SERBIAN CUSTOM OFFICES ON THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE SERBIAN-TURKISH BORDER IN 1886

Abstract

The paper presents the role of customs offices in building the institutions of the Serbian state in the 19th century. After gaining independence at the Berlin congress in 1878, the Serbian-Turkish border was moved from Jastrebac and Kopaonik to Vranje and Kosovo and Metohija. The new southern parts of the Serbian state were exposed to attacks by Turks and Arnauts, as well as smuggling, which should have been prevented and those areas introduced into the legal, official currents of the independence of the Kingdom of Serbia. The paper deals with two customs offices: Toplička with its headquarters in Kuršumlija and Vranjska with its headquarters in the village of Davidovac near Vranje, as well as the proposal for the establishment of a customs office in the village of Svirce near Medvedja. The paper is written on the basis of unpublished and published historical sources and available literature and represents a contribution to the study of the history of the south of central Serbia.