Siege of Travnik

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Siege of Travnik (26 March – 7 April 1831) was a fight in Travnik, the capital of Bosnia’s Ottoman province. It was part of a movement to make Bosnia autonomous within the Ottoman Empire and to install a Bosniak governor, while also opposing certain reforms.

The Bosniak general Husein-kapetan Gradaščević led about 4,000 rebels from Tuzla toward Travnik with the aim of gaining autonomy for Bosnia and undoing reform policies. He pressed the city to surrender and recognize Bosnia’s autonomy. Inside the city were the governor Namik Pasha and his loyalists, Mustafa-paša Sulejmanpašić and Osman-beg Sulejmanpašić. Gradaščević’s artillery and pressure helped turn the tide.

Memiš-beg Bajramović, one of Gradaščević’s generals, defeated the Sulejmanpašić brothers, who were leading around 2,000 troops. On 7 April Travnik fell to the autonomists. Morali Namik Pasha was captured and reportedly agreed to Bosnian autonomy, burned the new uniforms that had been issued, and returned to wearing the traditional dress of a vizier.

Namik Pasha sent a letter to the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II asking him to recognize Bosnian autonomy. He was later said to have supported autonomy, but on 21 May he fled the city for Stolac, where Ali-paša Rizvanbegović, loyal to the Sultan, governed.