Battle of Ivankovac

The Battle of Ivankovac was the first full-scale confrontation between the Serbian rebels and the official forces of the Ottoman Empire, during the First Serbian Uprising. It took place on 18 August 1805.

Prelude
After Serbs forces nominally in the name of the Ottoman Empire, had ousted the rebel Janissaries in 1804, negotiations began over the degree of autonomy Serbia would now have. As Serb demands exceeded what the Sultan Selim was able to offer due to his political weakness in Constantinople, negotiations broke down. The Sultan sent Hafiz-paša, commander of Niš, to defeat the rebels. He led an army of 15,000 soldiers.

Battle
The leader of the rebellion, Karađorđe Petrović anticipated the attack near the town of Ćuprija, on the left bank of the Great Morava river. However, Hafiz-Paša evaded him, and attacked voivode Milenko Stojković's Army, which was entrenched near the village of Ivankovac (about 4 km from Ćuprija) and commanded an army of 2,500 soldiers.

After an unsuccessful attempt to bribe Stojković, the Turks attacked. Their assault on the Serbian trenches lasted the entire day, but in the evening, the Serbs had repelled the attack.

The Ottoman Army then withdrew to the small town of Paraćin.

The Serbs besieged the town, and bombarded it with cannons. One grenade smashed into Hafiz-Paša's leg, after which he retreated back to Niš, where he died from his wounds.

This battle was one of the turning points of the rebellion and marked the beginning of Turkish decline in the Balkans.