Husein Gradaščević
| Husein Gradaščević | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nickname(s) | the Dragon of Bosnia |
| Born |
31 August 1802 Gradačac, Bosnia Eyalet, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 17 August 1834 (aged 31) Golden Horn, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire |
| Buried at | Ejub cemetery in Constantinople |
| Allegiance |
 Ottoman Empire (until 1831)
 Bosnia Eyalet (1831–1833)
Ottoman Empire (since 1833)
|
| Rank | General |
Husein-kapetan Gradaščević (31 August 1802 – 17 August 1834) was a Bosniak general who fought against the Ottoman Empire and new reforms implemented by the Sultan Mahmud II which abolished the ayan (landlord) system. He is often referred to as "Zmaj od Bosne", meaning "the Dragon of Bosnia". Gradaščević was born in Gradačac in 1802—hence his surname Gradaščević, meaning "of Gradačac"—and grew up surrounded by a political climate of turmoil in the western reaches of the Ottoman Empire. The young Husein developed a reputation for wise rule and tolerance and soon became one of the most popular figures in Bosnia.
Combined with frustrations over territorial, political concessions in the north-east to the newly created Principality of Serbia, and the plight of Slavic Muslim refugees arriving from the Sanjak of Smederevo into Bosnia Eyalet. The persecution and abolition of the Janissary during the Auspicious Incident in 1826 and reduced the role of autonomous Pasha's in Rumelia, culminated in a partially unsuccessful revolt by Husein Gradaščević, who endorsed a multicultural Bosnia Eyalet autonomous from the authoritarian rule of the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II and his Tanzimat reforms made all subjects equal before the law, including eligibility for conscription.
The "Bosnian Uprising" lasted for three years and demanded autonomy, overthrowing Mahmud II's local loyalists. During the uprising, Husein Gradaščević was chosen as the leader and Vizier of Bosnia Eyalet in the year 1831. During the summer of that year, he led nearly 25,000 men and marched towards Kosovo, where his forces battled against Ottoman regulars under the command of Grand Vizier Reşid Mehmed Pasha, who had set up encampments near Shtime in their efforts to subdue the uprisings in both Kosovo and Bosnia. There, Husein Gradaščević's forces dealt a heavy defeat to the imperial army during the Third Battle of Kosovo and at Novi Pazar. The uprising itself, however, was crushed when Ali-paša Rizvanbegović of Stolac defected towards Mahmud II; in return he was awarded with the succession of Herzegovina, however only as a Vilayet. By 1832, after a series of smaller clashes, a decisive battle occurred outside Sarajevo; although Husein Gradaščević was initially successful, he was defeated when fellow Bosniaks from Herzegovina arrived and sided with and reinforced the forces of Mahmud II. The Bosniak Uprising would not be completely quelled until all captaincies were abolished in 1835 and until all the districts of the captaincies were abolished in 1837. The residual unrest, however, was not finally suppressed until as late as 1850.
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