Upon renewed conflict, he was returned to the Bay of Kotor and placed in charge of defending the frontier; in 1685 he and his band fell in battle against the advancing Ottoman governor of Scutari.

Dragojlo Nikolić, nicknamed Bajo Pivljanin,[a] was born around 1630 in Piva (modern-day northwestern Montenegro), at that time part of the Ottoman Sanjak of Herzegovina.

According to one tradition, found in Kosta Radović's novel Vrtijeljka (1922), he was born in the village of Rudinice (now in Plužine) in Piva to his father Nikola and his mother Ruža, of the Ruđić brotherhood.

[1] This version was also mentioned by Blagojević, who stated that Bajo Pivljanin belonged to the Nikolić family in Gornje Rudinice, descending from the old brotherhood of Ruđić.

Bajo then decapitated him with his fixed blade, took his horse and weapons and ran to Morača, which at the time was hajduk's nest and the most defiant of all the Montenegrin Highland tribes towards the Ottomans.

[11] Bajo lived in Morača for several years, his exploits from this period (like the killing of Hafiz-bey, saving his sister Jela from Muslim marauders and protecting his cousin Sekula from wealthy and vain Pejović family) are preserved in collective memory of the population of North Montenegro.

The hajduks, who were Ottoman subjects, were recruited by the Republic of Venice as guerilla forces to co-operate in the defence of the Venetian–Ottoman frontier in Dalmatia during the Cretan War (1645–69).

[18] The Venetian government warned the hajduks against further provocations of the Ottomans, fearing new attacks from Sohrab Mehmed Pasha, the sanjak-bey of Herzegovina.

[16] The Ragusans claimed that at the time of the raid, Pivljanin had shouted that the provveditore (district governor) of Venetian Dalmatia had given him the order to take all that he came across, both on the sea and the land.

[26] The provveditore generale Antonio Priuli, who was very favourable towards the frontiersmen, called uskok and hajduk leaders to Zadar to discuss ways to "create conditions for a normal life".

[26] In December 1669 Antonio Priuli brought from Perast to Venice hajduk leaders including Bajo Pivljanin, Grujica Žeravica, Vukosav Puhalović and buljubaša Milošević.

[26] Earlier, in June, the Venetian provveditore issued the termination of duty of the "chiefs that protect the Kotor area", the first three mentioned, and had them included in the list of soldiers having the right of pay and bread.

[29] Barbaro guaranteed the hajduks tax exemptions and appropriations, the appointment of four judges to mediate their disputes, and the allocation of livestock and agricultural tools.

[30] The epidemic was devastating to numerous hajduk families, the natives being more resistant to malaria; thus, part of the settlers moved to Ližnjan and Premantura, while others left to return to Dalmatia.

[28] In his plea to the Doge of Venice, dated 27 March 1673, Pivljanin asked that the persecution of hajduks cease, stating that they had all been pardoned by an amnesty issued by Barbaro.

[28] Pivljanin, Jovo Sikimić, and Njegošević settled Zadar in 1674, where they "came into contact with Serb leaders of the [Ravni] kotari uskoks (rebels)",[28] but many hajduks remained in Istria.

[33] On 17 January 1675, Pivljanin's brother Dimitrije married Ana (Anna Giacovichi, also called Anka[33] and Janja[34][35]), Stojan Janković's sister.

[28] In a letter to the Venetian government dated 3 December 1675, Pivljanin offered to receive and hold the goods of Omer Mustafa Čehajić, which were part of a dispute with Vučić Kajić, and suggested Stojan Janković as a guarantor.

[42] Radoš informed Dona on 10 November 1683 that he had met with Pivljanin, Vid Kalinić and Andrija Gilim at Kula Atlagića, who asked him to forward their request of forgiveness to the provveditore, then summoned Ilija Janković and Jovan Baljak.

[33] In a letter dated 8 December 1683, provveditore Dona forgave Pivljanin for desertion, and ordered his return in the list of cavalry bands which he had been part of, and gave him back wages for the intervening time.

[48] The Venetian Senate thanked Pivljanin and Jovan Sikimić for their victory at Jezero, and approved Zeno's decision to reward them medals and sequins, on 12 October 1684.

[50] In February, they had captured a caravan with wheat in Zupci, stolen some cattle and burnt down the village of Glavska, attacked Cavtat and returned to Trebinje.

[51] Süleyman, the Ottoman sanjak-bey of Scutari sent word to the Montenegrin people that, "due to their relations with Morlachs (Venetian irregular troops) and hajduks", he would exterminate them all.

[54] The hajduk force consisted of c. 1200 fighters, including also Montenegrins, Mainjani and Primorci, commanded by over-intendant Bošković, harambaša Pivljanin, and the guvernadur of Grbalj.

[54] The importance of the battle is evident in the fact that the heads of Pivljanin and his hajduks decorated the entrance hall of the seraglio in Constantinople, and that Süleyman was elevated to pasha following the victory.

[57] The fact that multiple other hajduk heads were sent to Constantinople along with Pivljanin's could primarily be explained as that the Ottomans wanted to visibly display the defeat of a notable movement, which had brought much grief to them.

[53] Pivljanin's importance is evident in Antonio Zeno's evaluation: "since the death of harambaša Bajo, the frontier is left without leaders able to control the hajduks bands".

[60] As Pivljanin had died, his brother Dimitrije, who had "given proofs of righteousness and loyalty on several occasions", and his two mature sons, Vuk and Sima (Simeun[34]), were admitted into the band of Soliman in Herceg Novi, "thus, every one of them received wages of a soldier in the cavalry".

The Bajovići, having the slava (patron saint day) of St. Nicholas, with tens of houses in Bezuje, and one house in their original village of Rudinice (1971), have several versions of their origin: the first that they descend from a brother of Bajo Pivljanin; the second, from a villager called Čepur that took over Bajo Pivljanin's estate after the family left; the third, that the Bajovići who were really called Čepuri until 1887 descend from a branch of a family tree also including the Vračari and Taušani, closely related to the Gagovići, in line with their slava in common.

[67] When S. Tomić did field research in Piva in 1912–13 and 1924,[68] however, he recorded the Bajovići, called Čepuri in Gornje Rudinice with two houses, as hailing from Bajovo Polje and being direct descendants of Bajo Nikolić Pivljanin.