 By January 29, boyars and merchants evacuated Mehedinți; this movement was mirrored by a similar exodus from Craiova, the Oltenian capital.Boyars who stayed behind surrendered to Vladimirescu and took an oath of allegiance, becoming known to the Pandurs as "făgăduiți" ("pledged ones").Members of this category, though they enjoyed Vladimirescu's personal protection, signed secret letters of protest to the Sultan, calling for his intervention against the "brigands".