Sanjak of Niš

Sanjak of Niš
Niş Sancağı
Нишки санџак
Sanxhaku i Nishit
sanjak of the Ottoman Empire
←
15th century–1878 →
 
→
Capital Niš
History
 - Established 15th century
 - Principality of Serbia captured Niš during Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) January 11, 1878
Today part of Serbia, Bulgaria

The Sanjak of Niš or Sanjak of Nish (Turkish: Niş Sancağı, Serbian: Нишки санџак, Niški Sandžak, Bulgarian: Нишки санджак, Nishki sandzhak, Albanian: Sanxhaku i Nishit) was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire and its county town was Niš. It was composed of the kazas of Niš, Pirot, Leskovac, Vranje, Kuršumlija, Prokuplje and Tran (today in Bulgaria).[1]

Ottoman Empire captured Niš in 1375 for the first time. At the battle of Niš (early November 1443), crusaders led by John Hunyadi, captured Ottoman stronghold Niš and defeated three armies of the Ottoman Empire. After 1443 Niš was under control of Đurađ Branković. In 1448 it was again captured by Ottoman Empire and remained under its control for the next 241 years. In 1689 (during Great Turkish War) and in 1737 Niš was captured for a brief period of time by Austrian monarchy.

Midhat Pasha was one of the most noteworthy sanjakbeys of the Sanjak of Niš whose reforms organized in this sanjak while he was its sanjakbey (1861 — 1864) were so beneficial that the sultan charged him with preparing the scheme for adapting them to the whole empire.

The Sanjak of Niš became part of the Danube Vilayet when the latter was created in 1864. In 1868 Sanjak of Niš was joined with the Sanjak of Prizren, Sanjak of Skopje and Sanjak of Dibra into one vilayet, Prizren Vilayet, which existed until 1877.[2] In 1871 Sanjak of Niš was joined to Sanjak of Novi Pazar to establish the new Ottoman vilayet — Vilayet of Novi Pazar which existed less than a year, when previous situation was restored.[3]

Albanians were a majority population in some areas of the Sanjak of Niš, like the Toplica region and some villages in the district of Vranje, prior to the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878).[4]

The largest part of Sanjak of Niš was annexed by the Principality of Serbia after Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), while smaller part and the whole Sanjak of Sofia were annexed by the Principality of Bulgaria.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Godišnjak grada Beograda. Museum of the Belgrade. 1977. p. 116. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  2. ↑ Grandits, Hannes; Nathalie Clayer, Robert Pichler (2010). Conflicting Loyalties in the Balkans The Great Powers, the Ottoman Empire and Nation-building. Gardners Books. p. 309. ISBN 978-1-84885-477-2. Retrieved 5 May 2011. In 1868 the vilayet of Prizren was created with the sancaks of Prizren, Dibra, Skopje and Niš; it only existed till 1877
  3. ↑ Šabanoić, Hazim (1959). Bosanski pašaluk: postanak i upravna podjela. Naučno društvo NR Bosne i Hercegovine. p. 98. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  4. ↑ Bataković, Dušan T. (2007). Kosovo and Metohija: living in the enclave. Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute for Balkan Studies. p. 35. Retrieved 22 June 2011. Prior to the Second Serbo-Ottoman War (1877-78), Albanians were the majority population in some areas of Sanjak of Nis (Toplica region), while from the Serb majority district of Vranje Albanian-inhabited villages were emptied after the 1877-1878 war
  5. ↑ Balcanica, Volume 37. Srpska Akademija Nauka i Umetnosti, Balkanološki Institut. 2007. p. 122. Retrieved 11 July 2011. Serbia retained the largest part of the former Sanjak of Nis, while the smaller part and the whole Sanjak of Sofia were annexed by the Sanjak of Sofia.

Further reading