On August 18, 1805, the Ivankovac battle marked the end of the fight against the Janissaries and the beginning of the war of the Serbian people against the Turkish Empire in Europe. This was the first open clash between the Serbian insurgents, led by Karađorđe Petrović, and the Turkish army, led by Hafiz Pasha. The battle took place just a few kilometers from Ćuprija.

Duke Milenko Stojković, along with his soldiers, volunteers, and prominent dukes of southeastern Serbia, prepared extensively for the battle. They built three trenches with only one iron cannon. They occupied positions on the right bank of the Velika Morava with the intention of bringing Hafiz Pasha to the area from Gilje to Ivankovac.

The vizier sent negotiators to Duke Milenko Stojković, offering him the principality as a joke, to which he received the answer that he prefers to be a Serbian commander than a Turkish beratli. During the entire uprising struggle, the Resava Nahija was in the general mix of events, whether battles were fought on that territory or people from this area fought and died in the battles for the liberation and defense of the southeastern parts of Serbia.

In the great battle at Ivankovac, according to the writings of Archpriest Matija Nenadović, "a lot fell on both sides, but the Turks fell five times more, because they attacked from the fields, and the Serbs met from the trenches, and the Turks left their dead and wounded relations." More than four hundred dead Turkish horses were lying around the trenches, except for the wounded ones who were taken away. According to the later accounts of some contemporaries, the Turks went back with great damage, having lost 5,000 of their men. The famous commander of the Turkish army, Hafiz Pasha, was also wounded in this battle. "His leg was split in two by a piece of splintered julet, so he died of those wounds before even reaching Nis."

In 1841, prince Radijko Kojadinović from the village of Selevac in the county of Jasenica announced the following about the battle at Ivankovac: "On August 11, 1805, Avis (Hafiz) pasha from Niš rose up with 34,000 Turks and attacked the village of Ivankovac, where the Serbian army of 9,000 infantry and 4,000 horsemen were waiting for him, under the chiefs: Petar Dobrnjac, Milenko Kljucevac, and Stevan Resavac. As soon as the sun rose, the Turks attacked and surrounded this place and fought to the bitter end with the Serbs who were surrounded on all sides. When the Turks saw that they could not do anything to the Serbs, they retreated and went to Paracin with their own force. On August 24 of the same year, leader Đorđe Petrović arrived at night with 19,000 Serbs and attacked the Turks with an assault. The frightened Turks locked themselves in sharams, gave them three loads of treasure, and he released them at their request, and they returned to Nis, where when Pasha Avis came, he poisoned himself out of shame."

As soon as the sun rose, the Turks attacked and surrounded this place and fought to the bitter end with the Serbs who were surrounded on all sides. When the Turks saw that they could not do anything to the Serbs, they retreated and went to Paraćin with their own force. On August 24 of the same year, leader Đorđe Petrović arrived at night with 19,000 Serbs and attacked the Turks with an assault. The frightened Turks locked themselves in rows, gave them three loads of treasure, and he released them at their request, and they returned to Nis, where when Pasha Hafiz came, he poisoned himself out of shame."

The success of the Serbs in the battle was complete. That victory had an extraordinary moral significance for the fighters and the entire Serbian people. It represented a very important turning point in the further maturation of the idea of the complete liberation of the Serbian people from Turkish rule.

***

Today, in Ivankovac, there is a memorial park, a memorial, in memory of our heroes against the Turkish empire. The central place of this cultural and historical monument, which was built on a stretch called "Crazy Hill", is a monument erected in honor of Milenko Stojković, which consists of a rectangular pedestal, on top of which is a bronze bust, the work of academic sculptor Miodrag Mitrović. The trenches were about half a meter deep, and they were recently reconstructed.