Diamandi or Iamandì Djuvara, also known as Giuvara, Juvara or Tzouvara (;Vârtosu, pp. 33, 36 died 14 August 1821), was an Ottoman–Wallachian mercenary and boyar, with the rank of Serdar. Greek-speaking, he originated from the ethnically diverse Sanjak of Ioannina, and had various Balkan identities ascribed to him; some historians conclude that he was an Aromanian, like other carriers of the name "Djuvara", with whom he was likely related. He arrived to Wallachia during the final stages of Phanariote rule over that country. By the 1810s, as a military expert, he was serving Prince John Caradja in dealing with the emergence of anti-state brigandage in Oltenia. Djuvara never managed to capture in combat the celebrated hajduk Iancu Jianu, but used deceitful tactics in apprehending two of Jianu's allies, Nikola Abraš and Receb Ağa. He honored a peace agreement with Jianu, but was unable to prevent Jianu's imprisonment by Caradja.
Djuvara's activities allowed him to amass personal wealth, which allegedly included Abraš's confiscated loot; he used the gold to purchase land in Romanați County, where he created the eponymous village of Giuvărăști. Initially disliked by Romanian nationalists as an incompetent "Greek", he was removed from his executive position by the last Phanariote Prince, Alexandros Soutzos, who appointed the local Ioan Solomon as Serdar in early 1821. Djuvara may have by then entered conspiratorial politics with the Filiki Eteria, and is sometimes seen as a participant in Soutzos' alleged assassination. Immediately after Soutzos' death, political life in Wallachia was disturbed by the twinned effects of the Greek War of Independence and the anti-Phanariote uprising. The Wallachian Boyars' Divan counted on Djuvara to crush the latter rebellion, but he negotiated a deal with rebel leader Tudor Vladimirescu, joined the insurgency alongside Solomon and Dimitrie Macedonski, and captured Craiova from the Divan.
Djuvara then participated in Vladimirescu's march on Bucharest. He was also in contact with the Sacred Band, which had penetrated into northern Wallachia and was claiming it on behalf of the Greek Revolution. Djuvara negotiated between the two revolutions, and formally joined the Band in early May, presenting his homages to Alexander Ypsilantis and the Filiki Eteria. He sought to obtain control over the fortifications at Cozia Monastery on Ypsilantis' behalf, but was instantly met with Vladimirescu's opposition. Unlike Macedonski, who supported the Eteria, Djuvara remained generally loyal to Vladimirescu; by late May, he was guarding Vladimirescu's personal fortress in Cerneți, unaware that Ypsilantis had kidnapped Vladimirescu and had placed Wallachia under Eterist control. As the Ottoman Army moved in to punish the rebels, Djuvara assisted in what he thought was a common Wallachian–Eterist effort to defend Drăgășani, managing an initial victory as commander of the unified cavalry. On 29 May, he was informed of Vladimirescu's killing by the Eterists, and, enraged by this, left the battle scene.
Though labeled a traitor by Macedonski and others, the Serdar returned to fight for Ypsilantis during the second and final battle at Drăgășani, in June. He accompanied Ypsilantis on his trek toward the Austrian Empire, but stopped with his garrison at Bistrița Monastery, preparing to delay the Ottomans by sustaining a siege. A former Eterist, Sava Fochianos, convinced him to surrender, with his second wife and his three half-Romanian sons, assuring him of Sultan Mahmud II's generosity. He was treated fairly as a prisoner in Bucharest, and later in Silistra, though he was ultimately decapitated, after an elaborate humiliation ritual, in Istanbul; it is unclear whether his direct descendants outlived the massacre of his army, but he was survived by a collateral branch, which preserved control of Giuvărăști.
Biography Immigration and war on Jianu Djuvara, who signed his name in Greek, was an immigrant to Romanian-inhabited Wallachia. His place of birth was Ioannina, capital of an eponymous subdivision of the Ottoman Empire;Dinu, p. 229 his brother, known locally as "Gheorghe", had remained behind in Macedonia.Diaconu-Monu, p. 37. See also Nelepcu, p. 12 Sources disagree on their ethnicity, suggesting either "Albanian",Cazacu, p. 28 "Greek",Popescu-Popnedea, pp. 133, 134; Solomon, p. 17 or "Aromanian"Diaconu-Monu, passim; Djuvara, p. 300 (also rendered as "Macedo-Romanian").Bălașa & Purcărescu, p. 309 The latter variant is preferred by genealogist Elena Diaconu-Monu, who sees Diamandi as descending from the Pindus Aromanians, which include armatoles mentioned in ballads as doi frați Giuvară ("two brothers Giuvară").Diaconu-Monu, p. 36 She regards all records of the Djuvaras as "Greeks" and "Albanians", as well as their one-time mention as "Bulgarians" by polemicist Constantin Sion, as misguided or ignorant attempts in defining their actual status as "Romanians from south of the Danube".Diaconu-Monu, p. 38 She also believes that the oldest identifiable Djuvara was a Nicolo Giuvara, who, according to local tradition, was also the first one to settle in Wallachia.
Born into the Christian faith,Șuta, p. 33 Djuvara was nevertheless a bigamist. He never divorced his first wife, who, like him, originated "from the land of Ioannina". He also had a "wife taken from Wallachia", with whom he had three young boys by 1821.Dinu, p. 229; Veliman, p. 351 His initial activities as officer of the Arnauts, and his reception into the boyardom, relate to Phanariote Prince Caradja. One report suggest that he was originally ennobled as a Paharnic, a position which allowed him to collect large sums of gold, at a time when the princely treasury was short on bullion. He exchanged his reserve in for land in Romanați County, where he established his own village and manor, eponymously known as Giuvărăști.Nelepcu, p. 11 For a while, he engaged in tax farming in Dâmbovița County.Urechia, p. 53 Caradja made him Serdar (or more specifically, Cârc-Serdar, "commander of the posses") in an effort to curb brigandage in Oltenia.Cazacu, p. 28; Popescu-Popnedea, p. 107 An 1880s historical novella by N. D. Popescu-Popnedea, which builds on historical records published by Grigore Tocilescu, suggests that the Romanați peasants had grown hostile to Caradja and his taxmen, preferring instead to validate a protection racket run by the Oltenian Iancu Jianu.Popescu-Popnedea, pp. 3–4, 107–108
According to Popnedea, Djuvara, who was "old friends" with Jianu, owed his promotion to Fochianos, the Arnauts' general (or Binbashi). It was Fochianos who had fired the previous Serdar, Stoica.Popescu-Popnedea, pp. 107, 130–131, 134 Legend has it that Jianu's conversion into an outlaw (hajduk) only began when he was framed for theft, and that "Iamandi" and his Arnauts were immediately sent in to apprehend him; they failed to track him into the dense forests, where he always had the advantage of terrain.Popescu-Popnedea, pp. 123–130 As noted by historian Matei Cazacu, Djuvara's "stubbornness" in this pursuit only allowed him to capture one of Jianu's acolytes. In fact, he had a major role in apprehending two of Jianu's allies, namely Nikola Abraš (or "Iabraș") and Receb Ağa. According to Romanian folklore, the former was mentally frail, but still managed to escape Djuvara's dedicated pursuit, until the final stakeout in November 1816. This action was done only once Caradja had afforded his Serdar "extraordinary means" of combat, placing him in command of 119 peasant soldiers (ruptași).Iancovici, pp. 683, 688–689 He still employed a ruse, promising to sit down for negotiations with Abraš, and then betraying the implicit honor code; he had Abraš and all his deputies shot, then decapitated, sending their heads to be put up on display in Bucharest.Iancovici, pp. 688–689 Allegedly, he also took hold of his enemy's loot, and preserved it for himself.Iancovici, p. 689 This method was also employed on Receb, a Romanian Muslim who had fled with his men from the island of Ada Kaleh and was harassing the Wallachian military forces in Oltenia. According to historian S. I. Gârleanu, Djuvara betrayed Receb's confidence, promising him safe passage, but then ambushing and killing him.Șuta, pp. 32–33
As recounted by Popnedea, Jianu's brothers Amza and Radu, who opposed him politically and were "zealous Graecophiles", repeatedly wrote to Djuvara, asking him to negotiate terms of surrender with Iancu.Popescu-Popnedea, pp. 142–143 The two figures met each other at an inn outside Brâncoveni or Strejești, where they discussed the issue. They then cooperated with each other on capturing two Bulgarian brigands who were terrorizing the villagers of Prundu, but Jianu was instantly put off upon witnessing the Serdars "utterly inhumane torture" of his prisoners.Popescu-Popnedea, pp. 133–134 He escorted Jianu to Bucharest, presenting him to Caradja. The Prince refused to honor any previous agreement by his Serdar, and ordered Jianu to be detained at the salt mines in Telega.Popescu-Popnedea, pp. 134–140, 142–143 The hajduk managed to escape, and returned to lead his bands in Oltenia. On 10 April 1817, Djuvara issued, and upheld, another safe conduct for him.Iancovici, p. 682 One of Caradja's decrees, dating from June 1818, expresses displeasure at learning that Diamandi's men were robbing the peasants under their protection, and instructs the Great Banship of Craiova (placed under a Caimacam) to mete out punishments for this insubordination.Urechia, pp. 53–54
Djuvara managed to preserve his standing after Caradja's own departure from Wallachia. Newly appointed as Prince in January 1821, Alexandros Soutzos continued to battle the brigands of Oltenia. A Romanian officer, Ioan Solomon, reportedly managed to distinguish himself in skirmishes at Goicea. According to his own recollections, he was rewarded with the boyar's rank of Sluger, but Soutzos vetoed his appointment as Serdar—until being made to change his mind by Romanian anti-Greek boyars, including the titular Great Ban, Grigore Brâncoveanu.Solomon, pp. 16–19 These men informed the Prince that Djuvara had no accomplishments, and had in fact joined in the plundering of Oltenia.Solomon, p. 17 A part-secret Wallachian census, which sought to determine the number of scutelnici (tax-exempt subjects), shows Djuvara as owning two villages in Romanați: Giuvărăști (which was home to 40 families, placed under Pârcălab Mihăilă), and, close to it, Mozolea (with 69 families, under Pârcălab Niculcea).Dinică Ciobotea, Luca Bușe, "Structuri sociale în zona de cîmpie dintre Olt și Jiu în secolul al XIX-lea", in Oltenia. Studii și Comunicări, Vols. VII–VIII, 1988–1989, pp. 49–50, 53
1821 revolution