The
Titel Plateau is an elevated region between the
Danube and
Tisza rivers, close to the confluence; about ; roughly . It has an ellipsoid form and is characterized by steep slopes at the margins. It has a substantial loess cover and is often called the Titel Loess Plateau; the
loess on the plateau is considered to contain the most detailed terrestrial palaeoclimate records in Europe, with a thick and apparently continuous record extending to the middle and late Early Pleistocene. It represents a major archaeological site at the Danube-Tisza confluence with prehistoric and ancient findings. Early medieval sources are scarce. Slavs are mentioned in the area in the late seventh and early eighth century, while Magyars (Hungarians) settled the Pannonian Plain in 896, already in the next century holding the Tisa-Danube confluence. Grand Prince
Árpád (r. 895–907) is believed to have defeated the Bulgars (
Salan) at Titel. Titel was an important strategical location, and was included in the Bács County.
Ladislaus I of Hungary (r. 1077–95) and his brother
Lampert founded an
Augustinian monastery here. On 17 October 1389 a Clement was inscribed at the
Vienna University, who in Titel taught reading and cantillation. In the 1400s, Titel belonged to the Serbian despot
Đurađ Branković. In 1439
Albert II's army awaited in Titel military aid from the county to help Đurađ Branković defend
Smederevo, but the aid never arrived. From 1526, the town was part of the
Ottoman Empire. According to the first Ottoman census from 1546, the town had 87 houses, of which most were
Serb, three were
Croat, one
Hungarian, and one
Vlach. The duke of the town was
Vuk Radić. That census recorded that five of the citizens were
immigrants, meaning that others lived there before Ottomans conquered the town. In the outset of the Ottoman rule, the town had one
Orthodox and one Catholic church. In the first quarter of the 17th century, the town had three
mosques, two
tekkes and three
medreses. From 1699, the town was part of the
Habsburg monarchy. It was included in the Habsburg
Military Frontier. Between 1750 and 1763, the town was under civil administration (in the
Batsch-Bodrog County of the Habsburg
Kingdom of Hungary), until it was returned to the jurisdiction of the Military Frontier (
Šajkaš Battalion). Between 1763 and 1873, it was the headquarters of the Šajkaš Battalion which, using small armed vessels on the Danube, defended the Austrian border from Turkish attack. However, as early as 1750, the riverboat patrols, manned by the Šajkaš regiments, had begun to operate at Titel. When the Military Frontier was abolished, the Serbs emigrated to Russia in massive numbers. At that time, Banat and the Šajkaš area slowly began to lose its distinctive Serbian character. Hungarians, Germans, Slovaks, Ruthenians and others began to move into the region. In 1848 and 1849, Titel was part of
Serbian Vojvodina, a Serb autonomous region within the Habsburg Empire. Between 1849 and 1872, it was again part of the Military Frontier, and after 1872, it came under civil administration as a part of the
Bács-Bodrog County within the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary (part of
Austria-Hungary). In 1910 there were 5,792 inhabitants: 2,413 Serbs and 1,858 Hungarians. By religion, there were 2,353 Serbian Orthodox; 2,479 Roman Catholics; and 89 Jews. After 1918, the town became part of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and subsequent
South Slavic states. During the
World War II Hungarian occupation, in a 1942 raid, 51 inhabitants of the town were murdered, of whom 45 were men, 1 child, and 5 old people. By nationality, victims included 49
Serbs, and 1
Jew. ==Inhabited places==