Ottoman Serbia in the context of "Habsburg Empire"

The medieval period in the history of Serbia began in the 6th century with the Slavic migrations to the Balkans, and lasted until the Ottoman conquest of Serbian lands in the second half of the 15th century. The period is also extended to 1537, when Pavle Bakić, the last titular Despot of Serbia in Hungarian exile, fell in the Battle of Gorjani.

At the time of settling, Serbs were already transitioning from a tribal community into a feudal society. The first Serbian state with established political identity was founded by prince Vlastimir in the mid-9th century. It was followed by other Serbian proto states, unstable due to the constant clashes with the Bulgarians, Hungarians and Byzantines, and by the conflict between Rome and Constantinople regarding the Christianization with the Byzantines getting the upper hand in the 9th century.

Đorđe Petrović OSA OSV (pronounced [dʑôːrdʑe pětrovitɕ]; Serbian: Ђорђе Петровић; 14 November [O.S. 3 November] 1768 – 25 July [O.S. 13 July] 1817), known by the sobriquet Karađorđe (pronounced [kâradʑoːrdʑe]; Serbian: Карађорђе, lit. 'Black George'), was a Serbian revolutionary leader who led a struggle against the Ottoman Empire during the First Serbian Uprising. Karađorđe Petrović held the title of Grand Vožd of Serbia from 14 February 1804 to 3 October 1813.

Born into an impoverished family in the Šumadija region of Ottoman Serbia, Karađorđe distinguished himself during the Austro-Turkish War of 1788–1791 as a member of the Serbian Free Corps, a militia of Habsburg and Ottoman Serbs, armed and trained by the Austrians. Fearing retribution following the Austrians' and Serb rebels' defeat in 1791, he and his family fled to the Austrian Empire, where they lived until 1794, when a general amnesty was declared. Karađorđe subsequently returned to Šumadija and became a livestock merchant. In 1796, the rogue governor of the Sanjak of Vidin, Osman Pazvantoğlu, invaded the Pashalik of Belgrade, and Karađorđe fought alongside the Ottomans to quash the incursion.

The Slaughter of the Knezes (Serbian: Сеча кнезова, romanized: Seča knezova) was a campaign of organized murders and assaults of notable Serbs in the Pashalik of Belgrade (Sanjak of Smederevo) by the renegade Janissaries who had seized power in a coup against the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II. Fearing Serbian plans of rebellion, they decided to execute leading Serbs throughout the Sanjak. At least 95 notable Serbs were murdered, many whose decapitated heads were put on public display. Notable victims were Aleksa Nenadović and Ilija Birčanin. The event triggered the First Serbian Uprising, aimed at putting an end to the centuries of Ottoman occupation.

Miloš Obilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милош Обилић, pronounced [mîloʃ ôbilit͡ɕ]) is a legendary Serbian knight and saint in the Serbian Orthodox Church traditionally said to have served Prince Lazar during the Ottoman invasion of Serbia in the late 14th century. Although absent from contemporary records, he features prominently in later accounts of the 1389 Battle of Kosovo as the assassin of Sultan Murad I. The assassin remains unnamed in historical sources until the late 15th century, but the widespread circulation of the story in Florentine, Serbian, Ottoman, and Greek sources suggests that versions of it were known across the Balkans within decades of the battle.

His original name is believed to have been Miloš Kobilić, though multiple variations exist in historical sources, and his actual existence remains uncertain. The Lazar dynasty, consolidating its power, gave birth to the Kosovo Myth, which incorporated the legend of Obilić. Jelka Ređep notes that Obilić's legend significantly evolved through oral tradition, reflecting Serbian cultural ideals of heroism, loyalty and sacrifice. Over time, he became a central figure in Serbian epic poetry, where he was elevated to the status of a national hero embodying medieval Serbian folklore. Alongside Prince Lazar’s martyrdom and the alleged treachery of Vuk Branković, Miloš's deed became integral to Serbian narratives surrounding the Battle of Kosovo. By the 19th century, he was also venerated as a saint in the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The Uprising in Banat was a rebellion organized and led by Serbian Orthodox bishop Teodor of Vršac and Sava Temišvarac against the Ottomans in the Eyalet of Temeşvar. The uprising broke out in 1594, in the initial stage of the Long Turkish War, and was fought by local Serbs, numbering some 5,000, who managed to quickly take over several towns in the region before being crushed by the Ottoman army. The relics of Saint Sava were burnt by the Ottomans as a retaliation. Although short-lived, it inspired future rebellions.

Serbia is a Christian majority country, with Islam being a minority faith representing around 4.2% of the total population (excluding the disputed region of Kosovo, in which Islam is the predominant faith) as per the 2022 census. Islam spread to Serbia during the three centuries of Ottoman rule. The Muslims in Serbia are mostly ethnic Bosniaks, Albanians and significant part of Muslim Roma as well as members of the smaller groups, like ethnic Muslims, Gorani and Serbs (Čitaci).

The kodjabashis (Greek: κοτζαμπάσηδες, romanized: kotzabasides; singular κοτζάμπασης, kotzabasis; Serbo-Croatian: kodžobaša, kodžabaša; from Turkish: kocabaṣı, lit. 'office holder' from Turkish: koca, lit. 'big' and Turkish: baṣ, lit. 'head') were local Christian notables in parts of the Ottoman Balkans, most often referring to Ottoman Greece and especially the Peloponnese. They were also known in Greek as proestoi or prokritoi (προεστοί/πρόκριτοι, "primates") or demogerontes (δημογέροντες, "elders of the people"). In some places they were elected (such in the islands for example), but, especially in the Peloponnese, they soon became a hereditary oligarchy, who exercised considerable influence and held posts in the Ottoman administration.

The title was also present in Ottoman Serbia and Bosnia, where it was known as starešina ("elder, chief") instead of the official Turkish name. The terms chorbaji (from Turkish çorbacı) and knez (a Slavic title) were also used for this type of primates, in Bulgaria and Serbia respectively.