Following the Slaughter of the Knezes and building on the resentment towards the dahije who had rolled back privileges granted to the Serbs by Selim II , on 14 February 1804 , in the small village of Orašac near Aranđelovac , leading Serbs gathered and decided to begin an uprising against the dahijas . Among those present were Stanoje Glavaš , Atanasije Antonijević , Tanasko Rajić and other prominent leaders . The Serbs gathered in Orašac chose Djordje Petrović , a merchant and a hajduk , to lead them , possibly because knezes were typically associated with peacetime cooperation with the Ottoman rulers . The Serbian forces quickly assumed control of Šumadija , reducing dahija control to just Belgrade . The government in Istanbul instructed the pashas of the neighboring pashaluks not to assist the dahijas . The Serbs , at first technically fighting on the behalf of the Sultan against the janissaries , were encouraged and aided by a certain Ottoman official and the '' sipahi '' ( cavalry corps ) . For their small numbers , the Serbs had great military successes , having taken Požarevac , Šabac and charged Smederevo and Belgrade , in quick succession
Slaughter of the Knezes
Slaughter of the Knezes
First Serbian Uprising