Gligor Sokolović (; 17 or 5 January 1870 or 1872Войвода Глигуръ Соколовъ. Единъ отъ най-отличнитѣ войводи, стрѣлецъ чудесенъ. Роденъ на 17-й Януари 1870 г. въ с. Небрѣгово (Прилѣпско).... – 30 July 1910]) was one of the supreme commanders (Great Voivode) of the Serbian Chetnik Movement, that fought the Ottoman Empire, Bulgarian, and Albanian armed bands during the Macedonian Struggle. He was one of the most famous Chetniks,Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 1, 1973, p. 512 and the foremost in Western Povardarie.Glas Javnosti, Prvi gorski štabovi , 3 March 2003 In Bulgaria he is considered a Bulgarian renegade who switched sides, i.e. (sic) Serboman.Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, 1900–1996 , Chris Kostov, Peter Lang, 2010, , 67
After murdering a local Ottoman lord, Sokolović went into the woods with some friends and formed a guerrilla unit which would target Ottomans. He then joined the Bulgarian revolutionary organizations of SMAC and IMRO,Николов, Борис Й. (2001) Вътрешна македоно-одринска революционна организация. Войводи и ръководители (1893–1934). Биографично-библиографски справочник, София. p. 152. and fought throughout the wider Macedonia region. After the Ottomans' suppression of the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising in 1903, he, like many others, fled to Serbia. He was acquainted with Dr. Gođevac, one of the founders of the Serbian revolutionary organization that sought liberation of Macedonia, and became one of its supreme commanders that would fight in the Prilep region. With the Young Turk Revolution, he became a deputy of the National Assembly of the Serbs in Turkey. He was killed in 1910 by the Ottoman government.
Life
Early life Sokolović was born in 1870Krakov, p. 107 in the village of Nebregovo, near Prilep, under the Ottoman Empire (now part of Dolneni, North Macedonia).Živković 1998 His father was Sokol Lamević (1833–1903). He grew up without education.
At a young age, Sokolović killed a noted Turk from Prilep, Ali-Aga, the property intendant of Avdi-Pasha, who held villages around Babuna, and was a notorious persecutor of Christians.
Murder of Ali-Aga and entering guerrilla lifestyle Avdi-Pasha, the Lord of Babuna, had an infamous chiflik intendant in his service, Ali-Aga, who was a notorious persecutor (zulum) of Christians. Ali-Aga had cancelled weddings, as the first day of his arrival was to be in his honour only. When Ali-Aga gathered the tax, he took an amount that suited him, and never followed any law. Ali-Aga beat villagers whose gibanica (pastry) was not fat enough. He ordered villages to slay sheep just in order to clear his rifle barrel with the tallow. The villagers had none at their side, so five villages (Stepanci, Prisad, Smilovci, Nikodin, Krstec) secretly conspired to murder Ali-Aga, but no one dared to fulfill the task. Then, Gligor Sokolović, aged 25, from a sixth village, accepted it.
Sokolović, with his friend Tale Šejtan, prepared an ambush on the road of Babun, and waited for several days. One morning the villagers of Stepanci came and told them that Ali-Aga had just turned to collect tax from the farms. Tale climbed a tree and had a full view of the surroundings, while Sokolović went and lay with his gun on the end of the road. As Ali-Aga advanced on his horse, Sokolović carefully aimed and shot, and Ali-Aga fell hard to the ground. His horse screamed and fled towards Prilep, and Sokolović and Tale hurried to disappear into the forest, even though no one had seen them. Prilep was soon alarmed, and an army went into pursuit. Sokolović had returned to the village by the night, and the villagers quietly greeted him for his deed.
Forces arrived in Nebregovo and searched through the houses.Krakov p. 108 When they entered Sokolović's house, he quietly waited while they found nothing. As soon as the troops had left the village, Sokolović went back to the forest and took his hidden gun, and he began guerrilla warfare in the summer of 1895, and he would never look back on the village life. He gathered a few friends: Đorđe Palaš from Prisad, Riste Todorović-Šika from Drenovci, and Koce from Omorani, that would form a band. As they did not want to be far away from home, they moved through the forests of Babun and Nebregovo, and ate what the shepherds had prepared for them in the heights of the village areas. In the fall, when the forests became thinner and the first snow made traces, they were forced to flee the site, and they had heard that in Bulgaria, some kind of committee for the struggle against the Ottoman Empire had been founded. Hungry, and pursued, they joined the Bulgarian revolutionaries, where they would not have much rest.
1896–1903
Fighting in Salonica and visit to Nebregovo On Atanasov dan (18 January), 1896, his band of 9 friends were led by Dimo Dedoto (Supreme Macedonian Committee), from Thessaloniki back across the border. There was heavy snow, and severe cold; Sokolović had his feet severely frozen, swollen and sore. He managed to Nebregovo. Sokolović was not allowed to see his family, so he went to his friend, Stanko Bogojević, in belief that he would not be noticed. The frozen flesh of his feet fell of, and they were healed with grass. The village heard that Sokolović had returned. Stanko, fearing for his family, went to Sokol, Gligor's father, and told him that he could not care for the hajduk any more. Sokol came for his son, and when he saw his wounds in the light, he cried. Sokolović was taken to his father's house and there he healed. When snow fell on Babuna again, he left for the forest again, gathering a small band from old friends.
In springtime, there was time for the Turks to collect livestock tax from the shepherds, who tried to hide the animals in caves and the heights, but the Turks searched there too.Krakov, p. 109 One day, the begs (honorary title, "sir") arrived in Drenovci to a shepherd who told them that there were none left, but the one beg, unbelieving, went into the hut to inspect. The beg was shot in the head, and the others left the premises running – in the hut was Sokolović and his band.
Fighting in Mariovo and Pirin The band could not stay in Babuna, and crossed into Mariovo, and on the way they left the bodies of four begs from Vitolište, but they could not stay in Morihovo for long, and they retreated to Belica in Poreče.
One day, there came a message that two Turkish merchants from Ohrid would travel through the Babuna to Veles. Sokolović had the knowledge and time to prepare an ambush before Stepanci. The merchants came on horses, and they had silver revolvers in their belts – Sokolović shouted "Throw your pistols!" in Turkish ("Чикараз алтипатлак!"), jumping in front of them. They let go off their guns, and were killed. Pursuits were made in all villages, and Sokolović was forced to flee towards the Bulgarian border once again. To spare his family from retaliation, he never returned to Babuna. He fought in the Salonica Vilayet on the Pirin mountains, where he befriended Greek bandits, from whom he adopted opanke with longer tassels (tsarouhi).
Ilinden Uprising and moving to Serbia
When the Uprising broke out in June 1903, Turks from Desovo, while they understood that Sokolović was with his bandits, waited outside the house of Sokol until he came home from Prilep and killed him. They took his severed nose and eyes with them as a sign of vendetta. Sokolović was at the time in Bulgaria, as part of an Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) detachment of 400–500 soldiers, of which commanders where Sotir Atanasov, Atanas Murdzhev, Dimitar Ganchev and Nikola Pushkarov.Кръстю Лазаров. Революционната дейност в Кумановско . promacedonia.org Hearing of his father's death, he gathered a band and turned to repay his father, but he only reached Vardar, which was cut off by the Ottoman army. The destroyed bands fled towards Bulgaria and Serbia. Sokolović also needed to depart, and he sent a letter to his brother with a bandit, saying: "I was on my way to return blood but there were many askeri on the Vardar. I retaliated [for his death], but I have not avenged him."Krakov, p. 110
He turned towards Kyustendil, but when he reached Gyueshevo, the first village after the Bulgarian border, a group of Bulgarians tried to disarm them, and Sokolović began to fight them. Wounded, he returned to Turkish territory with his 8 fighters in order to reach the Serbian border. In Buštranje, an old rebel base, he crossed into Serbia. Naum Marković, Jordan Severković, Koce Mrguška, from Drenovac; Ilija Močko from Prilep; Josif from Bela Crkva, and Ilija Jovanović, did not leave their commander. Worn down, with torn shoes and clothes, smeared in mud, and with long beards, they reported themselves to the Serbian border patrol.
The band was taken to Vranje, their weapons were left at the Tabana café, and they were sent to Belgrade, where the Serb Chetnik Movement committee awaited them. At their arrival, they were sent to prison as they were suspected Bulgarian komiti.
1903–1910
Arrival at Belgrade and meeting with Dr. Gođevac A bricklayer, Spasa Kostić, came running to the office of Dr. Gođevac, saying that Voivode Gligor Sokolović and his fighters had returned from the battlefield and had been falsely imprisoned by the Belgrade Police, and that Sokolović was wounded in the head.Krakov, p. 106 Dr. Gođevac quickly contacted the borough manager, and the band was immediately released. In Palilula, at the Dva Pobratima café, owned by a Nikola from Kruševo, Sokolović found his brother who worked in the Belgrade water system. Dr. Gođevac had not yet visited the Voivode whom he had freed, so he walked the Varoš-kapija (an historical neighbourhood) at noon, and Vasa Jovanović (minister) told him that a group of chetniks had dinner at Razman's aščinica (traditional restaurant). The baker, Damče, took Dr. Gođevac in and pointed at where Sokolović sat. At a fat-soiled table sat three chetniks in front of a steaming large bowl with pasulj. Upon noticing Vasa Jovanović, the three jumped up, and a puzzled Sokolović gave his hard hand, full of calluses. Sokolović was young, with bright blue eyes, timid in his moves, humble, he seemed to have nothing hajduk (brigand) about him. Only his great stature gave light of enormous power. After he had finished his meal, Vasa Jovanović escorted him to Dr. Gođevac. Dr. Gođevac, who was almost disappointed since the encounter, asked him about the head wound. Sokolović gave an embarrassed smile and replied -"It's nothing...", "Who wounded you?", -"We had a fight..." – he was suspicious, and avoided long conversations. Dr. Gođevac began healing his wounds; his head wound was a result from a gun stock blow, and though it was not severe, it had been neglected. Little by little, Sokolović began opening himself up, telling the story of his life.
When Sokolović's wound was healed, he was sent to Stara Bogoslovija (between St. Michael's Cathedral and Kalemegdan, towards Hotel National) where more than 50 fighters stayed. He wintered in Belgrade, and spent his time in the "Crni konj" café, where many other displaced Serbs gathered.Nusic 1966, p. 134 The Stara Bogoslovija quarter served as a barrack for komiti.Krakov, p. 150
Serb Committee sends first bands