District of Velika Kikinda

District of Velika Kikinda Великокикиндски привилеговани диштрикт Velikokikindski privilegovani dištrikt Privilegierten Bezirk Gross Kikinda Regio-privilegiatus Districtus Magnokikindiensis Nagykikindai kerület
district of the Habsburg Monarchy
← 1774–1876 →
Coat of arms
District of Velika Kikinda (1774-1876)
Capital		Velika Kikinda (today Kikinda)
History
•	Established	1774
•	Disestablished	1876
Today part of		Serbia

District of Velika Kikinda

The District of Velika Kikinda (Serbian: Великокикиндски привилеговани диштрикт / Velikokikindski privilegovani dištrikt; German: Privilegierten Bezirk Gross Kikinda; Latin: Regio-privilegiatus Districtus Magnokikindiensis; Hungarian: Nagykikindai kerület) was an administrative unit of the Habsburg Monarchy between 1774 and 1876. It was an autonomous area mainly inhabited by ethnic Serbs.

History

It was formed on November 12, 1774, by the decision of Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa, through the special charter, as the specific feudal governmental administrative unit with headquarters in Velika Kikinda (today Kikinda, Serbia). Inhabitants of the District had, for that period, substantial economic, and even political privileges within the Habsburg Monarchy.

Until 1778, the District of Velika Kikinda was part of the Banat of Temeswar (an separate Habsburg land), and then part of the Torontal County within the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. In 1848-1849 it was part of autonomous Serbian Vojvodina, and from 1849 to 1860 it was part of the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar, a separate Austrian crown land. After abolishment of the voivodeship in 1860, territory of the District of Velika Kikinda was again included into Torontal County. The District functioned, with some interruptions, until 1876 when it was abolished, and its territory was allocated both organizationally and administratively to the direct authority of the Torontal County with the headquarters in Veliki Bečkerek (today Zrenjanin), which covered most of the territory of the present-day Serbian Banat.

Places

Besides Velika Kikinda, the district included another nine settlements of the Serb border military establishments in North and Central Banat:

• Srpski Krstur
• Jozefovo (today part of Novi Kneževac)
• Mokrin
• Karlovo (today part of Novo Miloševo)
• Bašaid
• Vranjevo (today part of Novi Bečej)
• Melenci
• Kumane
• Taraš

References

• Jovan M. Pejin, Iz prošlosti Kikinde, Kikinda, 2000.
• Dr Dušan J. Popović, Srbi u Vojvodini, knjiga 2, Novi Sad, 1990.

See also

• Kikinda
• District of Potisje