Zeka Buljubaša

Jovan Gligorijević (, 1785–1813), known as Zeka Buljubaša , was a Serbian revolutionary captain (buljubaša) active during the First Serbian Uprising (1804–13).

Early life Jovan Gligorijević was born in 1785, in Sjenica. His family hailed from Nevesinje. He was brought up working for Serb and Turk merchants, from where he learnt to ride horses, use weapons, and the Turkish language. He went to school in a monastery. His parents called him zeka (from zeleno, "green") due to his green eyes.

Zeka came to the Sanjak of Smederevo due to the outbreak of the First Serbian Uprising. Prior to the uprising, he lived in Višegrad. A story goes that he left his home village after falling out with his close friend, a Turk from Nevesinje, after telling him about murdering a Turk man who was about to rape a Serb widow, his neighbour; the friend told Zeka that his Islamic faith could not look over this, and suggested a gun duel; Zeka shot him in the shoulder and immediately left his home for Višegrad. He was not yet 20 years old at that time.

Career

At first, Zeka served in the company of vojvoda (general) Stojan Čupić in Mačva, then served as border protection by the Drina (towards the Bosnia Eyalet). He was usually posted in Parašnica near Crna Bara. Another of Čupić's captains was Sima Katić.

Zeka formed a company of 50–200 men, called the Goli Sinovi ("Naked Sons"), made up of bachelors without houses or families, at first "naked" (badly equipped), and although the name implied poverty, the soldiers were richly dressed and armed. and Golaći (1966). A football club in Ravnje bears his name.

In the novel Hajduk Stanko by Janko Veselinović, Zeka Buljubaša is one of the main characters.