Smail-aga Čengić

Smail-aga Čengić
Born	1780 Jelašce, Kalinovik, Bosnia Eyalet, Ottoman Empire
Died	23 September 1840 (aged 60) Mljetičak, Nikšić, Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro
Allegiance	Ottoman Empire
Years of service	1809–40
Battles/wars	First Serbian Uprising, Great Bosnian uprising, 1836 Battle of Grahovo

Smail-aga Čengić (1780 – 23 September 1840) was an Ottoman Bosnian lord (with the title of ağa) and general in the Ottoman Army. In 1831–32, Čengić was one of the Ottoman generals that fought against Husein Gradaščević, who was leading a rebellion in Bosnia against the central Ottoman government.

Čengić was killed by Novica Cerović as revenge for killing the younger brother of the Prince-Bishop of Montenegro, Petar II Petrović-Njegoš. His death inspired the 1846 epic poem The Death of Smail-aga Čengić by Ivan Mažuranić.

Ismail was born in 1778 or 1780 in the village of Jelašce in the Sanjak of Bosnia, 35 km from Kalinovik (in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina). His father's name was Ibrahim, and he descended from one of the most notable Ottoman Bosnian noble families, the Čengići. His father died when he was young.

As a junior officer and young general he fought against Serb insurgents between 1809 and 1813, during the First Serbian Uprising and the uprising in Egypt from 1809 to 1810.

Around 1814, Smail-aga came to Gacko and settled in area of Cernica, then Tower of Fazlagić, and finally in Lipnik near Havtovac. Here in Lipnik he established his residence and official captaincy, by building a Tower of Čengić, a small mosque and several residential buildings. He also built several captaincy towers in the wider region of Gacko and Eastern Herzegovina, as well as many villas and houses in Mala Gračanica, Srdjevci, Lukavica, Fojnica and Cernica.

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