Draft:Ilija Marković

Ilija Marković (Serbian Cyrillic: Илија Марковић; Grušić, c. 1762 - Šabac, 5 January 1837) was a knez of Šabac nahija, member of the People's Chancellery, diplomat and president of the Belgrade Court under the rule of Miloš Obrenović.

Biography

Ilija Marković was born around 1762 in the village of Grušić in the Šabac nahija. His uncle was killed by the Turks during the Slaughter of the Knezes (Serbian: Сеча кнезова, romanized: Seča knezova), a planned and gruesome act by the Dahije, a ruling class of Turks and Albanians who terorized the Serbian population. A total of 72 noble Serbs were assassinated, and their heads were put on public display. Notable victims were Aleksa Nenadović, Ilija Birčanin and Ilija Markovic's uncle. The motivation behind the gruesome crime was that the Dahije were favoured by the Sultan and for years their wealth continued to increase exponentially through fees and taxes from travelling merchants and the population at large. The Sultan was more than pleased to get his share of the Dahije's wealth garnered from Serbia. The event triggered the Serbian revolution, aimed at putting an end to the centuries of Turkish occupation. It also percipated the Greek liberation movement and few years after the First Serbian Uprising and Second Serbian Uprising.

It is not known exactly when Illija Marković was appointed knez of Pocer, but there is mention that he had that title at the time of the First Serbian Uprising. He was also a member of the Governing Council Soviet, the first government in the Revolutionary Serbia, as an adviser in 1808 and 1809. In 1811, in Karađorđe's Serbia, Ilija Marković became guardian of justice and supreme vilayet judge. He was one of the first Serbian elders who surrendered to the Turks when they saw the advance of the Ottoman army from Bosnia. After the collapse of the First Serbian Uprising, he fled to Srem, and after the beginning of the Second Serbian Uprising, he returned to Serbia and joined the insurgents. Miloš Obrenović, Prince of Serbia, appointed him as the knez of Šabac nahija, and then as a member of the People's Office in Belgrade.

In 1819, he went to Constantinople as a member of the Serbian delegation that was forcibly detained by Sultan's decree at the time of the Greek uprising from 1820 to 1827 . In 1828, after returning from Constantinople, he was appointed president of the Belgrade court for six months. In 1833, Prince Miloš retired him with a state pension. He died in Šabac on 5 January 1837 and was buried in the church gate.

Ilija Marković had a son, Đuka Marković, Pocera captain.

References

• Translated and adapted from Serbian Wikipedia: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B_(%D0%BA%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B7)