Petar II Petrović-Njegoš
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš was born Radivoje "Rade" Petrović on in the mountain village of Njeguši, near Cetinje. His father, Tomislav "Tomo" Petrović (b. 1762–63), was a member of the Petrović clan of the Njeguši tribe of Katuni "nahiya". Njegoš's mother, Ivana Proroković, hailed from the hamlet of Mali Zalaz and was the daughter of Njeguši captain Lazo Proroković. There is no reliable information about her exact year of birth, but it is believed that she was about ten years younger than her husband. Tomo and Ivana had five children; their eldest son was Petar ("Pero"), Rade was their middle son and Jovan ("Joko") was their youngest. The couple's daughters were named Marija and Stana; Marija was married to a Montenegrin chieftain named Andrija Perović, the "serdar" (count) of Cuce, while Stana was married to Filip Đurašković, the "serdar" of Rijeka Crnojevića.
Petar II Petrović-Njegoš
Smaïl-aga's contribution to the Ottoman victory at Grahovo was so great that the Porte had granted him a personal fiefdom that stretched from Gacko to Kolašin and was larger than all the Montenegrin-held territories combined. These land acquisitions were met with much trepidation by Smaïl-aga's fellow "beys", who feared that his rise would threaten their hold on power. In 1839, Serbia's Prince Miloš sent a letter to Ali Pasha informing him that Smaïl-aga would conspire with the Porte to have him removed as "vizier" of Herzegovina. Ali Pasha promptly wrote to Njegoš, asking that he arrange for Smaïl-aga's murder. He felt that Njegoš—who held Smaïl-aga primarily responsible for the slaughter at Grahovo—would be enthusiastic about the prospect of avenging his kinsmen. Ali Pasha also reasoned that by allowing the Montenegrins to kill the ambitious Herzegovinian "bey" he would be deflecting suspicion from himself, as the Montenegrins had more than enough reason to want Smaïl-aga dead. In mid-1839, Njegoš began exchanging letters with Smaïl-aga. The letters made it seem that he had forgiven Smaïl-aga for the deaths, and were meant to lull him into a false sense of security.