The Sanjak of Kruševac or the Sanjak of Alacahisar (, ) was one of the
sanjak
A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian.
Banners were a common organization of nomad ...
s in the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
with Alacahisar (modern-day
Kruševac
Kruševac ( sr-Cyrl, Крушевац, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina (river), Rasina river. According to the 202 ...
) as its administrative centre. Its Turkish name, Alacahisar, means ''colorful fortress''.
Background
Despot
Stefan Lazarević
Stefan Lazarević ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Лазаревић, 1377 – 19 July 1427), also known as Stefan the Tall (), was a Serbian ruler as prince (1389–1402) and Despot (court title), despot (1402–1427). He was also a diplomat, legislat ...
, who was childless, had arranged for his nephew
Đurađ Branković
Đurađ Vuković Branković ( sr-Cyrl, Ђурађ Вуковић Бранковић, ; 1377 – 24 December 1456) served as the Serbian Despot from 1427 to 1456, making him one of the final rulers of medieval Serbia.
In 1429, Branković was form ...
to succeed the Serbian throne and enter an alliance with Hungary, however, after his death, Murat invaded Serbia in 1428 claiming the land for himself.Shaw 1976 p. 48 /ref> Murat took the Serbian capital Kruševac and forced Branković to continue the Ottoman vassalage. In 1451, when Mehmed II became Sultan, Despot Đurađ recaptured Kruševac and its surroundings. Mehmed II campaigned in Serbia from 1454 until 1459, when he conquered and annexed the
Serbian Despotate
The Serbian Despotate () was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is mistakenly considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and Moravi ...
. Kruševac (now known as Turkish ''Alacahisar'') was taken in 1455 and immediately organized into an Ottoman subdivision.
Administrative division
Eyalets
In period between 1455 and 1541 the Sanjak of Kruševac belonged to the
Rumelia Eyalet
The Eyalet of Rumeli, or Eyalet of Rumelia (), known as the Beylerbeylik of Rumeli until 1591, was a first-level province ('' beylerbeylik'' or ''eyalet'') of the Ottoman Empire encompassing most of the Balkans ("Rumelia"). For most of its history ...
. After the establishment of the
Budin Eyalet
Budin Eyalet (also known as Province of Budin/Buda or Pashalik of Budin/Buda, ) was an administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire in Central Europe and the Balkans. It was formed on the territories that Ottoman Empire conquered fro ...
in 1541 the Sanjak of Kruševac was merged into it together with several other sanjaks including the
Sanjak of Smederevo
The Sanjak of Smederevo (, ), also known in historiography as the Pashalik of Belgrade (, ), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman administrative unit (sanjak) centered on Smederevo, that existed between the 15th and the outset of the 19th centuries. It ...
,
Sanjak of Pojega
The Sanjak of Pojega (; ) was an administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire formed around 1538. It existed until the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699), when the region was transferred to the Habsburg monarchy. It was located in present-da ...
Rumelia Eyalet
The Eyalet of Rumeli, or Eyalet of Rumelia (), known as the Beylerbeylik of Rumeli until 1591, was a first-level province ('' beylerbeylik'' or ''eyalet'') of the Ottoman Empire encompassing most of the Balkans ("Rumelia"). For most of its history ...
.
Nahiyahs
The town of
Aleksinac
Aleksinac ( sr-Cyrl, Алексинац) is a town and municipality located in the Nišava District of Southern and Eastern Serbia, southern Serbia. According to 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 43,258 inhabitants.
History
Preh ...
was mentioned for the first time in 1516 defter of the Sanjak of Alaca Hisar. In the same year there were 1,000 voynuks registered in Kruševac.
In the 16th century the Sanjak of Alaca Hișar had following
nahiyah
A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...
s:
Kruševac
Kruševac ( sr-Cyrl, Крушевац, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina (river), Rasina river. According to the 202 ...
(Alaca Hisar),
Medveđa
Medveđa ( sr-Cyrl, Медвеђа, ; , ) is a town and municipality located in the Jablanica District of southern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 6,360, while the town has a population of 2,993.
Etymology
The ...
,
Ürgüp
Ürgüp ( ''Prokópio,'' Cappadocian Greek: ''Prokópi'', ) is a town in Nevşehir province in the Cappadocia area of Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Ürgüp District.Koznik, Kurşunlu, Petrus, Bovan (near modern Aleksinac), Poljanica, Kislina and Izmornik. In the 17th century this sanjak had the following kadilıks: Kruševac, Prokuplje, Medveđa, Bovan,
Paraćin
Paraćin ( sr-Cyrl, Параћин, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. Located in the Velika Morava river valley, north of Kruševac and southeast of Kragujevac, the town had a population of 22,349 ...
and Koznik.
Sanjak-beys
In 1493 the sanjak-bey of Kruševac was Ismail Bey, who participated in the Battle of Krbava Field.
Deli Hasan-pasha Suljobašić was a sanjak-bey of Kruševac since the 1720s until 1739. He managed to merge numerous small
chiflik
Chiflik, or chiftlik (Ottoman Turkish: ; ; , ''chiflik''; , ''čiflig''; , ''tsiflíki''; /''čitluk''), is a Turkish term for a system of land management in the Ottoman Empire. Before the chiflik system the Empire used a non-hereditary form o ...
s into one large estate by killing many local
sipahis
The ''sipahi'' ( , ) were professional cavalrymen deployed by the Seljuk Turks and later by the Ottoman Empire. ''Sipahi'' units included the land grant–holding (''timar'') provincial ''timarli sipahi'', which constituted most of the army, ...
and ''zaims'' (leaders) without being sanctioned, despite many official investigations. In 1793 he was transferred to
Prizren
Prizren ( sq-definite, Prizreni, ; sr-cyr, Призрен) is the second List of cities and towns in Kosovo, most populous city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and District of Prizren, ...
and then to
Ohrid
Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...
.
In 1789, during the
Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)
The Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 involved an unsuccessful attempt by the Ottoman Empire to regain lands lost to the Russian Empire in the course of the previous Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774). It took place concomitantly with the Austro-T ...
, Şehsuvar Abdi Pasha from İşkodra (Shkodër) was appointed sanjak-bey of the Sanjak of Kruševac. In period between 1794 and 1830 the sanjak-bey was Sašit-pasha.
Demographics in 15th and 16th century
In 1455, the sanjak had 170
timar
A timar was a land grant by the sultans of the Ottoman Empire between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, with an annual tax revenue of less than 20,000 akçes. The revenues produced from the land acted as compensation for military service. A ...
s, out of which 27 were in the hands of Christians.
Ottoman sources emphasize that a wave of
Vlachs
Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula ...
herdsmen settled in the
Sanjak of Smederevo
The Sanjak of Smederevo (, ), also known in historiography as the Pashalik of Belgrade (, ), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman administrative unit (sanjak) centered on Smederevo, that existed between the 15th and the outset of the 19th centuries. It ...
and a large part of the Sanjak of Kruševac and Sanjak of Vidin. After the Ottomans conquered territories in
Pannonian Plain
The Pannonian Basin, with the term Carpathian Basin being sometimes preferred in Hungarian literature, is a large sedimentary basin situated in southeastern Central Europe. After the Treaty of Trianon following World War I, the geomorphologic ...
many families from the central Balkans move to that area which affected Vlach population of Sanjak of Kruševac and Smederevo who lost their earlier privileges. From the beginning of 16th century, the Muslim population in Kruševac,
Prokuplje
Prokuplje ( sr-Cyrl, Прокупље, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Toplica District in southern Serbia. As of 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 38,054 inhabitants.
Prokuplje is one of the Roman sites of Serb ...
and
Leskovac
Leskovac ( sr-Cyrl, Лесковац, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Jablanica District in Southern Serbia (Geographical Region), southern Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a p ...
made up 68% of the total population while until the end of the century it increased to almost 85% due to islamisation of Serbs. In smaller urban settlements such as Kuršumlija, Paraćin, Medveđa and Bovan, the Christians made up the majority of the population up until 1536. This ratio changed only by the end of the century, when these groups equalised in terms of their numbers.Dragana Amedoski, Vladeta Petrović; (2018) ''Urban settlements of the Sanjak of Kruševac(15th–16th centuries)'' p. 251; Historical Institute Belgrade /ref>
In 1516, the Kruševac Sanjak had 320,000 inhabitants, and in 1536 due to depopulation it had 160,000-190,000 inhabitants