Janko Katić

Janko Katić (Serbian Cyrillic: Јанко Катић; fl. 1804–1806†) was a voivode and one of the organizers of the First Serbian Uprising (1804–1813). He participated in the uprising since day one, and was an important oborknez of the Šabac district, and was one of the most courageous commanders, so influential as a military and political leader that he was held by many as the second only to Karađorđe Petrović, the leader, in Šumadija.^[1]

Life

Janko was born in Rogača, beneath the Kosmaj. In his youth he mostly lived in Belgrade with his sister, who was married to a Turk. In this time he learnt Turkish, which would benefit him later on. He however, came into bad terms with his sister's husband, and was forced to leave and return to Rogača. In the region the Uprising was planned аnd he joined the uprising and was appointed as the knez of one of the former Ottoman nahiyah, and as he was known for being just, prudent and heroic, he quickly became the head commander of the Belgrade nahija. He had a good appearance, and in the assemblies he was a good speaker, and in the battles he was very adaptive, adroit and heroic chief. He was popular with the people, and his contemporaries called him "prude and heroic Janko". He was one of the most important figures of the First Uprising.

He participated in all battles since the beginning: Belgrade, Rudnik, Vrbica, etc. He, Vasa Čarapić and Sima Marković commanded 4,000 soldiers that besieged Belgrade.^[2] Karđorđe sent him to the fighting in Mačva, in 1806, as help. He showed great skills, and after the burning of the Sovljak village, he killed 65 Turks and took what they had confiscated earlier. He died while fighting the Ottomans around Šabac, in the village of Krnić, just before the Battle of Mišar.

His death was a huge loss for the Serbian revolutionaries. Although he was a near friend of Karađorđe, he was part of the political group that sought to tackle the Vožd's autocracy. Several more revolutionaries came from his family.

Notes

References

v t e Serbian revolutionaries (1804–1817) Đorđe Petrović-Karađorđe Stojan Abraš Uzun-Mirko Apostolović Ilija Barjaktarović Anta Bogićević Mina Bimbaša Pavle Cukić Milosav Čamdžija Vasa Čarapić Ilija Čarapić Stojan Čupić Sava Dedobarac Aćim Doljanac Milić Drinčić Hrista Đorđević Todor-Toša Đorđević Stanoje Glavaš Jovan Gligorijević-Zeka Buljubaša Hadži-Prodan Gligorijević Milovan Grbović Nikola Grbović Radovan Grbović Jovan Jančić-Sarajlija Jakov Jakšić Vasilije-Šujo Karadžić Janko Katić Kuzman Kapidan Ivan Knežević-Knez Ivo Radojko Kojadinović Cincar-Marko Kostić Naum Krnar Jovan Kursula Milosav Lapovac Luka Lazarević Raka Levajac Arsenije Loma Paulj Matejić Teodosije Maričević Sima Marković Jovan Mićić Nikola Milićević Lunjevica Tomo Milinović Đorđe Milovanović-Guzonja Mladen Milovanović Lazar Mutap-Čačanin Prota Mateja Nenadović Sima Nenadović Jakov Nenadović Petar Nikolajević Moler Petar Novaković-Čardaklija Đorđe Obradović-Ćurčija Jovan Obrenović Miloš Obrenović Giorgakis Olympios Dragan Papazoglu Dimitrije Parezan Pavle Popović Milutin-Era Petrović Jovan Petrović Kovač Ilija Petrović Strelja Veljko Petrović-Hajduk Veljko Radič Petrović Cincar-Janko Popović Mileta Radojković Mihailo Radović Tanasko Rajić Old Rashko Ćira Rošavi Mihailo Ružičić Milutin Savić-Garašanin Čolak-Anta Simeonović Jovan Simić Bobovac Stevan Sinđelić Nikola Smiljanić Hadži Melentije Stevanović Stevan-Steva Stevanović Miloš Stojićević Pocerac Milenko Stojković Đorđe Šagić Petronije Šišo Marko Štitarac Petar Teodorović-Dobrnjac Marko Todorović Miloje Todorović Kara Petar Trešnjevičanin Milosav Zdravković Milosav Zdravković-Resavac Vuča Žikić Nikola Ziković Marko Vasić-Karamarko Nina Vasiljević Petko Vasiljević Kondo Vojvoda Toma Vučić Perišić Dušan-Đuša Vulićević Vujica Vulićević