Čerkez Ilija ( sr-cyr, Черкез Илија, "Ilija the Circassian"; died April 1881) was a rebel leader active in

Kriva Palanka Kriva Palanka ( ) is a town located in the northeastern part of North Macedonia. It has 13,481 inhabitants. The town of Kriva Palanka is the seat of Kriva Palanka Municipality which has 18,059 inhabitants. The town lies near the ''Deve Bair'' ...

. He was a teacher by profession. After the Serbian–Ottoman War (1876–78), the Serbian military government sent armament and aid to rebels in Kosovo and Macedonia. Christian rebel bands were formed all over the region. Many of those bands, privately organized and aided by the government, were established in Serbia and crossed into Ottoman territory. As more of these rebel bands from Serbia appeared, in that way also the Ottoman government, and privately organized Turks and Albanians, became more active, with harassment of Christians on the right side of the Vardar. As a result of this pressure, in the beginning of 1880, some 65 rebel leaders (''glavari''), from almost all provinces in southern

Old Serbia Old Serbia () is a Serbian historiographical term that is used to describe the territory that according to the dominant school of Serbian historiography in the late 19th century formed the core of the Serbian Empire in 1346–71. The term does ...

and Macedonia, sent an appeal to M. S. Milojević, the former commander of volunteers in the Serbian-Ottoman War (1876–78), asking him to, with requesting from the Serbian government, prepare 1,000 rifles and ammunition for them, and that Milojević be appointed the commander of the rebels and that they be allowed to cross the border and start the rebellion. Among these rebel leaders were Čerkez Ilija. On 14 October 1880, an uprising broke out in

Poreče Poreče, Porečie or Porečje or Poreč (), is a region in North Macedonia which includes the Makedonski Brod Municipality, and the western part of the Prilep Municipality Prilep ( ) is a municipality in the south of North Macedonia. ''Prilep ...

, known as the Brsjak Revolt. This uprising would span little more than a year. After Ottoman pressure, the Russian government intervened in Serbia and the Serbian government decided to stop aiding the rebels. In springtime 1881, in the ''Devet Jugovića''-inn in Vranje,

Micko Krstić Micko Krstić-Porečki ( sr-cyr, Мицко Крстић, 1855 – October 29, 1909), known as Vojvoda Micko, was a Serbs in North Macedonia, Macedonian Serb rebel and military leader active in the Poreče region. Origin and early life Krstić ...

assembled a band of 13 fighters, friends, blood-brothers and followers, left Serbia in springtime 1881. Their first teacher and leader was Čerkez Ilija. In the fight in which Čerkez Ilija and his fighters died, half of Micko's band fell too.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ilija, Cerkez 19th-century Serbian people 19th-century people from the Ottoman Empire Rebels from the Ottoman Empire Serb rebels 1881 deaths 19th-century births Year of birth missing

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