Serbian people in Old Serbia (1839-1846)

Abstract

Proclamation of the famous Gulhane Hatt-i Sharif, the reform act that announced the equality of all subjects of the Ottoman Empire regardless of their religion, started a new age - Tanzimat period (1839-1876), during which a wide program of reforms was initiated that transformed the institutional, economic and social order of the Empire. However, the Tanzimat period did not manifest itself only as the period of renewal, it was the age of great discord and uprising in the Ottoman Empire. Gulhane Hatt-i Sharif did not improve the position of the Serbian people in Old Serbia, where, during the first years after the proclamation of the reform act, constant anarchy ruled. During these years, the Arnaut oppression over the Serbian population became regular, which resulted in a mass migration of Serbian families into the Principality of Serbia. The situation temporarily stabilized after the suppression of the Arnaut anti-reform insurrection of Dervish Cara (1843-1844), after which the implementation of Tanzimat reform started in the territory of Old Serbia.

Keywords

• ottoman empire
• gulhane hatt-i sharif
• old serbia
• serbian people
• arnaut