Bosnian Battle of Kosovo (1831)
| Battle of Kosovo (1831) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Bosnian uprising (1831–1832) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Bosnian Autonomists |
 Ottoman Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Husein Gradaščević Ali Pasha Fidahić Mujaga Zlatarević |
Reşid Mehmed Pasha Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt[citation needed] | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
25,000[1] |
21,000[2] | ||||||
The Battle of Kosovo in 1831 took place between The Vizier of Bosnia Husein-kapetan Gradaščević and his loyalists against the Ottoman Empire, whose troops were commanded by the Grand Vizier Reşid Mehmed Pasha.
Background
[edit]After the Siege of Travnik the Bosnian Army met in Busovača to march on the Kosovo field on 13 April 1831. The main plan of Gradaščević was to meet the Army of Mustafa Pasha Bushatli whose army numbered 40,000 men.[3] Reşid Mehmed Pasha had attacked Mustafa Pasha in Skopje to stop the Bosniaks and Albanians meeting at Kosovo, allegendy Reşid Pasha had bribed Bushatli's men with promises of giving them gold to turn them onto his side. Mustafa Pasha's army had been defeated by the Grand Vizier causing Bushatli to retreated into Shkodra where his army fell under siege in the city.[3]
Battle
[edit]Gradaščević had marched his army trough Novi Pazar reaching todays Kosovo and Northern Albania, first rebellion against him came from a fortress that used to be an Orthodox monastery commanded by Albanian troops where he reached and besieged Peć.[4] In the fortress was Reşid Pasha, Gradaščević had called him to surrender but the Grand Vizier denied, pointing to his cannons on the walls of the fortress. Gradaščević had mounted his horse and calling upon his men to attack the fortress. Soon, the Bosniaks had taken the fortress, climbing the walls and defeating the Ottoman Army, the Grand Vizier fled to Priština. Mujaga Zlatarević with some 300 men headed to scout and search for the Sultans nizams, searching for three days he reached Lipljan where the Ottoman Army had dug trenches.[4]
The army was predominantly made up from Albanians and nizams. Zlatarević had returned to Gradaščević to inform him, tomorrow after morning prayer Gradaščević's men marched onto the city to besiege it. The Battle between the Bosniaks and Ottomans happened on 18 July 1831 near the place of Lipljani ( some believe it was Kačanik) Kosovo. Many of the Albanians had fled and joined the Bosnian Army,[4] the battle was a humiliating defeat of the Ottoman Army where Reşid Pasha fled the scene of the battle leaving his cannons and other military equipment, his own archive and the Pasha's own luggage were found by the Bosnian soldiers, he fled to the city of Skopje. Gradaščević's general Ali-paša Fidahić had taken the unorganized Ottoman Army's disadvantage to take the city of Peć. The Bosniaks had taken a hostage, a servant of mutesellim of Thessaloniki (Solun) named Ahmed Pasha. Historians argue, but majority do agree that Reşid Pasha had recognised the demands of the Bosniaks and that he had accepted that Bosnia should have its own Vizier, just not the young Husein-kapetan. Bosniaks had left the field victorious believing that the Ottomans had recognised Husein-kapetan as the Vizier even though no Ottoman ferman (royal mandate) of the Sultan had yet been written or given out to Gradaščević and his rebels, which would lead to further war between the Bosniaks and the Ottoman Empire.[3][5][4]
References
[edit]- ^ Kreševljaković 1931, p. 13.
- ^ Kreševljaković 1931, p. 14.
- ^ a b c Kreševljaković, Hamdija (1931). "Husein-kapetan Gradaščević". Archived from the original on 2023-10-31. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
- ^ a b c d "Josip Eugen Tomić: Zmaj od Bosne 1879" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-01-29. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
- ^ Sućeska, Avdo (1985). Istorija države i prava naroda SFRJ [History of the state and the rights of the people of SFRY] (in Serbo-Croatian). Sarajevo: Svjetlost. p. 81.