Battle of Kolašin

The Battle of Kolašin (Serbian: Bitka kod Kolašina) took place on July 28, 1858 between the Principality of Montenegro and the Ottoman Empire near Kolašin. The Montenegrin army was composed of 5.000 men from Vasojevići, Morača, Rovci, Drobnjaci, Uskoci and Kuči. The Montenegrin army burnt all of the Turkish katuns on the Sinja(je)vina, and razed the villages of Trebaljevo, Lipovo and Štitarica.^[1]

The attack on Kolašin caused numerous political problems and diplomatic complications, which would later become known as the "Kolašin Affair" (Kolašinska afera). Disagreements were put aside with the engagement of diplomatic representatives of the Great Powers, who showed a great interest in the situation occurring in the Balkans. There are some disputes as to whether the attack was authorised by Montenegrin government. Prince Danilo was unaware of it, though there are some indications that his brother Grand Duke Mirko might have allowed it. Traditionally, it is held that attack came as a result of agreement between Duke of Drobnjaci Novica Cerović and Duke of Vasojevići Miljan Vukov, with aim to avenge the death of Miljan's brother Đorđije who was killed in ambush laid by Kolašin's Muslims. Arhimandrite of Morača Dimitrije Radojević supported the plan and was a key figure in mobilising the remaining clans to action. The town was almost completley destroyed during attack. As a result, Duke Miljan was questioned by international commission in Dubrovnik and acquitted while Duke Novica took refuge in Boka Kotorska for a while. Although unsatisfied with Dukes acting on their own, Prince Danilo later commemorated the participants by erecting a bridge over Mrtvica river in their honor.^[2]

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