Early history In the early Neolithic settlement, the world's largest collection of prehistoric artefacts was found, with nearly a 100 manlike figures made of stone, bones and clay, about 8000 years old. Geophysical research in 2012 in the area of
Belica uncovered a prehistoric settlement, surrounded by a circular trench that has a diameter. Inside that circle, triangular, trapezoid and circular shaped foundations of monumental structures were found, unlike any found in other early Neolithic settlements. Gold bracelets similar to ones found on the nearby
Juhor mountain dating to the
Middle Bronze Age have been found in
Trućevac. In addition,
Bronze Age settlement has been discovered in a part of town called Sarina Međa. In the village of Belica, near Jagodina, Europe's oldest sanctuary is found.
Ancient times On top of Juhor mountain there was a Celtic
oppidum, and in the village of
Novo Lanište a
Triballi settlement. With the Roman conquest of 74 BCE, the territory of today's Jagodina fell under the Roman authority. Romans had a castle on the hill known as Đurđevo Brdo, and a settlement beneath it. Ad Octavium was a spot on the military road upon which the village
Dražmirovac stands today.
Medieval history Coins of Emperor
Phokas and
Constantine IV from 643/4 and fibulae have been found in the region, as well as
Early Slavic pottery dating to the 6th century. In 1183 Grand Prince
Stefan Nemanja liberated the areas of Belica, Levač and Lepenica from the rule of Byzantine Empire. Jagodina was situated in the Belica county. Jagodina was first mentioned in 1399 in a letter to
Princess Milica (the wife of
Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović). Its second recorded mention was in 1411, when the Parliament was held there. After the year 1458, Jagodina falls into the hands of the Ottoman Empire. During the second half of the 15th century, in the Ottoman Empire's tax registers, a certain Miloš Belmužević is mentioned as the landlord of Jagodina. He later fled to
Hungary.
Ottoman period During the middle of the 16th century Jagodina becomes a feud of a Dervish-bey Jahjapašić. A large mosque is built there in 1555, and sometime later, another one. Jagodina had two caravan stations and a
public bathroom. In Jagodina, by the command of Dervish-bey, certain German clockmaker built a clock tower, which was a rarity in
Ottoman Empire at the time. In 1553-1557 the travelers refer to Jagodina as a beautiful settlement with 4 caravan stations and two mosques. In it lived more of
sipahis and Ottoman soldiers, and less Christian Serbs. It had a Turkish school. With the status of a palanka (small town), Jagodina is mentioned in 1620, as a small stop on the road to Istanbul. In the year 1660, a traveler named
Evlija Čelebija states that the town has 1500 houses and that the entire population is made of Christians that were converted to Islam. In the middle of the 17th century Jagodina gets its own
bedesten. After the Austrian-Turkish war (1716–1718), Jagodina becomes the capital of the District of Jagodina. According to Austrian register in 1721. Jagodina had 162 families living in it. After the new Austrian-Turkish war (1737–1739), Serbia is back under the Ottoman rule.
Modern history During the
Serbian Revolution (1804–1815), when Serbs began their uprising against the centuries-long Ottoman rule, Jagodina was a scene of numerous battles, given the town's strategic importance within Serbia proper. Following the Ottoman defeat and re-establishment of the
Kingdom of Serbia, Jagodina experienced a period of relative industrial and civic development. From 1929 to 1941, Jagodina was part of the
Morava Banovina of the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Following
World War II, Jagodina was heavily industrialized and underwent a period of planned expansion and growth within communist Yugoslavia. Jagodina was given the status of a
city in December 2007. ==Settlements==