Ottoman Serbia

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Ottoman Serbia Историја Србије у Османском царству (Serbian)
1459–1804
Territory of modern Serbia (including Kosovo) under Ottoman rule during the 16th century.
Common languages	Serbian
Religion	Sunni Islam (official) Christianity (Serbian Orthodox Church, Roman Catholicism)
Demonym(s)	Serb
Government
Beylerbey, Pasha, Agha, Dey
History
• Conquest of Smederevo	1459
• Serbian Revolution	1804
Today part of	Serbia

Ottoman Serbia refers to the Ottoman period in the history of Serbia. Various regions of medieval Serbia came under Ottoman rule already at the end of the 14th century, while the Serbian Despotate fell in 1459. Northern regions of what is now the Republic of Serbia were incorporated into the Ottoman Empire during later conquests, from 1521 to 1552. Since the Habsburg expansion towards those northern regions, in 1699 and 1718, Ottoman rule was gradually reduced to Serbian territories south of the Sava and Danube rivers (1739). From 1804 to 1830, the Principality of Serbia was gradually restored, as a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. It gained independence in 1878, and expanded into southern regions, thus reducing Ottoman control to the historical region of the Old Serbia, that was liberated in 1912, thus ending Ottoman rule in Serbian lands.^[1]

The Ottoman conquest of the Balkans was initiated in the middle of the 15th century, leding to consequent conflicts with various Serbian states. The Ottomans defeated the Serbs at the Battle of Maritsa in 1371, and again at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, forcing several Serbian regional lords to became sultan's vassals. In 1439, the Serbian Despotate was conquered for the first time, but restored in 1444. In 1459, the Despotate was conquered again, this time finally. Similarly, the Principality of Zeta was conquered by the Ottomans for the first time in 1479, but restored in 1481, to be finally conquered in 1496. In the meantime, the Kingdom of Bosnia was conquered by the ottomans in 1463, and the Duchy of Saint Sava in 1482. Thus by the end of the 15th century, Ottoman rule was established firmly, by imposing new provincial administration in conquered lands.^[2][3]

During the later periods, several revolts broke out against Ottoman rule in various Serbian lands, mostly with the help of the Habsburg Monarchy. Such were the Banat Uprising in 1594, the Uprising of 1688-1690, the Uprising of 1716–1718, and the Uprising of 1788-1791. Those uprisings were marked by the Great Migrations of the Serbs. In 1804, the Great Serbian Uprising boke out, leading to partial liberation of Serbia. It was crushed by the Ottomans in 1813, but already in 1815 the Second Serbian Uprising broke out, resulting in a new political settlement and the creation of the autonomous Principality of Serbia. Its territory was expanded in 1833, and again in 1878, also gaining full independence from the sultan and thus reducing Ottoman rule to historical regions of the Old Serbia. Those regions were liberated in 1912, thus ending the Ottoman period in the history of Serbia.^[4][5]