Wallachian uprising of 1821 The Wallachian uprising of 1821 was an uprising in Wallachia ( a region of Romania ) against Ottoman rule which took place during 1821 . Background . Prince Alexandru Suţu ' s death in January 1821 led to the forming of a temporary " Comitet de Ocârmuire " ( " Governing Committee " ) , three regents - all of them members of the most representative indigenous boyar families , of which the most prominent was " Caimacam " Grigore Brâncoveanu . The " Comitet " , motivated against competition and denied Phanariote rulers ' favours , decided to quickly manoeuver anti - boyar and anti - Phanariote sentiment in Wallachia ( and especially in Oltenia ) , acting before the newly appointed Scarlat Callimachi could claim his throne . Therefore , an agreement between it and the Pandurs was reached on the 15th : Dimitrie Macedonski was awarded the post of lieutenant to Tudor . The very same day , Vladimirescu sent a letter to the Ottoman Court of Mahmud II , stating that his objective was not the rejection of Ottoman rule , but that of the Phanariote regime , and showing his willingness for preservation of the traditional institutions . The statements were meant to buy Tudor time against Ottoman response , as he was already in negotiations with the Greek Anti - Ottoman revolutionary society Philikí Etaireía ( having probably been in contact with it from around 1819 ) . Together , they produced a plan for insurrection , with the two Eterist representatives ( Giorgakis Olympios and Ioannis Pharmackis ) assuring the Wallachians of Russian support for the common cause . It is apparent that Tudor was not himself a member of the Etaireía : the rigid command structure of the Brotherhood would have excluded the need for any negotiations . Rebellion . After fortifying monasteries in Oltenia ( Tismana , Strehaia ) that were to serve him in the event of Ottoman intervention , Tudor travelled to Padeș where he issued his first proclamation ( January 23 ) . It included references to Enlightenment principles ( notably , the right to resist oppression ) , but was also an almost millenarianist appeal to peasants , promising a " spring " to follow " winter " . In February , the demands were detailed by more documents . They included : the elimination of purchased offices in the administration , with the introduction of meritocratic promotion , the suppression of certain taxes and taxing criteria , the reduction of the main tax , the founding of a Wallachian Army , and an end to internal . In line with these , Tudor asked for the banishment of some Phanariote families and forbidding future Princes to hold a retinue that would compete with local boyars for offices . Calls by boyars in the Divan for Tudor to cease such activities ( expressed by envoy Nicolae Văcărescu ) were met with a virulent refusal . The army , swelled up in numbers as it advanced , occupied Bucharest on March 21 - here , Tudor issued another important proclamation , one that expressed yet again his commitment to peace with the Ottomans . Previously , the Philikí Etaireía under Alexander Ypsilanti had emerged in Moldavia , proclaiming a liberation from Ottoman rule that was backed by the then Moldavian Prince Mihail Suţu ( " see Greek War of Independence " ) . However , this coincided with Russian reaction against Greek rebellion , with the Russian army entering Moldavia and enforcing Holy Alliance policies . Ypsilanti ' s army headed south , reaching Pandur - occupied Bucharest . End of the Uprising . Tudor ' s actions in the meanwhile had destroyed his alliance to local boyars . He had started wearing the " kalpak " ( a tall , cylindrical , black leather hat ; " see Ottoman Clothing " ) reserved for the Prince , and demanded to be addressed as " Domn " ( " Master " , " Prince " ; cf . " Domnitor " ) - moving away from subordination to the landowners ' cause . The meeting between Ypsilanti and Tudor brought a new compromise . Tudor considered himself liberated from the provisions of the January agreement , as Russia was now an enemy of the Etaireía ; Ypsilanti tried to persuade him that Russian support was still possible . The country was divided into a Greek administration and a Wallachian one , with Tudor ' s declaring itself neutral in the face of large Ottoman armies preparing to cross the north of the Danube . Ottoman actions had been prompted by Russian threat of intervention in Wallachia . Tudor ' s army retreated towards Oltenia in May , as the Ottomans occupied Bucharest without meeting resistance . Tudor was no longer capable of maintaining the discipline and cohesion of his own troops , and an attempt to ensure these through selective hangings only served to win him the fear of his subordinates . There was general apathy when his willingness for a compromise with the Ottoman Empire caused him to be arrested ( by the same Olimpiotul and Farmache , on June 1 , in Goleşti ) , tried by the Etaireía , in Târgovişte . He was tortured , killed , and his mutilated body was thrown into a well near a monastery . The Etaireía did not succeed in its goal to assume command of Vladimirescu ' s army : most of it disbanded on the spot , with only a handful opposing Ottoman presence , and only up to August .