Mehmed-beg Kulenović

Mehmed-beg Kulenović, Gazi Mehmed-beg Kulenović, Mehmed-beg Kulinović, also known as Kulin-kapetan (1776 - d.Mišar 13 August 1806); was a Bosnian Ottoman soldier born and raised in Bihać and later became the Kapetan of Bosnia Eyalet. He was a very important regional official for the Ottoman forces due to his ties with the aristocracy in Belgrade.^[1] He was killed in the First Serbian Uprising.

Early Life

Mehmed-beg Kulenović was the son of Hadži-Ibrahim-beg Kulenović of Kulen Vakuf. During his youth he received education in Sarajevo and served as a senior official at Višegrad and after the year 1802 the was sent to command Ottoman forces at Užice. He and his forces were finally positioned at the banks of the Drina river at Zvornik during the war against the Serbian rebels in the Sanjak of Smederevo. During the early phases of the war he is known to have courageously saved the life of Ebu Bekir-paša as he fled from Belgrade.

War in the Sanjak of Smederevo

When the First Serbian Uprising broke out in the year 1802, after the assassination of Hadži Mustafa Pasha, turmoil had become evident throughout the Sanjak of Smederevo thousands of Serbian Muslims refugees from the Sanjak began to pour into the district of Zvornik. In the year 1805 the Serbian rebels led by Luka Lazarević had began their assault on Zvornik itself prompting the Ottoman Grand Vizier to mobilize his army in Bosnia Eyalet commanded by Sulejman Paşa and Mehmed-beg Kulenović.

When the army of Sulejman Paşa and Mehmed-beg Kulenović entered the territory held by the rebels they were led into the Battle of Mišar. The battle began with an opening charge of the Turkish Sipahi Cavalry followed by a charge of their infantry units led by the Bosnian kapetan Mehmed-beg Kulenović. The Serbian gunners and cannons mowed down the first line of cavalry and panic struck the Turkish lines when the horsemen retreated into the infantry led by Mehmed-beg Kulenović. However, the Ottomans soon regrouped and engaged the Serbian infantry. Then, Karađorđe Petrović signaled for the formidable charge of the Serbian Cavalry from the opposite ends and defeated the Ottomans on the field.

Although the war ended in defeat kapetan Mehmed-beg Kulenović and his forces kept fighting the Serbian rebels inside the district of Zvornik and were killed the next day in their efforts to drive the forces of Karađorđe Petrović out of Bosnia Eyalet.

References

1. ^ http://ljutoc.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/kulin-kapetan/