In mid-July 1803 , Karađorđe obtained arms and munitions from Habsburg Serb merchants in Zemun . Later that month , he dispatched couriers through Šumadija calling for a meeting of Serbian notables to devise a strategy for resisting the Dahis . The flow of arms from the Austrian Empire into the Pashalik , combined with their inability to crush the guerillas in the countryside , made the Dahi leadership increasingly uneasy . In January and February 1804 , the Dahis launched a pre-emptive assault against the Pashalik 's Serbian chieftains ( known as '' knezovi '' , or " princes " ) , killing between 70 and 150 of them . The killings outraged the Serbian '' rayah '' , the Pashalik 's tax-paying lower class . By this time , Karađorđe was a well known and well respected figure in Šumadija . He narrowly escaped being killed in the two-month massacre , which came to be known as the Slaughter of the Knezes ( ) . Upon killing the chieftains , the Dahis impaled their severed heads on wooden stakes and put them on public display . On Candlemas , , the surviving chieftains assembled in the village of Orašac , near Aranđelovac , to decide on a course of action . They agreed to launch a rebellion against the Dahis and Karađorđe was elected without opposition to lead it . It is said that he twice refused to lead the uprising , arguing that his violent temper would make him unsuitable for the role . Karađorđe 's initial refusal only reinforced the chieftains ' convictions that he was the only suitable candidate , and eventually , he agreed to lead the rebels . This event marked the beginning of the First Serbian Uprising , the opening phase of what would come to be known as the Serbian Revolution
Slaughter of the Knezes
Slaughter of the Knezes
Karađorđe