Background
Mladenović was born in the village of Jačince, in the region of Ovče Polje, at the time part of the Ottoman Empire.
Mladenović was born in the village of Jačince, in the region of Ovče Polje, at the time part of the Ottoman Empire.
He worked as a peasant in his village, and became an Exarchist at the end of the 19th century. He started guerilla fighting in springtime 1903, as the first Serbian vojvoda, a year before the establishment of the Serbian Committee. In April 1905 he participated in the Battle of Čelopek alongside commanders Doksim Mihailović, Savatije Milošević, Lazar Kujundžić, Vojislav Tankosić, Aksentije Bacetović and Borko Paštrović.
During the battle he took the Čelopek height and thus prevented the encirclement of the Serbian bands from the Albanian bashi-bozuks.
Shortly thereafter, he and Bacetović were surrounded by the Ottoman army near the village of Beljakovac. Čiča Pavle, Bacetović, and everyone in their bands were killed.
His band had strict orders of protection, and it fought until 1905 without major clashes, defending Serb villages from Bulgarian nationalist bands of the IMRO.