Valjevo, a town in western Serbia situated along the Kolubara River, played a significant role in the turbulent history of the late Ottoman Balkans. By the late 18th century, it had developed into a predominantly Muslim kasaba (market town) with a substantial Ottoman administrative and commercial presence. One of the most vivid descriptions of the town on the eve of its destruction comes from Prota Matija Nenadović (1777–1854), a Serbian archpriest, revolutionary leader, and memoirist.
In his Memoari (Memoirs), Nenadović recounts events from the Austro-Turkish War of 1788–1791, known in Serbian historiography as Kočina krajina. During this conflict, Serbian volunteer units (frajkori) and local forces attacked Ottoman-held towns. Valjevo was burned in late February 1788. Reflecting on the town’s pre-destruction state, Nenadović writes:
“У то време било је у Ваљеву 24 џамије, и говоре да је било преко 3000 кућа турски’, а 200 хришћански’.”
(“At that time there were 24 mosques in Valjevo, and it is said that there were over 3000 Turkish [Muslim] houses and 200 Christian houses.”)
This passage appears in the context of his father’s recollections and his own childhood memories of watching the town burn from nearby hills. The numbers portray Valjevo as a sizable Ottoman center, potentially exceeding 15,000–18,000 inhabitants if one assumes typical household sizes of the period—though such extrapolations remain approximate.
Context
Under Ottoman rule, Valjevo functioned as an important regional center in the Sanjak of Smederevo. Earlier accounts, such as that of the 17th-century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi, already noted a developed town with multiple mosques, baths, and gardens. By the 1780s, the Muslim population dominated the urban core, while Christian (primarily Serb) inhabitants lived in smaller numbers in the town or surrounding villages.
A contrasting near-contemporary estimate comes from Austrian intelligence officer Ivan Peretić, who in 1784 reported approximately 400 Muslim and 50 Christian houses (roughly 2,300 total inhabitants). The discrepancy between Peretić’s figures and Nenadović’s may stem from differing definitions of the settlement area—Nenadović possibly including parts of the broader Valjevo nahiya (district)—or from the rapid growth and oral reporting common in wartime accounts.
The 1788 destruction marked a turning point. After the war, Valjevo reverted to Ottoman control but never fully recovered its former scale. The First Serbian Uprising (1804) further transformed the town’s demographics. By the mid-19th century, following Serbian autonomy, Valjevo had become overwhelmingly Christian, with most Muslim inhabitants having departed.
The Significance of Nenadović’s Testimony
Nenadović’s Memoari, written decades later, remain a cornerstone primary source for the First and Second Serbian Uprisings and the preceding period. As both participant and chronicler—he served as a leader in the 1804 uprising and Serbia’s first prime minister (1805–1807)—his work blends personal memory, family testimony, and historical narrative.
While his population figures for 1788 should be approached critically as a contemporary Serbian perspective rather than an official census, they powerfully illustrate how Valjevo was remembered: as a prosperous yet “Turkish” town prior to the upheavals that paved the way for modern Serbia.
Today, Valjevo preserves echoes of its Ottoman past in districts like Tešnjar, while its role in Serbian national history is commemorated through monuments and local heritage. Nenadović’s account continues to offer valuable insight into the demographic and cultural realities of the late 18th-century Balkans.
Refeences
Matija Nenadović. Memoari. Beograd: Državna štamparija Kraljevine Srbije, [original editions; modern reprints widely available].
Nenadović, Matija. The Memoirs of Prota Matija Nenadović. Translated by Lovett F. Edwards. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969.
Krivosejev, Vladimir. Valjevo: Nastanak i razvoj grada – prilozi za urbanu istoriju od prvog pomena do sredine 19. veka. Valjevo: Centar za kulturu, 1997.
“Valjevo je četiri stoljeća bilo muslimanska kasaba.” Stav, 2021. https://stav.ba/vijest/valjevo-je-cetiri-stoljeca-bilo-muslimanska-kasaba/3721.
Wikipedia contributors. “Matija Nenadović.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Last modified 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matija_Nenadovi%C4%87.
