à  umadija (, ) is a geographical region in the central part of Serbia. The area used to be heavily covered with forests, hence the name (from à ¡uma 'forest'). The city of Kragujevac is the administrative center of the à  umadija District in the à  umadija and Western Serbia statistical region.
This very fertile region is known for its extensive fruit production (apples, grapes, plums, etc.).
à  umadija was named for the dense, impassable forests that covered the region. These forests were preserved until the early 19th century; they are mentioned in literature and tradition. Bertrandon de la Broquière (1400âÂÂ1459) passed through Serbia; on the road from Palanka to Belgrade he "passed through very large forests." During the reign of Prince Miloà ¡ (1817âÂÂ1839), it was said of the dense forests that covered Serbia, "no one could walk through (them), let alone with horse." When Alphonse de Lamartine visited Serbia in 1833, he wrote that he felt as if he were "in the middle of the North American forests." In the villages of Jasenica, a tradition was maintained "that everywhere there were empty forests, and settlers called relatives to come and occupy the land how much they want ... the forests were in need of cutting down trees and burning for years ... it was so impassable, that one could walk for days through it, without seeing the sun."
The inhabitants of this region have earned the demonym à  umadinci.
To à  umadija's north are the River Danube and Kosmaj Mountain. To the region's east are the River Morava and the city of Smederevska Palanka. To the south are the GlediàMountains, with the peaks of Crni Vrh, Kotlenik, and Rudnik southeast, south, and southwest of à  umadija, respectively. West of à  umadija are the Rivers Kolubara, Ljig, and DiÃÂina. According to some interpretations (for example, physiologist J. Cvijiàand ethnologist J. ErdeljanoviÃÂ), the northern border of à  umadija lies between the mountains of Avala and Kosmaj. According to that view, Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, does not belong to this region.
Central à  umadija is well known for its rich horticulture, with major products being plums, apples, pears, apricots, peaches, nuts, cherries, strawberries, and raspberries.
The geological region of à  umadija includes formations of enhanced uranium, such as the Brajkovac granitic massif, and volcanites of Medvednjak, Rudnik, and , with high average instance of uranium and thorium.
Archaeological sites of the Neolithic StarÃÂevo culture and VinÃÂa culture (5500âÂÂ4500 BC) are widespread in à  umadija. Settlements of the late StarÃÂevo phase are present across the entire territory of central à  umadija. RisovaÃÂa Cave in AranÃÂelovac is one of the most important Paleolithic archaeological sites in Europe. Notable Neolithic sites include Grivac and Kusovac in the west, Divostin in the center, and Dobrovodica and Rajac in the east.
à  umadija was located directly northeast of Raà ¡ka, the centre of the Serbian Principality. The exact location of its border with the Bulgarian Khanate in the 10th century is unclear. Prince Zaharija is known to have united several Slavic tribes along the common border to rebel against Bulgaria in the 920s. ÃÂaslav (r. 927âÂÂ960) and Constantine Bodin (r. 1081âÂÂ1101) may have held parts of à  umadija. The southern half of à  umadija later came under the rule of Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja and the Nemanjiàdynasty (1166âÂÂ1371).
Central à  umadija's three partsâÂÂGruà ¾a, Jasenica, and LepenicaâÂÂmost likely existed as administrative divisions or à ¾upe (counties) during the Byzantine era. Gruà ¾a was mentioned in the beginning of the 11th century as a peripheral province. The province of Lepenica, with the status of à ¾upa, officially entered Stefan Nemanja's realm in 1183; Nemanja later granted it as property (metochion) to his endowment, the Hilandar monastery, which he confirmed in the 1198 chrysobull. The province of Dendra, which was held by Serbian ruler Desa (fl. 1150âÂÂ66), has been interpreted as à  umadija by some scholars, and as Toplica but it has been concluded that it was in the vicinity of Nià ¡; Leskovac (historically GluboÃÂica and DuboÃÂica).
The medieval Serbian state saw its end with the Serbian Despotate's fall in à  umadija in the 15th century.
Until the fall of the Serbian Despotate, the region was advanced, rich, and well-populated. This fact stands out in the accounts of travellers who passed through à  umadija during that period. Many topographic names that have survived to this day confirm old settlements, churches, and monasteries (selià ¡te, crkvine, manastirine, kuÃÂerine, podrumine, varoà ¡evo, etc.), as do old graveyards and other traces. After the fall of the Despotate, opportunities changed. The Ottoman invasion and other events that took place in à  umadija up until the early 19th century were the primary causes of depopulation. Fleeing their homes ahead of the Ottomans, the à  umadinci concealed themselves in the mountains and ravines or departed in various directions. Settlements disappeared, the churches and monasteries were destroyed, and the population constantly decreased. One traveller, Gerlach, described the path from BatoÃÂina to Palanka: "I couldn't find no trace of settlements or culture, everywhere there is wasteland, not a single piece of land has been cultivated, there is not a single village".
Pavle BakiÃÂ, who had estates on the VenÃÂac, left between 1515 and 1522 "with a large group of people into Hungary." Schweiger, who passed through Serbia in 1577, said that he travelled from Kolar "[through] a deserted region, scarcely settled and badly processed, in three days not having seen more than five poor villages." In groups or individually, families left their homeland and went in different directions, over (preko) the rivers to Syrmia, Banat, BaÃÂka, and Slavonia; to Bosnia; and to other regions. This flight lasted until the end of the 18th century, then again after 1813. During the Austro-Turkish War (1787âÂÂ91), in 1788, the residents of the à  umadija villages KoraÃÂica, NemenikuÃÂe, and RogaÃÂe fled preko. Among them were Milovan VidakoviÃÂ, who wrote, "We are watching the villages through which and along which we passed, all are already covered in grass, not a living soul in them, all has gone; vineyards, gardens, flats, it's all empty and lying in weeds." More flights ensued after 1813. For example, the parents of activist Ilija MilosavljeviÃÂ-Kolarac fled preko with the rest of the peasants in 1813 to hide from the Ottoman army. In Oraà ¡ac, they crossed the Danube and settled in Crepaja, whence they later returned to their homes.
In addition to emigration, there was also immigration, more or less, depending on the circumstance of the day in à  umadija. After the Austro-Turkish War, once KoÃÂa's frontier had been established and the situation in à  umadija was more tolerable, it saw an increasing influx of settlers that peaked after the outbreak of the First Serbian Uprising (1804). In the first decades of the 19th century, à  umadija received most of its population.
During the 18th century, the forests and hills of à  umadija were a refuge for the hajduk bands (brigands, rebels, guerilla fighters) who fought against Ottoman occupation. Parts of the Sanjak of Smederevo, all within à  umadija, were liberated by the Austrian army in 1718, resulting in the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbia (1718âÂÂ39). After the Austro-RussianâÂÂTurkish War (1735âÂÂ39), the sanjak was re-established. In 1788, the Habsburg-organized Serbian Free Corps liberated à  umadija, which, after subsequent Austrian military involvement, was joined with the rest of the sanjak under Habsburg occupation (1788âÂÂ92). The First Serbian Uprising, which broke out in 1804, saw the region liberated under self-organized Serbian rebels led by à  umadijan-born KaraÃÂorÃÂe, the national hero of Serbia. The Second Serbian Uprising in 1815 was led by Miloà ¡ ObrenoviÃÂ, who successfully repelled Ottoman forces and by 1830 gained full autonomy for Serbia, leading to the independence of central Serbia after several centuries under Ottoman rule.
Between 1922 and 1929, one of the administrative units in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was the à  umadijska Oblast. It roughly included territory of present-day à  umadija District with its administrative seat in Kragujevac, which is the seat of the modern district as well.
Towns with a population larger than 20,000 include:
The most common folk costume of Serbia is that of à  umadija. It includes the national hat, the à  ajkaÃÂa, and the traditional leather footwear, opanci. Older villagers still wear their traditional costumes.
The fertile region of à  umadija is particularly known for its plums and Slivovitz (à  ljivovica), the production of which is of great importance to à  umadija Serbs and plays a part in several of their local customs.
In the à  umadija regions â KaÃÂer, Gruà ¾a, Lepenica, KragujevaÃÂka Jasenica, Smederevsko Podunavlje and Smederevska Jasenica, Kosmaj and in the villages around Belgrade, 8,894 kin families with 52,475 households were included in the study of J. CvijiÃÂ. Of these, only 464 families with 3,603 houses were "old" (starinci, also called "natives"), which is close to the number of families of unknown descent (470 families with 2,464 houses), with the rest of the population being settlers (7,960 families, 46,408 houses). à  umadija was settled from almost all of the regions of the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia, though most of which came from the Dinaric areas, that is, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from Raà ¡ka and Sandà ¾ak, Dalmatia, Lika, and the rest of the Dinaric areas. In lesser numbers they hailed from Kosovo, from Metohija, and the rest of the Yugoslav regions.
According to the studies by J. CvijiÃÂ, almost 90% of the families of à  umadija descended from settler families of various Serb ethnographic groups. The Dinaric group was predominant, while other South Slavic regions are included in lesser percentages. This diverse population blended, mutually permeated and leveled, thus creating an ethnographic group (the à  umadinci), with characteristical psychical traits.
Cvijiànoted the particular striking character of the à  umadinci as "something very strong, bold, with great activeness, and healthy nerves", that many of them are capable, "it seems, they manage to succeed in any enterprise", and that "there is increasingly appearing personalities with great will", "Foreign observers would have the impression that everyone thrives with intractible persistence and tenacity", "Rigid traditionalism has almost completely disappeared. All adapt to new ways of life. There is less talk, less epic poems and epic preferences than in pure Dinaric people". Among other traits, the à  umadinac has "common sense, measures and sense of reality. They know how to assess things and events fairly and without anger, when they are fully aware of these. The peasants are often characterized by sensing measures, which is rarely held by their schooled compatriots." They were shown to be a very honest and humorous people.