BELGRADE', the ancient Singidunurn, styled'by the Turks Darol-Jihad, the "house of the war," and in German, Weissenburg, is an important 'fortified and commer cial t., capital of Servia. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Save and Danube_ The name B. is derived from the Slavonic word bid°, and grad or grod, a or "town." B. contains (1874) 27,605 inhabitants, and is divided into four parts—the fortress, a very strong place, which, situated on the tongue of land between the rivers, commands the Danube; the Water town, also well protected by walls and ditches, on the n. ; the Raitzen town on the w.; and the Palanka on the s. and e. of the citadel. B. con tains 14 mosques. The prince's palace, the residence of the metropolitan, the national theatre, and the public offices are the principal buildings. Vessels navigating the Dan ube anchor between the three islands above Belgrade. B. has manufactories of arms, cut lery, saddlery, silk goods, carpets, etc., and is the scat of the chief Servian authorities. It is the entreptit of the trade between Turkey and Austria. The position of 13. has made it the chief point of communication between Constantinople and Vienna, and the key to Hungary on the s.c. It has consequently been the scene of many hard contests. The Greeks held it until 1073, when it was captured by the Hungarian king, Salomon. .After this, it passed through the hands of Greeks, Bulgarians, Bosnians, and Servians, and these last proprietors sold it, in the beginning of the 15th c., to the emperor Sigis
mund. In 1442, it was unsuccessfully besieged by the Turks, with a large and vain outlay of time and money; and when stormed (July 14, 1456), it was retaken from the Turks by the heroism of Hunyades and Capistrano. In 1522, it was carried by the sul tan Soliman II. In it was stormed and taken by Maximilian, elector of Bavaria: but in 1690 was recaptured by the Turks, when the Christian garrison had been reduced to 500 men. In 1693, B. was vainly besieged by the duke of Croy; and in 1717, the cita del surrendered to prince Eugene, after he had defeated an army of 200,000 Turks, with a loss to them of 20.000 men. But in 1739, B. again changed owners, the Turks obtain ing it without a shot. In conformity with the treaty then signed, the fortifications were demolished. In 1789, it was again taken by the Austrians under gen. Laudon; but by the treaty of peace, 1791, was restored to the Turks. From 1806 to 1813 it was in the pos session of the insurgent Servians; and though on the founding of the principality of Servia, B. was made the capital, the citadel remained in the hands of the Turks till 1867. In that vear the ports was constrained by diplomacy to yield up this important posses sion to the Servian government.