The Battle of Karanovac () was undertaken by the Serbian rebel army led by KaraÃÂorÃÂe and RadiÃÂ PetroviÃÂ against the town of Karanovac (now Kraljevo), in the hands of the Dahije (renegade Janissaries) supported by the Sanjak of Novi Pazar. Karanovac was an important city in the province, laying in the south of rebel territory and serving as a reinforcement point of the Dahije and their allies. Left without support, the town surrendered after ten days and was handed over to the Serbs with the agreed emigration of the Muslim population to Novi Pazar.
Rebels of the Rudnik and ÃÂaÃÂak nahiyas under Lazar Mutap and MiliàDrinÃÂiÃÂ, numbering up to 350 men, attacked ÃÂaÃÂak on and while outnumbered, the Turks fled the town in the night for Karanovac or Uà ¾ice. Karanovac was located in a line of Ottoman forts and towns that separated à  umadija from Novi Pazar, Kosovo, Herzegovina and Macedonia and thus had a strategical importance. The town had a Muslim majority and Serb minority. Karanovac had a very good defensive fortification in the town. The Vizier (or vali) of the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, Kapetan-paà ¡a FerhatagiÃÂ, had sent soldiers to Karanovac to aid against the Serbian rebels. These combined troops were fit to defend the town, and the Karanovac Turks were known as heroes in battle. It would be a harder fight than in previous battles. Contemporary historian Triantafyllos Doukas called the Karanovac Turks "damned" and described the town as a "haven and residence of all those thieves who diverged from there in the environs".
At that time, Mehmed-aga Zgura, known as a courageous and brash deli, was at Karanovac and his bad behaviour towards Serbs prompted local ethnic conflict. A fight broke out outside Karanovac in which three Serbs and nine Turks died, with the Turks closing off Karanovac and ending any communication with Serb rayah living around the town. The news reached supreme commander KaraÃÂorÃÂe. Karanovac awaited help from Novi Pazar and Uà ¾ice, and believed that the Serbs would be attacked from Bosnia, Nià ¡ and Vidin. From the fortifications, Turks crossed the Morava and attacked villages several times, including ravaging the Ljubostinja monastery and the surrounding churches. The Karanovac soldiers and deli numbered more than 2,000, and they ravaged the surroundings and murdered people. Smaller rebel bands (cheta) were sent towards Karanovac to stop incursions into the unprotected Serb villages. One cheta under hajduk harambaà ¡a Stanoje Glavaà ¡ entrenched near the Western Morava awaiting the main rebel army. RadiàPetroviÃÂ, one of the most notable rebel leaders, an old and experienced Free Corps veteran, scouted the area in order to better plan the siege of Karanovac.
Planning for the takeover of Karanovac, KaraÃÂorÃÂe mustered an army on the Jasenica near Topola and in the valley of Gruà ¾a on the TopolaâÂÂKaranovac road, in early June 1805. Among the present commanders in KaraÃÂorÃÂe's army were Janko KatiÃÂ, Sima MarkoviÃÂ, Vasa ÃÂarapiÃÂ, ÃÂuà ¡a VuliÃÂeviÃÂ, RadiàPetroviÃÂ, Mladen MilovanoviÃÂ, archpriest Milutin IliÃÂ, archpriest Matija NenadoviÃÂ, Jovan Kursula, Arsenije Loma, MiliàDrinÃÂiàand Lazar Mutap, as well as the archpriests of Kragujevac, Jagodina and DragaÃÂevo and many other armed priests and monks. Also, Teodor FilipoviÃÂ, the first secretary of the Serbian Governing Council, accompanied Matija. Another detachment under Stanoje Glavaà ¡ assembled in the Gruà ¾a valley at the Vrbica fountain on the road nearer to Karanovac. Smaller units of Milan Obrenoviàand Jakov Nenadoviàwere put on the borders of the Uà ¾ice, Valjevo and Rudnik areas, stopping the Uà ¾ice Turks from helping Karanovac. KaraÃÂorÃÂe arrived at Jasenica on and set out with the army towards Karanovac the next day. On the army was adjoined by Gruà ¾a men in Gruà ¾a and they then stopped at Glavaà ¡'s hajduk camp outside Karanovac.
Stanoje Glavaà ¡'s detachment joined up with KaraÃÂorÃÂe's army on the way and the rebel army went along the Morava river and on arrived at a height above the Morava towards Karanovac. The next day RadiàPetroviàcrossed the Morava and with a vanguard dispersed Turk patrols and then a Karanovac sortie in which Mutap killed a deli. The rest of the army crossed the Western Morava and encircled Karanovac that same day, and in the evening were joined by KaraÃÂorÃÂe and his staff. In the meantime, Mehmed-aga Zgura with many troops had sortied but he was killed and his head was put on a cow sent back into the town. Learning that the town had troops from the Sanjak of Novi Pazar who were to fight them, KaraÃÂorÃÂe had sent a warning via Teodor Filipoviàto the vali Ferhatagiàof Novi Pazar to not interfere in another pashalik, as KaraÃÂorÃÂe had not touched his province. By then, the Karanovac Turks had retreated into the fortification, readying for better defense and aid from Uà ¾ice and Novi Pazar.
The number of Serbian troops participating in the battle is unknown, it may have numbered 6,000, the figure given by K. ProtiÃÂ and K. NenadoviÃÂ when describing the rebel army during these events: "6,000 men, out of which 1,000 were cavalry". The attack on the fortification commenced on , according to the operation plan of RadiÃÂ PetroviÃÂ who led the siege. A cannon, the only one carried into the battle, bombarded the fortification followed by lines of constant fusillade, while all abandoned Turk houses in the town were set on fire. The cannon had been brought by Matija, and brought panic to the town. The burning town, made up mostly of wooden buildings, made it easier to fight in the dark. 700 buildings in the town burnt according to K. NenadoviÃÂ. The shootout around and inside the fortification lasted all night between and , and in the day of 1 July until noon, when the infantry assaulted the fortification. The Serbs lost 16 and 30 wounded in several failed attempts to take the parapet, due to the wide and deep trenches and heavy rain. Uzun-Mirko's head on the left side was grazed by a bullet, and this was the first of his many wounds.
The heavy rain forced the Serbian army to stop the assault, with soaked soldiers and muskets, and KaraÃÂorÃÂe understood that they couldn't take the fortification with unusable muskets and only one cannon. The rain had soaked the gunpowder and rifles and the trouble gave birth to a proverb saying "It won't fire as if soaked at Karanovac". KaraÃÂorÃÂe left RadiÃÂ PetroviÃÂ to hold the siege with a detachment, while he took the army across the Morava for rest and weapons maintenance, while he personally went to Topola to get more cannons on . RadiÃÂ PetroviÃÂ fortified the right banks of the Ibar and took over the command of the DragaÃÂevo troops of Milutin IliÃÂ and chosen detachments closed in on the fortification. On RadiÃÂ ordered that all Turk water mills on the Ibar be put on fire. On , the silahdar (arms-bearer) of the Pasha of Novi Pazar arrived with an entourage at Karanovac that ordered the Novi Pazar troops present to stop fighting the Serbs and return immediately to Novi Pazar.
The fear of a stronger assault and the loss of help from Novi Pazar forced Karanovac to enter negotiations. There are slightly different versions on how it went.
The Karanovac Turks were escorted to Kurilovo, where they joined the Novi Pazar contingent to Novi Pazar, with all their property. Some refugees from Karanovac moved to Uà ¾ice. According to a hatt-i humayun of Sultan Selim III dated 18 September 1805, the Serbian rebels had expelled 3,000 Muslims to the Bosnia Eyalet. The Turks had many losses in the battle.
There was celebration in the town, with lamb roast, and when the Turks were escorted past Serbian sentries KaraÃÂorÃÂe invited all of the army into the town for the feast. A new town was then built in its place. RadiÃÂ PetroviÃÂ was proclaimed vojvoda of Karanovac following the battle. Through their distinction in the battle, Mutap and Loma became famous and sung about in epic poems. Antonije RistiÃÂ-PljakiÃÂ, who had killed the muselim of Karanovac back in 1804, moved to the town following its conquest.
During the battle of Karanovac, the Valjevo nahija troops of Jakov Nenadoviàand Rudnik nahija troops Milan Obrenoviàdivided into smaller detachments that positioned themselves at the frontiers of the Valjevo, Uà ¾ice and Rudnik areas, stopping reinforcements from Uà ¾ice to the encircled Karanovac. One night during the battle, Uà ¾ice soldiers attacked a Serb camp near Uà ¾ice while these slept, killing 150 and dispersing that detachment, then proceeded to enter surrounding villages, burn down houses and kill 309 people. KaraÃÂorÃÂe used these losses around Uà ¾ice as a reminder to the rebels to take one's duty seriously and always be ready. When Karanovac fell into Serbian hands there was no longer a need for sentries towards Uà ¾ice, and Jakov had informed KaraÃÂorÃÂe in May 1805 that there was no fear of Ottoman Bosnian troops and that the Drina could be secured with a hundred soldiers. KaraÃÂorÃÂe recommended Jakov to take Soko and Uà ¾ice and to rise up all of the Soko, Uà ¾ice and Zvornik nahiyas. Jakov called archimandrite Melentije StevanoviÃÂ, who had risen and armed part of the Soko nahiya, Milan Obrenoviàwith the Rudnik nahija army, and captain RadiàPetroviàto aid him in the capture of Uà ¾ice, to begin with. An army was mustered under the command of Jakov and Milan which besieged Uà ¾ice with cannons used at Karanovac.
Karanovac became an important military base for the Serbian rebel army, notably as a transit for operations in Novi Pazar and Nova Varoà ¡ and materiel. In 1808 Russian military reports, Karanovac had a garrison of 600 soldiers. The Karanovac Serbs were led by RadiàPetroviàtowards Novi Pazar and they set up trenches in the southern front in early 1806, and they later supported the DragaÃÂevo troops in the 1809 conquests of Nova Varoà ¡ and Sjenica and then operated in Pomoravlje.
There is a Serbian epic poem, boj na Karanovcu, about the battle. The sabre that allegedly was used to cut off the head of Mehmed-aga was in the possession of the family of obor-knez ÃÂuka FilipoviÃÂ of Lepenica. The 2nd Brigade of the Serbian Army, based in Kraljevo, has 12 July as its feast day in honour of the battle of Karanovac.