Stojan Janković

Stojan Janković Mitrović (Serbian: Стојан Јанковић Митровић; 1636–1687) was the commander of the Morlach troops in the service of the Republic of Venice, from 1669 until his death in 1687. He participated in the Cretan and Great Turkish War, as the supreme commander of the Venetian Morlach troops, of which he is enumerated in Croatian and Serbian epic poetry. He was one of the best-known uskok/hajduk leaders of Dalmatia.

Life

Origin

Stojan was born in ca. 1636, in the village of Žegar, in the mountainous Bukovica, above the Zrmanja river, not far from the Krupa monastery. The village itself lied above the Žegar field, from where the population had long "jumped into" (i.e. guerilla warfare) the Dinara, the Venetian-Ottoman border for centuries; it is thought that Mitar (or Dmitar), Stojan's paternal grandfather and eponymous founder of the family, had come from the Dinara. His father was harambaša Janko Mitrović (1613–1659), another renowned anti-Ottoman rebel in Venetian service, noted commander of the Morlach army in the Cretan War (1645–1669). His uncle Vukadin Mitrović (Janko's older brother) was also a harambaša in Venetian service. Stojan had two brothers (Ilija and Zaviša Janković) and a sister. In 1648, when the Ottoman army took their village, the Mitrovići and 70 other Žegar families settled in the small village of Budin near Posedarje, under Venetian control.

Cretan War and peacetime

Stojan began fighting alongside his father and Ilija Smiljanić early on, in the Cretan War. Ilija, as the most experienced, was named serdar in 1648 after his own father, Petar Smiljanić had died. In 1650, Stojan begins to receive a pay of 4 ducats, in 1653 the pay is raised to 6. In February 1659, at the Cetina river, both leaders Janko and Ilija Smiljanić succumb to wounds after battling the Turks. The same year, the well experienced 23-year-old Stojan is chosen as leader by the band. As leader, he constantly takes part in battles in the Frontier. He was known to have defeated several Turkish contingents, and even himself slew the commanders, among which are notable: Ali-beg Durakbegović, Redžep-aga Filipović, aga Velagić, aga Pajalitović and Ibrahim-aga Kovačević. In 1666, during fighting in Obrovac, where agas Atlagić, Čengić and Baraković fell, he was captured by the Ottomans and spent 14 months in Constantinople as a slave, before escaping and returning home. For his deeds, he was awarded a title and an estate in Ravni Kotari.

In the peacetime between the Cretan and Great Turkish War, he was ordered to suppress anti-Ottoman operations in Venetian territory, while in the meantime his brother Ilija left Venetian service and began fighting the Ottomans - this resulted in the brief interrogation of Stojan at Venice.

In 1669-1670, Venice awards him 29 ducats monthly, and among other gifts he received a golden ring of St. Mark, and his two sons became captains. He was also given Islam Grčki, but lost it in 1671 with new border negotiations of Mahmud Pasha and Giann Battista. A truce ensured 1670-1684. In 1672, he is mentioned in Orthodox church books in Zadar. In 1681, he is mentioned as capo principale di Morlacchi, transl. "commander-in-chief of the Morlachs", with a monthly pay of 25 ducats. In 1683, his brother Ilija, whom the Venetians failed to implement into their military, instigated a revolt in Dalmatia against the Ottomans, and led the hajduks in Lika and Bosnia. Ilija was poisoned by the Venetians in 1693.

Morean War (Great Turkish War)

In 1684, he returned to the battlefield, liberating Sinj, Lika and Krbava by 1686. In the summer of 1685, Cosmi, the Archbishop of Split, wrote that Stojan had brought 300 families with him to Dalmatia, and also that around Trogir and Split there were 5000 refugees from Turkish lands, without food - seen as a serious threat to the defense of Dalmatia. Grain sent by the Pope proved insufficient, and the Serbs were forced to launch expeditions into Turkish territory. During the siege of Hercegnovi, he went with one part of the troops and pillaged the outskirt of Ottoman Tomislavgrad, where he was killed in 1687.

Venetinas wrote of him having "bigger heart than mind", and his name was famous among Turks and Christians, especially among those of "old faith", ie. Orthodox.

Family

With his wife Vuka he had sons Nikola and Djuradj, and a daughter Anastasija.

Serbian writers Boško and Vladan Desnica are descendants of Stojan's youngest brother Zaviša.

In folk tradition

• In the Serb epic poem "The Wedding of Janković Stojan", he is offered, by a girl called Hajkuna, to become Muslim and share his wealth with her. He responds: "Don't be foolish, Hajkuna! My God is my witness that I would not become a Turk, even if I was given Lika and Udbinja". The poem ends by Hajkuna being Christianized.
• He is also enumerated in Muslim (Bosniak) folk poems.

• ^ [1], 724 Archived July 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.