Stojan Janković
| Stojan Janković Mitrović | |
|---|---|
Portrait, oil painting
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| Born | 1636 Žegar, Bukovica, Republic of Venice |
| Died | 1687 Sedidžedid, Bosnia Eyalet, Ottoman Empire |
| Allegiance |
 Republic of Venice
|
| Years of service | 1669 - 1687 |
| Rank |
|
| Unit | Morlach troops |
| Battles/wars |
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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.
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.
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 near Obrovac, at the Cetina River, 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.
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Wikipedia