{"id":183175,"date":"2026-07-24T14:57:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T12:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=183175"},"modified":"2026-07-24T14:57:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T12:57:18","slug":"the-lost-island-on-the-danube-this-is-the-forgotten-history-of-ada-kale-and-duke-milenkos-harem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/the-lost-island-on-the-danube-this-is-the-forgotten-history-of-ada-kale-and-duke-milenkos-harem\/","title":{"rendered":"THE LOST ISLAND ON THE DANUBE: This is the Forgotten History of Ada Kale and Duke Milenko’s Harem!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The history of Serbia is often filled with stories that resemble mythology more than reality. Yet, some can be said to be true despite testimonies that seem truly impossible. Such an episode is the story of the island of Ada Kale and Duke Milenko.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ada Kale was a former island and settlement on the Danube, near Kladovo, on the Romanian side of the border. It was 1750 meters long and 500 meters wide, and it disappeared more than 40 years ago. Although the water swallowed it when the Iron Gates hydropower plant was built, the island of Ada Kale is more than present in historical records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ancient Romans were the first to build a fortification on this island, and others were built on their foundations, so it almost always served military purposes. Ada Kale was strategically crucial because control over the island allowed control of navigation through the Iron Gates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was here, on July 25, 1804, during the First Serbian Uprising, that a pursuit led by Milenko Stojkovi\u0107 captured and executed the four Belgrade Dahias: Aganlija, Ku\u010duk Alija, Mula Jusuf, and Fo\u010di\u0107 Mehmed-aga. What followed resembles a myth more than historical reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

THE LOST ISLAND<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In the summer of 1804, during the mission of Be\u0107ir Pasha, a decision was made to execute the Turkish Dahias, whose cruel rule had caused popular discontent. Milenko Stojkovi\u0107 was designated by both Serbian and Turkish authorities, from whom the Dahias had rebelled, to carry out the sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a company of 27 chosen men and 10 men assigned by Red\u017eep-aga, the commander of Ada Kale island, Stojkovi\u0107 set off for the island where the Dahias had hidden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disguised, during the night, Stojkovi\u0107 went to Red\u017eep’s uncle Ibrahim and handed him a written order from Be\u0107ir Pasha and Red\u017eep’s letter, explaining why he had come and who sent him. A frightened Ibrahim revealed to him the house where the Dahias were hiding, and on the same night, between July 25 and 26, Milenko attacked them. The battle reportedly lasted eight hours without interruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Dahias were liquidated and their heads, except Aganlija’s which was dropped into the Danube during washing, were brought to Belgrade, they were first handed over to Red\u017eep-aga, the Ada Kale commander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milenko Stojkovi\u0107 then established his reputation as a fearless hero, which he confirmed in later battles \u2013 he allegedly lost no battles, only achieved victories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Milenko Stojkovi\u0107 achieved great military success in the Battle of Ivankovac, after which the rebellion against the Dahias grew into a general popular uprising against Turkish rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first days of January 1806, Milenko and the insurgents penetrated the Negotin Krajina and captured the fortified Pore\u010d on the Danube, and the following year, leading fierce battles at \u0160tubik and Malajnica, he created conditions for the Russians to cross to the right bank of the Danube on June 17\/18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The battle for liberation lasted three weeks. The arrival of Kara\u0111or\u0111e with reinforcements allowed the besieged Serbs at \u0160tubik to be freed. After that, Milenko Stojkovi\u0107, together with Vo\u017ed Kara\u0111or\u0111e, met the Russian commander Michael Isayev on Veliko Ostrvo (Big Island). There, Kara\u0111or\u0111e proclaimed Stojkovi\u0107 a Duke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

THE LEGEND OF THE HAREM<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When he conquered the Turkish fortress in Ram, on the bank of the Danube, Milenko captured several women from the city commander’s harem and established his own harem. Before that, he converted all the women to Orthodox Christianity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the defeat of the Turks in Belgrade in 1807, many women became widows and children orphans. A large number of them lived on the streets of Belgrade, begging for survival. Serbs organized boat transport for these people back to Turkey, but Duke Milenko awaited the boats in Pore\u010d on the bank of the Danube, where he had his fortification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the passengers, he chose the most beautiful girls and women, with whom he “supplemented” his harem. Somewhere around that time, his lawful wife, who lived in Kli\u010devac, died, so he remarried Milena<\/strong>, the widow of the Krajina district prince.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Turkish women from the harem served and attended to him, and he often took them with him on his travels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to legend, when he “tired” of some, he would find them a husband among his servants or soldiers and give her a dowry. At the same time, he allegedly gave Serbian childless women children that some of the women “brought with them into the harem.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Records from that time note that the total number of women in his harem amounted to about 42.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Milenko’s glorious days did not last long, as after the defense of Deligrad only two years later, he quarreled with Kara\u0111or\u0111e, after which he was deprived of command of the insurgent army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 1811, the rift between the two deepened further as Stojkovi\u0107 advocated for limiting the Vo\u017ed’s supreme authority and decentralizing administration. Stojkovi\u0107 came into direct conflict with both Kara\u0111or\u0111e and the elders, and when he refused to accept the duty of Minister of Foreign Affairs, it cost him exile from Serbia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The conflict with Kara\u0111or\u0111e was the reason for Milenko to flee across his beloved Danube, which had brought him so much glory. Before leaving Serbia, he disbanded his harem, not allowing any of the women to face an uncertain fate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He allegedly gave each of them freedom and enough money to choose the life they would lead. Stojkovi\u0107 went to Russia, where he was retired with the rank of colonel. According to some written documents by Vuk Karad\u017ei\u0107, Milenko Stojkovi\u0107 died in a small town in Crimea on the Black Sea coast in 1831.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 140 years later, the island of Ada Kale, which first inscribed Duke Milenko Stojkovi\u0107 in history, also disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MORE TOPICS:<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

THE HORNJAK FAMILY NEEDS OUR HELP: Their house is collapsing and they bathe in a shed, while earning their crust of bread in a barn! (PHOTO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FAMOUS FRENCH NEWSPAPER BADE FAREWELL TO OLIVERA KATARINA: Yugoslav diva and star of the Cannes Film Festival passed away!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

JEALOUSY THAT ENDED IN A HORRIFIC CRIME? This is the arrested bodybuilder who brutally murdered a Serbian woman in Dallas and left two children without a mother!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

AMERICANS MADE A LIST OF THE BEST SHOOTERS OF ALL TIME: Joki\u0107 in 26th place, and ahead of him is one Serb!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE WORLD PAID TRIBUTE TO THE SERBIAN PHOTOGRAPHER: Pavel won three medals in Portugal!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source<\/strong>:<\/strong> Dnevno.rs<\/a>; Foto<\/strong>: Wikipedia Creative Commons<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The history of Serbia is often filled with stories that resemble mythology more than reality. Yet, some can be said to be true despite testimonies that seem truly impossible. Such an episode is the story of the island of Ada Kale and Duke Milenko. Ada Kale was a former island and settlement on the Danube, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2169,"featured_media":183180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[7742,6075,554,7743,113],"class_list":["post-183175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-ada-kale","tag-dunav","tag-istorija-srbije","tag-kladovo","tag-srbija","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183175"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":215064,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183175\/revisions\/215064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}