STEVAN SINĐELIĆ - EXPLOSION FOR ETERNAL GLORY

BIJELJINA, MAY 30 /SRNA/ - The Duke of Resava Stevan Sinđelić /1770–1809/ died on May 31, 1809, by firing a pistol shot into a gunpowder storage within the fortification on Čegar Hill, near Niš, at the height of battle against numerically superior Ottoman forces during the First Serbian Uprising.

The explosion blew up the fort, killing both the defenders and the Turks who had breached the stronghold.

Sinđelić took part in all the battles in the Pomoravlje region from the beginning of the uprising in 1804 and distinguished himself in the battle of Ivankovac in 1805, where he was promoted to the rank of duke for his demonstrated bravery, and again in the battle of Deligrad in 1806 under the command of Petar Dobrnjac.

In May 1809, Sinđelić joined the insurgents with 3,000 men from Resava, aiming to liberate Niš.

At Čegar, he held the most forward of the six Serbian trenches, and it was he who faced the main attack led by Hursit Pasha, the commander of the Niš fortress. Despite repeated Turkish attacks, the insurgents managed to repel them.

When he realised that the remaining defenders could no longer withstand the Ottoman forces, he ignited the gunpowder storage.

After the battle, in order to intimidate the Serbs, the pasha ordered that a tower be built from the skulls of the fallen insurgents. This structure became known as the Skull Tower.

Originally, it contained 952 skulls; today, only a few dozen rema