Prehistory and antiquity In the
Neolithic and
Eneolithic periods, several important archaeological cultures flourished in this area, including the
Starčevo culture, the
Vinča culture, and the
Tiszapolgár culture. Early
Indo-European peoples settled in the territory of present-day Subotica in 3200 BC. During the
Eneolithic period, the
Bronze Age and the
Iron Age, several Indo-European archaeological cultures included areas around Subotica - the
Baden culture, the
Vučedol culture, the
Urnfield culture and some others. Before the
Iazyge conquest in the 1st century BC, Indo-European peoples of
Illyrian,
Celtic and
Dacian descent inhabited this area. In the 3rd century BC, this area was controlled by the Celtic
Boii and
Eravisci, while in the 1st century BC, it became part of the
Dacian kingdom. From the 1st century BC, the area came under the control of the
Sarmatian Iazyges, who were sometimes allies and sometimes enemies of the
Romans. Iazyge rule lasted until the 4th century AD, after which the region came into the possession of various other peoples and states.
Early Middle Ages and Slavic settlement In the Early Middle Ages various
Indo-European and
Turkic peoples and states ruled in the area of Subotica. These peoples included
Huns,
Gepids,
Avars,
Slavs and
Bulgarians.
Slavs settled today's Subotica in the 6th and 7th centuries, before some of them crossed the rivers Sava and Danube and settled in the
Balkans. The Slavic tribe living in the territory of present-day Subotica were the
Obotrites, a subgroup of the
Serbs. In the 9th century, after the fall of the Avar state, the first forms of Slavic statehood emerged in this area. The first Slavic states that ruled over this region included the
Principality of Lower Pannonia (846-875),
Great Moravia (833– 907) and the
Bulgarian Empire.
Late Middle Ages monument in the downtown|thumb|left Subotica probably first became a settlement of note when people poured into it from nearby villages destroyed during the
Tatar invasions of 1241–42. When
Zabadka/
Zabatka was first recorded in 1391, it was a tiny town in the medieval
Kingdom of Hungary. Later, the city belonged to the
Hunyadis, one of the most influential aristocratic families in the whole of
Central Europe. King
Matthias Corvinus of Hungary gave the town to one of his relatives,
János Pongrác Dengelegi, who, fearing an invasion by the
Ottoman Empire, fortified the castle of Subotica, erecting a fortress in 1470. Some decades later, after the
Battle of Mohács in 1526, Subotica became part of the
Ottoman Empire. The majority of the Hungarian population fled northward to
Royal Hungary.
Bálint Török, a local noble who had ruled over Subotica, also escaped from the city. During the military and political havoc following the defeat at
Mohács, Subotica came under the control of Serbian
mercenaries recruited in
Banat. These soldiers were in the service of the
Transylvanian general
John I Zápolya, a later Hungarian king. The leader of these mercenaries,
Jovan Nenad, established in 1526–27 his rule in
Bačka, northern
Banat and a small part of
Syrmia and created an independent entity, with Subotica as its administrative centre. At the peak of his power, Jovan Nenad proclaimed himself as Serbian
tsar in Subotica. He named
Radoslav Čelnik as the general commander of his army, while his treasurer and
palatine was Subota Vrlić, a Serbian noble from
Jagodina. When Bálint Török returned and recaptured Subotica from the Serbs, Jovan Nenad moved the administrative centre to
Szeged. Some months later, in the summer of 1527, Jovan Nenad was
assassinated and his entity collapsed. However, after Jovan Nenad's death, Radoslav Čelnik led a part of the army to Ottoman
Syrmia, where he briefly ruled as an Ottoman vassal.
Ottoman Empire The
Ottoman Empire ruled the city from 1542 to 1686. At the end of this almost 150-year-long period, not much remained of the old town of
Zabadka/
Zabatka. As much of the population had fled, the Ottomans encouraged the settlement of the area by different colonists from the
Balkans. The settlers were mostly
Orthodox Serbs. They cultivated the extremely fertile land around Subotica. In 1570, the population of Subotica numbered 49 houses, and in 1590, 63 houses. In 1687, the region was settled by
Catholic Dalmatas (called
Bunjevci today). It was called
Sobotka under Ottoman rule and was a kaza centre in
Segedin sanjak at first in
Budin Eyaleti until 1596, and after that in
Eğri Eyaleti between 1596 and 1686.
Habsburg Monarchy In 1687, about 5,000
Bunjevci settled in Bačka (including Subotica). After the decisive battle against the Ottomans at
Senta led by
Prince Eugene of Savoy on 11 September 1697, Subotica became part of the
military border zone
Theiss-
Mieresch established by the
Habsburg monarchy. In the meantime the uprising of
Francis II Rákóczi broke out, which is also known as the
Kuruc War. In the region of Subotica, Rákóczi joined battle against the
Rac National Militia.
Rác was a designation for the South Slavic people (mostly Serbs and Bunjevci) and they often were referred to as
rácok in the Kingdom of Hungary. In a later period
rácok came to mean, above all, Serbs of Orthodox religion. The Serbian military families enjoyed several privileges thanks to their service for the Habsburg Monarchy. Subotica gradually, however, developed from being a mere garrison town to becoming a market town with its own civil charter in 1743. When this happened, many Serbs complained about the loss of their privileges. The majority left the town in protest and some of them founded a new settlement just outside 18th century Subotica in
Aleksandrovo, while others emigrated to
Russia. In
New Serbia, a new Russian province established for them, those Serbs founded a new settlement and also named it
Subotica. In 1775, a Jewish community in Subotica was established. It was perhaps to emphasise the new civic serenity of Subotica that the pious name "Saint Mary" came to be used for it at this time. Some decades later, in 1779, Empress
Maria Theresa of Austria advanced the town's status further by proclaiming it a Free Royal Town. The enthusiastic inhabitants of the city renamed Subotica once more as
Maria-Theresiopolis. This Free Royal Town status gave a great impetus to the development of the city. During the 19th century, its population doubled twice, attracting many people from all over the
Habsburg monarchy. This led eventually to a considerable demographic change. In the first half of the 19th century, the Bunjevci had still been in the majority, but there was an increasing number of Hungarians and Jews settling in Subotica. This process was not stopped even by the outbreak of the
Revolutions in the Habsburg monarchy (1848–49).
Revolution of 1848–49 During the 1848–49 Revolution, the proclaimed borders of autonomous
Serbian Vojvodina included Subotica, but Serb troops could not establish control in the region. On 5 March 1849, at the locality named Kaponja (between Tavankut and Bajmok), there was a battle between the Serb and Hungarian armies, which was won by the Hungarians. The first newspaper in the town was also published during the 1848–49 revolution—it was called
Honunk állapota ("State of Our Homeland") and was published in Hungarian by Károly Bitterman's local printing company. Unlike most Serbs and Croats who confronted the Hungarians, part of the local Bunjevci people supported the Hungarian revolution. In 1849, after the
Hungarian revolution of 1848 was defeated by the Russian and Habsburg armies, the town was separated from the Kingdom of Hungary together with most of the Bačka region, and became part of a separate Habsburg province, called
Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar. The administrative centre of this new province was
Timișoara. The province existed until 1860. During the existence of the voivodeship, in 1853, Subotica acquired its impressive theatre.
Austria-Hungary After the establishment of the
Dual-Monarchy in 1867, there followed what is often called the "golden age" of city development of Subotica. Many schools were opened after 1867 and in 1869 the railway connected the city to the world. In 1896 an electrical power plant was built, further enhancing the development of the city and the whole region. Subotica now adorned itself with its remarkable Central European,
fin de siècle architecture. In 1902 a Jewish synagogue was built in the Art Nouveau style. Between 1849 and 1860 it was part of the
Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar.
Yugoslavia and Serbia in the center. Subotica had been part of
Austria-Hungary until the end of
World War I. In 1918, the city became part of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. As a result, Subotica became a border-town in
Yugoslavia and did not, for a time, experience again the same dynamic prosperity it had enjoyed prior to World War I. However, during that time, Subotica was the third-largest city in Yugoslavia by population, following
Belgrade and
Zagreb. In 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded and partitioned by the
Axis powers, and its northern parts, including Subotica, were annexed by Hungary. The annexation was not considered legitimate by the international community and the city was de jure still part of Yugoslavia. The
Yugoslav government in exile received formal recognition of legitimacy as the representative of the country. On 11 April 1941, the Hungarian troops arrived in Subotica on the grounds that the majority of the people living in the city were ethnic Hungarians, which had been part of the Kingdom of Hungary for over 600 years. During
World War II, the city lost approximately 7,000 of its citizens, mostly Serbs, Hungarians and Jews. Before the war about 6,000
Jews had lived in Subotica; many of these were deported from the city during the
Holocaust, mostly to
Auschwitz. In April 1944, under German administration, a ghetto was set up. In addition, many
communists were executed during Axis rule. In 1944, the Axis forces left the city, and Subotica became part of the new
Yugoslavia. During the 1944–45 period, about 8,000 citizens (mainly Hungarians) were killed by
Partisans while re-taking the city as a retribution for supporting Axis Hungary. In the postwar period, Subotica has gradually been modernised. During the
Yugoslav and
Kosovo wars of the 1990s, a considerable number of Serb refugees came to the city from
Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and
Kosovo, while many ethnic Hungarians and Croats, as well as some local Serbs, left the region. ==Geography==