Serb Uprising

In February 1804 the Serbs of the Belgrade region rose in revolt against Ottoman rule under the leadership of Đorđe Petrović, known as Karađorđe or 'Black George.' The uprising was sparked by the brutal misrule of the renegade Janissary commanders, the dahis, who had seized control of the Belgrade pashalik and terrorized the Serbian population, including a massacre of local notables that ignited the rebellion.

The revolt was directed initially against the rebellious Janissary garrison rather than the Ottoman sultan himself, and the Serbs at first portrayed themselves as restoring legitimate order. Under Karađorđe's leadership the insurgents won a series of successes, driving the Janissary forces from the region; by the end of 1806 they had captured Belgrade itself, gaining control of much of the territory.

The First Serbian Uprising grew into a wider struggle for autonomy and eventually independence from the Ottoman Empire. Although the revolt was ultimately suppressed in 1813, it was followed by a second uprising and marked the beginning of the modern Serbian state. The events of 1804 are regarded as a foundational moment of Serbian national revival and an early stirring of Balkan nationalism within the declining Ottoman Empire.