1448–1878 →
→ Capital Niš | Established 1448 Today part of Serbia, Bulgaria | |
The Sanjak of Niš (Turkish: Niş Sancağı, Serbian: 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 (Niş), Pirot (Şehirköy), Leskovac (Leskofça), Vranje (İvranye), Kuršumlija (Kurşunlu), Prokuplje (Ürküp) and Tran (Turan).
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Middle Ages
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.
17th and 18th centuries
In 1689 (during Great Turkish War) and in 1737 Niš was captured for a brief period of time by Austrian monarchy.
19th century
Midhat Pasha was one of the most noteworthy sanjak-beys of Niš (1861–64) whose reforms in the sanjak 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 the sanjak was joined with the Sanjak of Prizren, Sanjak of Skopje and Sanjak of Dibra into one vilayet, Prizren Vilayet, which existed until 1877. In 1871 the sanjak was joined with the Sanjak of Novi Pazar to establish the new Vilayet of Novi Pazar which existed less than a year, when the previous situation was restored.
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).
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.