Niš, Serbia Kehilalink

Nišian Timeline

Before the Common Era

• 4000 Archaeological evidence of prehistory habitation

• unk. date Niš founded by legendary Prince Nisa

• unk. date town named after Nišava River

The Common Era

• Second century Niš mentioned as a strategic location in Balkan military records

• 269 Roman Emperor Claudius II defeated the Goths near Niš

• 274 Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (306 - 337) born in Niš

• 441 Huns lay siege to Niš

• 448 Barbarians devastate Niš

• 480 Barbarians devastate Niš

• 540 Slavs defeat Byzantium, conquer and settle Niš

• ca. 987 Niš overrun by Bulgarian Emperor Simeon

• 11^th century Byzantium retakes the town

• 1072 Ugri Hungarians raid Niš

• ca. 1072 Niš seized by Hungarian King Bela III

• ca. 1072 – 1185 Niš comes under Greek control

• 1096 Crusader leader Walter visits Niš

• 1185 The town returns to Serbian control

• 1189 Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa passes through Niš in campaign against Byzantium

• 1196 Isak Angelos defeats Serbian Stefan Nemanja

• 1241 Niš returns to Serbian authority

• 1385 Serbia conquered by Turkish Sultan Murad; Niš subjected to 25-day siege

• 1389 Battle of Kosovo

• 1443 Niš fell to Ludanjin, but returned to the Serbs

• 1448 Niš reverted to the Turks for 245 years

• 1448 – 1695 Niš became a seat of Turkish military & civil administration; Niš Fortress constructed

• 1737 Niš seized by Austrian Army during war against the Turks; Turks retake the town

• 1804 Serbian uprising against the Turks

• 1809 May 31, 3,000 Serbs fought 10,000 Turks at Čegar Hill, near Niš; the Serbs are defeated;
As a warning to the Serbs, 952 Serbian insurrectionist skulls are built into Skull Tower, which exists to this day

• 1878 January 11, Prince Milan enters Niš Fortress after a long battle

• 1878 Niš grew from a small Turkish provincial town into a modern European town; first Grammar School;
became capital of Serbia

• 1882 Teacher Training College established

• 1894 Girls' college founded in Niš

• 1914 Parliament & Government of Serbia moved to Niš, which became the war capital

• 1914 December 7 Niങ Declaration – constitution of the unified State of the Serbs, Croatians, & Slovenians

• 1915 October Niš occupied by Bulgarian Army

• 1918 October 12 Serbian Army liberated Niš

• 1921 Niš became capital of an Oblast, with a population of 25,096

• 1941 – 1945 strategic communication link to Thessalonica & the Black Sea

• 1945 October 14, Seventh German SS Division 'Prince Eugene' was defeated & Niš was liberated