Following the Slaughter of the Knezes and building on the resentment towards the dahije who had rolled back privileges granted to the Serbs by Selim II, on 14 February 1804, in the small village of Orašac near Aranđelovac, leading Serbs gathered and decided to begin an uprising against the dahijas. Among those present were Stanoje Glavaš, Atanasije Antonijević, Tanasko Rajić and other prominent local leaders. The Serb Chieftains gathered in Orašac and elected Đorđe Petrović, a livestock merchant known as Karađorđe, as their leader. Karađorđe had fought as a member of the Freicorps during the Austro-Turkish war, had been an officer in the national militia, and thus had considerable military experience.