MILOS OBRENOVIC I,  PRINCE OF SERBIA Miloš Obrenović (Milosh Obrenovich; also known as: Miloš Teodorović) (18 March 1780 - 26 September 1860) was Prince of Serbia between 1815 and 1839, and again from 1858 to 1860. He participated in the First Serbian Uprising, lead Serbs in the Second Serbian Uprising and he founded the House of Obrenović. During his rule, he was the richest man in Serbia and one of the richest in the Balkans. Under his rule, Serbia became an autonomous dukedom within the Ottoman Empire. Prince Miloš ruled autocratically and permanently refused to share power. He is credited with starting the process of the creation of the Serbian state and its domestic and foreign policies.

Early Life

Miloš Obrenović was born in the village of Srednja Dobrna in the Užice District to a poor Montenegrin family. His father, Todor Mihailović, was poor peasant. Miloš derived the name Obrenović from the name of his stepfather Obren (Martinović). His mother Višnja had three children by her first husband - sons Jakov and Milan, and daughter Stana, and three more by her second husband - sons Miloš, Jevrem and Jovan. As a youth, Miloš was a servant in the family of an affluent cattle trader. He took part in the First Serbian Uprising together with his half-brother Milan, the duke of the Rudnik district.

Uprisings

He participated in the First Serbian Uprising to its very end in 1813. He was one of the few leaders of the rebellion that stayed in Serbia to face the vengeful returning Turks. Accordingly, in April 1815 he instigated the Second Serbian Uprising becoming Serbia's absolute leader.

After the death of Karađorđe Petrović, Obrenović became leader of Serbia. By 1817 the Turks defeated Miloš's armies but not before he negotiated with Marashli-pasha. Miloš's diplomacy achieved Serbia's autonomy under the Ottomans leaving him in power though recognizing the Ottoman state. Serb citizens often rebelled against Miloš's autocratic rule. Following a rebellion of Serb citizens against his autocratic and often brutal methods of rule, Miloš adopted a Constitution in 1835. This caused negative reactions from neighbouring Austria, the ruling Ottoman Empire and Russia. Metternich's Austria particularly ridiculed the constitution for giving Serbia a flag and a ministry of foreign affairs. Miloš withdrew the constitution at the demand of Russia and Turkey. It is believed that the three great empires saw the constitution as too much of a provocation for their own autocratic rule.

In two Sultan's Hatisherifs, first in 1830 and a second in 1833 which expanded the same rights to a wider area, Serbia was proclaimed a suzerain principality with Miloš Obrenović as hereditary prince. A Metropolitante of Serbia was established in Belgrade, autonomous from the Patriarch of Constantinople. Russia's status as the guarantor of Serbia's autonomy was also recognized.