West Morava in the context of "South Morava"

The Autariatae or Autariatai (alternatively, Autariates; Ancient Greek: Αὐταριᾶται, Autariatai; Latin: Autariatae) were an Illyrian people that lived between the valleys of the Lim and the Tara, beyond the Accursed Mountains, and the valley of West Morava. Their territory was located inland from the Ardiaei and the Lake Skodra, extending east to the Dardani and north or northeast to the Triballi.

Along with the Ardiaei and the Dardani, the Autariatae are mentioned by Strabo in his Geographica as one of the three strongest Illyrian peoples in the pre-Roman Balkans. Following defeat during the Celtic invasions of the Balkans in the 4th century, a part of the Autariatae who remained in Bosnia adopted Celtic culture later in their history. Another part moved southwards and after an agreement with the Kingdom of Macedonia, 20,000 settled in the Parorbelian mountain range, in the borderlands between modern southeastern North Macedonia, northern Greece and southwestern Bulgaria.

Lazar Hrebeljanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Лазар Хребељановић; c. 1329 – 15 June 1389) was a medieval Serbian ruler who created the largest and most powerful state on the territory of the disintegrated Serbian Empire. Lazar's state, referred to by historians as Moravian Serbia, comprised the basins of the Great Morava, West Morava, and South Morava rivers. Lazar ruled Moravian Serbia from 1371 until his death in 1389. He sought to resurrect the Serbian Empire and place himself at its helm, claiming to be the direct successor of the Nemanjić dynasty, which went extinct in 1371 after ruling over Serbia for two centuries. Lazar's programme had the full support of the Serbian Orthodox Church, but the Serbian nobility did not recognize him as their supreme ruler. He is often referred to as Tsar Lazar Hrebeljanović (Serbian: Цар Лазар Хребељановић / Car Lazar Hrebeljanović); however, he only held the title of prince (Serbian: кнез / knez).

Lazar was killed at the Battle of Kosovo in June 1389 while leading a Christian army assembled to confront the invading Ottoman Empire, led by Sultan Murad I. The battle ended without a clear victor, with both sides enduring heavy losses. In order to protect the weakened Serbian state from the Hungarian invasion from the north, Lazar's widow, Milica, who ruled as regent for their adolescent son Stefan Lazarević, Lazar's successor, accepted Ottoman suzerainty in the summer of 1390 in exchange for a military alliance.

The Ibar (Serbian Cyrillic: Ибар, pronounced [îbar]) or Ibër (Albanian definite form: Ibri), is a river that flows through Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia, with a total length of 272 km (169 mi). The river begins in the Hajla mountain, in Rožaje, eastern Montenegro, and passes through southwestern Serbia and northern Kosovo, where it leads back into Serbia to flow into the West Morava river near Kraljevo.

The Ibar belongs to the Black Sea drainage basin. Its own drainage area is 7,925 km (3,060 sq mi), with an average discharge of 60 m/s (2,100 cu ft/s) at the mouth. It is not navigable.

The Morava Valley (Serbian: Поморавље / Pomoravlje, pronounced [pɔmɔ̝̌raːvʎe̞]), is a general term which in its widest sense marks valleys of any of three Morava rivers in Serbia: the West Morava (West Morava Valley), the South Morava (South Morava Valley) and the Great Morava (Great Morava Valley). In the narrow sense, the term is applied only to the Great Morava Valley (Serbian: Велико Поморавље / Veliko Pomoravlje). The Serbian term follows the general manner of coining river valley names in Serbian using the prefix po- and suffix -je, meaning literally "(land) along the Morava". Morava valley lies in the central Balkans, at the crossroads which lead eastwards, towards the Black Sea and Asia Minor, and further south, down the Vardar River into the Aegean Sea.