The killing of Smaïl-aga set in motion a series of attacks which left many Montenegrins and Turks dead. Anxious to conceal his role in the murder, Ali Pasha pretended to be outraged and ordered an attack on the Drobnjaci. More than seventy Drobnjaci warriors were killed, dozens of homes were torched, wells were poisoned and several women were raped. At the same time, Ali Pasha sought to shore up his own position by removing any pretext for intervention by the Porte. He contacted Njegoš and expressed a willingness to engage in peace negotiations. Njegoš was in a quandary; he knew that by failing to avenge the Drobnjaci he risked alienating a sizeable portion of his countrymen. At the same time, Njegoš realized that such negotiations could increase Montenegro's territory and bring about diplomatic recognition by Austria and the Ottomans, who wanted peace and an end to the continuous skirmishing on the Montenegrin–Turkish frontier. In 1841, in an attempt to legitimize his country and under Russian pressure to normalize relations with Austria, Njegoš reached an agreement with the Austrians defining the Austro–Montenegrin border. Despite the agreement, the Austrians failed to officially recognize Montenegro as a sovereign state, and demanded the Montenegrins' complete withdrawal from the coast in exchange for Montenegrin tribesmen being permitted to seek pasturage for their sheep and cattle in Kotor. The withdrawal required the Montenegrins to give up two historic monasteries (Podmaine and Stanjevići), which the Austrians subsequently purchased for a considerable sum. Despite these concessions, the agreement improved trading between the two sides.