 1796, the rogue governor of the Sanjak of Vidin, Osman Pazvantoğlu, invaded the Pashalik of Belgrade, and Karađorđe fought alongside the Ottomans to quash the incursion.
  In early 1804, following a massacre of Serb chieftains by renegade Ottoman janissaries known as Dahis, the Serbs of the Pashalik rebelled.
context_section_description: Following the outbreak of the Austro-Turkish War of 1788–1791, Petrović joined the Serbian Free Corps (German: Serbische Freikorps), and took part in fighting the Ottomans in western Serbia. The Free Corps was a volunteer militia made up of both Ottoman and Habsburg Serbs that was armed and trained by the Austrians. It was led by a Habsburg Serb officer, Major Mihailo Mihaljević. Petrović's participation in the war brought him invaluable military experience, as well as insight into the Austrians' military techniques. He distinguished himself in combat and was decorated for bravery, reaching the rank of sergeant (German: Wachtmeister). In this capacity, he was given command over a squad of 25 men.
  The Austrians and Serb rebels briefly succeeded in liberating a strip of land east and south of Belgrade, which in Serbian historiography came to be known as Koča's Frontier (Serbian: Kočina Krajina), after one of the senior rebel leaders, Koča Anđelković. In 1791, the Austrians and Ottomans signed the Treaty of Sistova. The Austrians agreed to return all the territory that they and the Serbs had captured south of the Danube in exchange for minor territorial concessions in northern Bosnia, effectively abandoning the Serbs and leaving them to resist the Ottomans on their own. The rebels were crushed by 1792 and most of their leaders executed. Unwilling to surrender, Petrović became a hajduk and briefly fought the Ottomans as an outlaw. He and his family once again sought refuge in the Austrian Empire, this time finding sanctuary in the Krušedol Monastery, at the foot of Fruška Gora, where Petrović worked as a forester.
  In 1793, Hadji Mustafa Pasha was appointed governor of the Pashalik of Belgrade. He declared a general amnesty for former rebels and announced that Muslims would no longer serve as tax-collectors in areas where Christians formed a majority of the population. These changes were part of a plan devised by Sultan Selim aimed at improving relations with the Pashalik's Christian population. Sensing that it was safe, Petrović returned to Šumadija in 1794, together with his family. He settled in Topola, where he became a livestock merchant and traded with the Austrians. His business dealings led him to establish connections with many Habsburg Serbs. In 1796, Osman Pazvantoğlu, the renegade governor of the Sanjak of Vidin, who had rejected the authority of the Sublime Porte, launched an invasion of the Pashalik of Belgrade. Overwhelmed, Mustafa Pasha formed a Serbian national militia to help stop the incursion. Petrović joined the militia and became a boluk-bashi (Serbian: Buljukbaša), leading a company of 100 men.
  In return for their service, the Serbs of the Pashalik were granted a number of privileges. They were allowed to bear arms and raise autonomous military units. After the Serb militias joined the war on Mustafa Pasha's side, Pazvantoğlu suffered a string of defeats. He retreated to Vidin, which was subsequently besieged. The war against Pazvantoğlu marked the first time that Petrović distinguished himself in the eyes of the Ottomans, who bestowed him with the sobriquet "Black George" (Serbian: Karađorđe; Turkish: Kara Yorgi), partly because of his dark hair and partly because of his sinister reputation. Karađorđe's service in the Serbian militia resulted in him becoming well acquainted with Ottoman military doctrine.
caption: Members of the Serbian Free Corps, 1798
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