Slaughter of the Knezes

Slaughter of the Knezes
Tablet at Belgrade Military Museum
Location	Sanjak of Smederevo (now Central Serbia)
Date	23–29 January 1804
Target	Notable Serbs
Attack type	Assassinations and assaults
Deaths	72+
Perpetrators	Dahije (renegade Janissaries)

The Slaughter of the Knezes (Serbian: Сеча кнезова, romanized: Seča knezova) was the organized assassinations and assaults of noble Serbs in the Sanjak of Smederevo in January 1804 by the rebellious Dahije. Fearing that the Sultan would make use of the Serbs to oust them, they decided to execute leading Serbs throughout the Sanjak. A total of 72 noble Serbs were assassinated, and their heads were put on public display. Notable victims were Aleksa Nenadović and Ilija Birčanin. The event triggered the Serbian revolution, aimed at putting an end to the centuries of occupation.