Kovačić was baptised Hristifor (hence "Risto") in Risan in the tradition of his ancestral Herzegovinian adherents of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
It is based on the real events of Smail-aga Čengić, an Ottoman army general (aga) who is famous for his bravery, but disparaged for his truculence; the main motif is his death, happening after he engages in a battle against the Herzegovinian Montenegrins.