History
Since it is located at the confluence of two rivers and is very fertile, Mačva was inhabited very early. The first findings of human habitation in these areas date back to around 5,000 BC (Starčevo culture). From that time, there are traces of the first land reclamation in Europe, which was carried out only in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Agriculture appeared for the first time in this culture. Animal husbandry, hunting and fishing are still important conditions of survival. The weapons of that era are axes made of polished stone, dishes are made of ceramics, and tools are made of wood and stone.
In the period from 3,800 to 3,000 BC, there are traces of the Vinča culture. This culture has wicker and mud houses or dugouts. Agriculture and animal husbandry are intensively developed, while hunting and fishing are maintained. Tools and weapons are made of stone, flint, wood and bone. Ceramics is still represented in various forms of application. The last period of the Vinča Eneolithic culture in Mačva is the border, which got its name from the trenches used to protect houses from floods. Copper weapons and tools appeared in this period.
The last period of prehistory in Mačva is the Bronze and Iron Age with 16 sites from that era and a huge number of objects found. Towards the end of this period, Mačva was inhabited by the Skordisk tribe, who founded Singidunum – today’s Belgrade.
Around 60. BC, the Romans come to the Sava in Mačva, who in difficult battles push the Skordiski across the Sava and establish their rule in this area. Due to the proximity of one of the Roman capitals of Sirmium – today’s Sremska Mitrovica, Mačva is quite populated and intertwined with Roman roads. Mačvanska Mitrovica was part of Sirmium, and important river crossings were near Crna Bara, Loznica and Zvornik.
There are a large number of sites from this period all over Mačva, and the Sirmium excavations are among the most beautiful in Europe. The Romans stayed in these areas until the 5th century AD when they retreated before the Sarmatians, Huns, Goths, Gepids, Lombards and Avars.
The arrival of the Avars in these areas is closely related to the immigration of the Slavs. The battles of the Avars, Franks and Bulgarians take place here. There is almost no information about the Slavic states from this period.
At the end of the 9th century, the Hungarians came to this area and ruled and fought with the Serbs for a long time. Around 960. In the war against the Hungarians, the Serbian prince Časlav was executed at Battle. For a short time (976 – 1017), the Macedonian emperor Samuilo ruled here, and after that, Byzantium and the Hungarians fought for Mačva, who in 1072. penetrated as far as Niš. In 1247 The Hungarians established the Macva banovina here, which was much smaller than Macva today, and got its name from the area – the town of Macva, whose location has not been determined with certainty even to this day. The management of the banovina was entrusted by the Hungarian king Bela IV to Rostislav Mihailoviđa, a fugitive Russian prince. Serbian king Uroš I in 1268. led fierce battles with the Hungarians for the Sword.
After 1282 King Dragutin received the administration of Mačva from the Hungarians. After his death in 1316 He was succeeded by his son Vladislav II, who was removed by his uncle Milutin. King Charles I Robert of Hungary in 1320. takes Mačva. Emperor Dušan tried several times to conquer Mačva, but without success. It was not until Prince Čazar Hrebeljanovic captured Mačva in 1381. According to the charter from the Ravanica monastery in Mačva, which was called Bitva, after the settlement of the same name, 16 settlements are mentioned. Prince Lazar fights for these spaces with variable success. The Turks invaded Mačva for the first time in 1391.
After the death of the Turkish emperor Bayazit I in the battle of Angora in 1402 with the Mongols, the Serbian prince Stefan Lazarević received from the Byzantine emperor the title of despot of Serbia, and from the Hungarians he received the administration of the Banovina of Macva together with Belgrade.
The Turks occupy all of Serbia, including Mačva in 1439. Đurađ Branković took refuge in Hungary, from where in 1443 and in 1444. invades Serbia and occupies it all the way to Sofia. Turks in 1458. In 1910, they recaptured Macva and burned it together with Sirmium. During the Despotic era, several monasteries and churches were built in Mačva: Culjković, Radovašnica, Petkovica, Čokešina, Ivanja (Novo Selo) and in Klenj.
With the fall of the Despotate of Mačva in 1459, it came under the rule of the Turks. Since 1464 In 1476, the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus led battles with the Turks around Mačva and in 1476. takes Šabac (founded by the Turks in 1470 as the Bejurdelen fortress). Fighting in this area continued in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent captures Šabac on the 7th. July 1521 and Mačva remained under the rule of the Turks until the famous Vienna War of 1683-1699. years. The Turks are rebuilding the Macho fortress, which they call the Noćaj fortress. During this period, Macvo was ruled by the Dizdars, and most of the military troops who set out to conquer Austria and Hungary stayed there.
Towards the end of the 17th century, the Turks suffered their first major defeat near Vienna in 1683. and at Buda in 1686. years. After that, they return their territories in Slavonia, Vojvodina and Bosnia, so that on the 6th September 1688 first occupied Belgrade, and after seven days also Šabac, which was the strongest Turkish fortress in Serbia. The penetration of the Austrians further into Serbia and the conquest of Niš stopped the war with France.
However, Ludwig of Baden in 1689. takes Niš, Leskovac, Vranje, Priština and reaches Macedonia as far as Veles. The Austrians suffered their first defeat in this campaign of conquest in 1690 near Kačanik and retreated even across the Sava and the Danube. The Serbian people retreated with the Austrian army – the Great Migration of Serbs under Arsenij Čarnojević, so that Serbia remains completely deserted. Mačva was the last to be abandoned and remained deserted, only after the Peace of Požarevac in 1718. began to be settled by the population from Herzegovina.
During the migration, the Serbs remained deep in Hungary, so that in 1710 in a record from Buda mentions a certain Simo Dimitrijević Crnobarac. A new war between Austria and Turkey begins in 1716. which ends with the victory of Austria, who rule Mačva until 1739. years. In addition to their army, the Austrians organized the Serbs within military districts – companies, whose centers were Crna Bara and Prnjavor. The company in Crna Bara was commanded by senior captain Vuk Isaković and was deployed from Rača to Badovinci with 4 chardaks: Kordan, Crna Bara, Lazaret and Badovinci.
In order to protect against the plague, the Austrians established temporary sanitary institutions – infirmaries in Paraćin, Čačak and Crno Bara. The first census of settlements in the Šabac district was made by Colonel Naipert in 1718. years. The number of inhabitants is rapidly increasing with newcomers from Herzegovina and Montenegro. The levies on the people were high and were reduced thanks to the Montenegrin Vuk Isaković, who in 1735 became the commander of the Serbian hussar regiment.
In the census from 1735 4 churches are mentioned in Mačva: Church of St. Archangel Michael and Gavrila in the village of Drenovac, Church of St. Nikolaja in Bogatić, Church of St. Georgija in Crna Bara and the Church of St. Archpriests Mihajlo and Gavrilo in the trench Prnjavor. In 1737 Austria starts a war against the Turks in Serbia and Bosnia. Peace since 1739. In 1990, Macva was again won by the Turks. The nahija remains under the jurisdiction of the Šabac kadi. During and after the war, a large number of Macvans fled across the Sava to Austria and even to Russia. There is written information that in 1757 around 1,000 families from Macva crossed the Sava and went to Mirgorod in Russia. The levies on the people were terrible.
In 1788, the Principality of Mačvan (Oberknez Uroš Drmanović from Bogatić) had 25 villages with 845 houses and 24 village princes: Tabanovi, Pričinović, Drenovac, Orašac, Uzveće, Glušci, Noćaj, Zasavica, Banovo Polje, Metković, Bogatić, Klenje, Crna Bara, Badovinci, Begovci, Novo Selo, Prnjavor, Čokešina , Petkovica, Ribari, Petlovača, Glogovac, Lipolist, Sovljak, Skrađani, Bela Reka, Slepčević, Trnovito, Štitar and Motovilo. Crna Bara, Badovinci and Bogatić had the most 90 houses each.
Austria declared war on Turkey on the 9th. February 1788 year, but lost it after a lot of fighting around Belgrade, Šabac, Loznica and elsewhere, and the people in Mačva still remain under Turkish occupation. This time, the Turks are punishing the Serbs much more brutally, almost all of whom fought on the side of Austria in the last war.
The oppression imposed by the Turks on the Serbs led to the organization of an uprising in Serbia under the leadership of Đorđe Petrović 2. February 1804. On Karađođ’s letter, Pope Luka Lazarevic gathers the insurgents in mid-February and begins the siege of Šabac. After the defeat of the Turks at Beljin and Svileuva, they take refuge in the Šabac fortress.
After several unsuccessful attempts to conquer the Šabac fortress on April 17, 1804. the commander of the fortress surrenders and surrenders Šabac to the Serbs. Most of Macvan continues to fight in the siege of Belgrade, Požarevac, Smederevo and others. During 1805 Macva was relatively peaceful with minor fighting at the end of the year around Šabac…