The First and the Second Serbian Uprising marked the start of renewal of the Serbian statehood. Prince Miloš Obrenović, during his first reign (1815-1839), skilfully reduced Turkish and expanded the Serbian authority in the area. The 1830 Edict (hatt-ı şerîf) granted to Serbia the status of autonomous principality within the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish crews remained only in Belgrade, Šabac, Smederevo, Užice, Soko Grad and Kladovo. By this, the modern Serbian state was renewed in the area where the Serbian Despotate ceased to exist in 1459. By the 1833 Edict, six nahiyes outside the Belgrade Eyalet (pashalik) were incorporated in Serbia as well.
The second rule of Prince Mihailo (1860-1868) marked the start of the decisive phase of Serbia’s struggle for independence. Armed skirmishes also broke out after the Čukur fountain incident on 16th June 1862. In accordance with the resolutions approved at the conference of ambassadors of great powers in Kanlıca near Constantinople, the Turks demolished the fortresses of Užice and Soko, reduced crew in other garrisons and displaced the Turkish populations living outside the fortresses. Prince Mihailo continued the diplomatic action for liberation of the remaining towns. On 11th April 1867 in Constantinople he received Firman from the sultan Abdul Aziz, granting him the authority to govern and protect all the towns and cities in Serbia. The Prince was ceremoniously welcomed in Belgrade on 16th April 1867. Two days later, the Firman was read to the public in the Kalemegdan Fortress. Ali Riza pasha, the last Belgrade muhafiz (custodian), symbolically handed over the keys of cities and towns to Prince Mihailo, and on 24thApril 1867 was escorted to Zemun, with the last Turkish soldiers retreating with him. The Turkish flag remained the only sign of the sovereignty over Serbia, flowing along the Serbian banner upon the walls.
Motif on the stamp: Ali Riza pasha hands over the keys of the city to Prince Mihailo (Adam Stefanović, ca 1876). Motifs on the rands of the block: Belgrade in 1867 (Baron von Scholten, oil on canvas, 1867); Mihailo M. Obrenović III, Prince of Serbia (Joseph Anton Bauer, lithography, Vienna 1864); Map of the Principality of Serbia (Jovan Bugarski, Anastas Jovanović, painted lithography, Vienna 1845).
Motifs on the envelope: Belgrade (Julia Wittgens, painted lithography, Vienna 1864); Serbian delegation led by the Prince Mihailo in Constantinople 1867 (photography); Map of the Principality of Serbia (Jovan Bugarski, Anastas Jovanović, painted lithography, Vienna 1845).
