Principality of Serbia | |||||||||||
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| 1815–1882 | |||||||||||
 The Principality of Serbia in 1878 | |||||||||||
| Capital |
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| Common languages | Serbian | ||||||||||
| Religion | Serbian Orthodoxy (official) | ||||||||||
| Demonym | Serbian, Serb | ||||||||||
| Government |
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| Prince (Knez) | |||||||||||
• 1817–1839 (first) | Miloš Obrenović I | ||||||||||
• 1868–1882 (last) | Milan Obrenović IV | ||||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||||
• 1815–1816 (first) | Petar Nikolajević | ||||||||||
• 1880–1882 (last) | Milan Piroćanac | ||||||||||
| Legislature |
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| History | |||||||||||
• Recognition by theSublime Porte | 1815 | ||||||||||
| February 15, 1835 | |||||||||||
• de facto independence | April 18, 1867 | ||||||||||
| July 13, 1878 | |||||||||||
| 1882 | |||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||
| 1815[1] | 24,440 km2 (9,440 sq mi) | ||||||||||
| 1834[1] | 37,511 km2 (14,483 sq mi) | ||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||
• 1815[1] | 322,500–342,000 | ||||||||||
• 1834[1] | 702,000 | ||||||||||
• 1874[1] | 1,353,000 | ||||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | RS | ||||||||||
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| Today part of | Serbia | ||||||||||
ThePrincipality of Serbia (Serbian:Књажество Србија,romanized: Knjažestvo Srbija) was an autonomous, later sovereign state in theBalkans that came into existence as a result of theSerbian Revolution. Its creation was negotiated first through an unwritten agreement betweenMiloš Obrenović, leader of theSecond Serbian Uprising, andOttoman officialMarashli Pasha, followed by a series of decrees of theSublime Porte in 1828–1833. Itsde facto independence ensued in 1867, following the evacuation of the remaining Ottoman troops from theBelgrade Fortress and the country; its independence was recognized internationally in 1878 by theTreaty of Berlin. In 1882 the country was elevated to the status ofkingdom.
The Serbian revolutionary leaders—firstKarađorđe and thenMiloš Obrenović—succeeded in their goal of liberating Serbia from centuries-long Ottoman rule. Ottoman authorities acknowledged the state by the 1830Hatt-i Sharif, and Miloš Obrenović became the hereditary prince (knjaz) of Serbia. Serbia wasde jure an autonomous province of theOttoman Empire, its autonomy was constrained by the presence of the Ottoman army on its soil and by being forced to pay toIstanbul a yearly tribute of 2.3 milliongroschen, which represented about 10% of the country's budget.[2]
At first, the principality included only the territory of the formerPashaluk of Belgrade, but in 1831–1833 it expanded to the east, south, and west. In 1866 Serbia began the campaign of forging theFirst Balkan Alliance by signing a series of agreements with other Balkan entities in the period 1866–1868. On 18 April 1867 the Ottoman government ordered the Ottoman garrison, which since 1826 had been the last representation of Ottoman suzerainty in Serbia, withdrawn from theBelgrade fortress. The only stipulation was that theOttoman flag continue to fly over the fortress alongside the Serbian one. Serbia'sde facto independence dates from this event.[3] A new constitution in 1869 defined Serbia as an independent state. Serbia was further expanded to the southeast in 1878, when its independence from the Ottoman Empire won full international recognition at theTreaty of Berlin. The Principality would last until 1882 when it was raised to the level of theKingdom of Serbia.
The Ottoman-derivednahija remained as the highest administrative unit until 1834. Following 1836, Serbia was administratively organized into 17okrug (districts), in turn divided intosrez.
The Armed Forces of the Principality of Serbia was thearmed forces of the Principality of Serbia. Founded in 1830, it became a standing army to take part to theFirst and Second Serbo Turkish Wars of 1876–1878, the first conflict in the nation's modern history, after which the country gained its full independence. It was succeeded by theRoyal Serbian Army.
In the first decades of the principality, the population was about 85% Serb and 15% non-Serb. Of those, most were Vlachs, and there were some Muslim Albanians, which were the overwhelming majority of the Muslims that lived inSmederevo,Kladovo andĆuprija. The new state aimed to homogenize its population. As a result, from 1830 to the wars of the 1870s in whichAlbanians were expelled from the country, it has been estimated that up to 150,000 Albanians that lived in the territories of the Principality of Serbia had been expelled.[4] In1862 more than 10,000 Muslims were expelled to Ottoman Bulgaria and Ottoman Bosnia.[5] During the Serbian–Ottoman Wars of 1876–1878,the Muslim population was expelled from theSanjak of Niš.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1834 | 678,192 | — |
| 1841 | 828,895 | +22.2% |
| 1843 | 859,545 | +3.7% |
| 1846 | 915,080 | +6.5% |
| 1850 | 956,893 | +4.6% |
| 1854 | 998,919 | +4.4% |
| 1859 | 1,078,281 | +7.9% |
| 1863 | 1,108,668 | +2.8% |
| 1866 | 1,216,219 | +9.7% |
| 1878 | 1,669,337 | +37.3% |
| Name | 1866 census | % population |
|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | ||
| Serbs | 1,057,540 | 87% |
| Vlachs (Romanians) | 127,326 | 10.5% |
| Roma (Gypsies) | 25,171 | 2.1% |
| Others | 5,539 | 0.5% |
| Religion | ||
| Orthodox | 1,205,898 | 99.20% |
| Islam | 6,498 | 0.54% |
| Catholic | 4,161 | 0.31% |
| Others | 0.2% | |
The Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynasty, except for a period under Prince Aleksandar of the Karađorđević dynasty. Princes Miloš and Mihailo Obrenović each reigned twice.
| Portrait | Name | Birth | Death | From | Until | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Miloš Obrenović I | March 17, 1780 | September 26, 1860 | November 6, 1817 | June 25, 1839 | |
 | Milan Obrenović II | October 21, 1819 | July 8, 1839 | June 25, 1839 | July 8, 1839 | son of Miloš Obrenović I |
 | Mihailo Obrenović III | September 16, 1823 | June 10, 1868 | July 8, 1839 | September 14, 1842 | son of Miloš Obrenović I |
 | Aleksandar Karađorđević | October 11, 1806 | May 3, 1885 | September 14, 1842 | December 23, 1858 | |
| Miloš Obrenović I | March 17, 1780 | September 1860 | December 23, 1858 | September 26, 1860 | |
| Mihailo Obrenović III | September 16, 1823 | June 10, 1868 | September 26, 1860 | June 10, 1868 | |
.jpg) | Milan Obrenović IV | August 22, 1854 | February 11, 1901 | June 10, 1868 | March 6, 1882 |
| Independent |
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| Autonomous | |
44°48′39″N20°27′45″E / 44.81083°N 20.46250°E /44.81083; 20.46250
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