The history of Bucharest covers the time from the early settlements on the locality's territory (and that of the surrounding area in Ilfov County) until its modern existence as a city, capital of Wallachia, and present-day capital of Romania.
Prehistory
The territory of present-day Bucharest has been inhabited since the Palaeolithic age - the earliest evidence of human life tracing back to this era. The general area where Bucharest is situated was primarily forestland.
Settlements appeared as well later during the Neolithic period along the Dâmbovița and Colentina rivers. The oldest Neolithic dwellings on the territory of the capital have been discovered in the Dudești neighbourhood, at Fundeni, and at Roșu. Later archaeological research also revealed later Neolithic settlements, situated at Pantelimon, Cățelu, Bucureștii Noi or at Giulești, or around Bucharest, at Jilava or Vidra. During the Neolithic, Bucharest saw the presence of the Glina culture, and, before the 19th century BC, was included in areas of the Gumelnița culture.Giurescu, p.25-26; Morintz and Rosetti, p.12-18 During the Bronze Age, a third phase of the Glina culture (centered on pastoralism, partly superimposed on the Gumelnița culture) and, later, on the Tei culture, evolved on Bucharest's soil.Giurescu, p.26; Morintz and Rosetti, p.18-27
Antiquity During the Iron Age, the area was inhabited by a population identified with the Getae and the Dacians, who spoke an Indo-European language. The view that the two groups were the same is disputed,For the dispute's relevancy to Bucharest, see Giurescu, p.30 while the culture's latter phase can be attributed to the Dacians; small Dacian settlements—such as Herăstrău, Radu Vodă, Dămăroaia, Lacul Tei, Pantelimon, and Popești-Leordeni—were found around Bucharest.Giurescu, p.32-34; Morintz and Rosetti, p.28-31 These populations had commercial links with the Greek cities and the Romans – ancient-Greek coins were found at Lacul Tei and Herăstrău (together with a large amount of local counterfeit ones), and jewels and coins of Roman origin in Giulești and Lacul Tei.Giurescu, p.33; Morintz and Rosetti, p.28-29
Bucharest was never under Roman rule, with an exception during Muntenia's brief conquest by the troops of Constantine I in the 330s; coins from the times of Constantine, Valens, and Valentinian I etc. were uncovered at various sites in and around Bucharest.Giurescu, p.37; Morintz and Rosetti, p.33 It is assumed that the local population was Romanized after the initial retreat of Roman troops from the region, during the Age of Migrations (see Origin of the Romanians, Romania in the Early Middle Ages).
Foundation
Beginnings
Slavs founded several settlements in the Bucharest region, as pointed out by the Slavic names of Ilfov (from elha – "alder"), Colentina, Snagov, Glina, Chiajna, etc.Giurescu, p.38 According to some researches, the Slavic population was already assimilated before the end of the Dark Ages.Giurescu, p.38-39 While maintaining commercial links with the Byzantine Empire (as attested by the excavations of 9th–12th century Byzantine coins at various locations),Giurescu, p.39; Morintz and Rosetti, p.33 the area was subject to the successive invasions of Pechenegs and Cumans and conquered by the Mongols during the 1241 invasion of Europe.Giurescu, p.39 It was probably later disputed between the Magyars and Second Bulgarian Empire.Giurescu, p.39; Morintz and Rosetti, p.34
According to a legend first attested in the 19th century, the city was founded by a shepherd named Bucur (or, alternatively, a boyar of that same name).Giurescu, p.42; Ionașcu and Zirra, p.56 Like most of the older cities in Muntenia, its foundation has also been ascribed to the legendary Wallachian prince Radu Negru (in stories first recorded in the 16th century).Giurescu, p.44 The theory identifying Bucharest with a "Dâmbovița citadel" and pârcălab mentioned in connection with Vladislav I of Wallachia (in the 1370s)Giurescu, p.42, 47; Ionaşcu and Zirra, p.58 is contradicted by archaeology, which has shown that the area was virtually uninhabited during the 14th century.Ionașcu and Zirra, p.58-59, 75
Early development
Bucharest was first mentioned on September 20, 1459, as one of the residences of Prince Vlad III Dracula.Giurescu, p.50; Ionaşcu and Zirra, p.58 It soon became the preferred summer residence of the princely court – together with Târgoviște, one of the two capitals of Wallachia – and was viewed by contemporaries as the strongest citadel in its country.Giurescu, p.52 During the Ottoman-Moldavian War in 1475, it was razed by the Moldavian Prince Stephen the Great, but was nonetheless favoured as a residence by most rulers that immediately followedGiurescu, p.53 and was subject to important changes in landscape under Mircea Ciobanul, who built the palace and church in Curtea Veche (the court's area), equipped the town with a stockade, and took measures to provide Bucharest with fresh water and produce (early 1550s).Giurescu, p.53-55, 61; p.147, 154–155
When Mircea Ciobanul was deposed by the Ottoman Empire (Wallachia's overlord) in the spring of 1554, Bucharest was ravaged by Janissary troops; violence again occurred after Mircea returned to the throne and attacked those who had been loyal to Pătrașcu the Good (February 1558),Giurescu, p.57 during the 1574 conflict between Vintilă and Alexandru II Mircea, and under the rule of Alexandru cel Rău (early 1590s).Giurescu, p.60-61, 63
17th century
Growth and decline In tune with the increasing demands of the Ottomans and the growing in importance of trade with the Balkans, the political and commercial center of Wallachia began gravitating towards the south; before the end of the 17th century, Bucharest became Wallachia's most populous city, and one of the largest ones in the region, while its landscape became cosmopolitan.Giurescu, p.59, 77 This was, however, accompanied by a drastic decrease in princely authority, and a decline of state resources.
On November 13, 1594, the city witnessed widespread violence, upon the start of Michael the Brave's uprising against the Ottomans, and the massacre of Ottoman creditors, who held control over Wallachia's resources, followed by a clash between Wallachians and the Ottoman troops stationed in Bucharest.Giurescu, p.63-64 Upon the city being recaptured by Michael's forces, Sinan Pasha's army proceeded to heavily damage the city during their retreat.Giurescu, p.64-67; Ionașcu and Zirra, p.65-67 It was reinstated over the following two decades, and surfaced as a successful competitor to Târgoviște under Radu Mihnea in the early 1620s.Giurescu, p.68-71 Matei Basarab, who divided his rule between Târgoviște and Bucharest, restored the decaying court buildings (1640).Giurescu, p.71; Ionaşcu and Zirra, p.69; Rosetti, p.163
Bucharest was again damaged, by the 1655 rebellion of seimeni mercenaries against the rule of Constantin Șerban – the rebel troops arrested and executed a number of high-ranking boyars, before being crushed by Transylvanian troops in June 1655.Giurescu, p.73 Constantin Șerban added important buildings to the landscape, but he was also responsible for a destructive fire which was meant to prevent Mihnea III and his Ottoman allies from taking hold of an intact citadel.Giurescu, p.74 According to the traveler Evliya Çelebi, the city was rebuilt as rapidly as it was destroyed: "houses of stone or brick [...] are few and unfortunate, given that their gavur masters rebel once every seven-eight years, and the Turks and [their allies] the Tatars consequently set fire to the city; but the inhabitants, in the space of the same year, restore their small one-storeyed, but sturdy, houses".Çelebi, in Giurescu, p.75 Bucharest was touched by famine and the bubonic plague in the early 1660s (the plague returned in 1675).Giurescu, p.74-75, 79
Late 1600s
Between Gheorghe Ghica's rule (1659–1660) and the end of Ștefan Cantacuzino's (1715/1716), Bucharest saw a period of relative peace and prosperity (despite the prolonged rivalry between the Cantacuzino and the Băleni families, followed by worsened relations between the former and the Craiovești).Cantea, p.99-100; Giurescu, p.77-79
Later, in late 1689, during the Great Turkish War, the Austrians entered Bucharest in order to unseat Constantin Brâncoveanu from the throne, and, according to the contemporary chronicler Radu Popescu, the boyars and abbots (who sided with him) were mercilessly tortured and executed. By early 1690, he regained control.
The climactic moment was reached under Șerban Cantacuzino and Constantin Brâncoveanu, when the city embraced the Renaissance under the original form known as the Brâncovenesc style and was expanded (growing to include the area of Cotroceni), furnished with inns maintained by princes, and given its first educational facilities (the princely Saint Sava College, 1694). Brâncoveanu developed Curtea Veche (which probably accommodated the boyar council in its new version), and added two other palaces, including the Mogoșoaia Palace, built in Venetian style and noted for its loggia; this was also the time when the future Calea Victoriei was carved out through Codrii Vlăsiei.Djuvara, p.212; Giurescu, p.79-86
Phanariote era
Early Phanariotes In 1716, following the anti-Ottoman rebellion of Ștefan Cantacuzino in the context of the Great Turkish War, Wallachia was placed under the more compliant rules of Phanariotes, inaugurated by Nicholas Mavrocordatos (who had previously reigned over Moldavia). These decisively marked Bucharest's development in several ways– the city was the unrivalled capital, being favoured by the decrease in importance of manorialism and rural centers, cumulated with the progress witnessed by the monetary economy (during the period, boyar status began revolving around appointment to administrative offices, and most of the latter were centered on the princely residence, including, after 1761, the banat of Oltenia).Giurescu, p.93-94
Prince Nicholas' rule coincided with a series of calamities– a major fire, the first Habsburg occupation (in 1716) during the Austro-Turkish War of 1716–1718, and another plague epidemic– but witnessed major cultural achievements inspired by The Enlightenment, such as the creation of a short-lived princely library (maintained by Stephan Bergler).Djuvara, p.47-48, 92; Giurescu, p.94-96 Grigore II Ghica and Constantine Mavrocordatos maintained the commercial infrastructure, and the city became the site of a large market (probably in the Lipscani area) and customs.Giurescu, p.96 In 1737, during the Austro-Turkish War of 1737–39, the city was again attacked by Habsburg troops and ransacked by the Nogais, before suffering another major plague outbreak (followed by new outbursts in the 1750s), accompanied by a relative economic decline brought about by the competition between Greek, Levantine and locals for official appointments.Giurescu, p.96-98
Russo-Turkish Wars
Bucharest was twice occupied by Imperial Russian troops during the War of 1768–74 (initially aided by Pârvu Cantacuzino's anti-Ottoman boyar rebellion, and then stormed by the troops of Nicholas Repnin); the Turks were decisively defeated in the city in 1771 and the subsequent Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was partly negotiated in the city.Djuvara, p.49, 285; Giurescu, p.98-99