According to the written documents, Bosanska Gradiska was first mentioned a little more than 700 years ago under the name of Gradiski Brod. Gradiska was mentioned as a free town. In the Middle Ages, Bosanska Gradiska had a major importance as the place where the Sava river used to be crossed.
Following the outbreak of the First Serbian Uprising (1804), in the Sanjak of Smederevo (modern Central Serbia), the Jančić's Revolt broke out in the Bos. Gradiska-region against the Ottoman government in the Bosnia Eyalet, following econominal, national and religious deprivation of rights of Serbs. Hajduks (brigands) also arrived from Serbia, and were especially active on the Kozara. Jovan Jancic Sarajlija organized the uprising with help from Metropolitan Benedikt Kraljević. The peasants took arms on 23 September 1809, in the region of Bos. Gradiska, beginning from Mašići. The fighting began on 25 September, and on the same night, the Ottomans captured and executed Jančić. The rebels retreated to their villages, except those in Kozara and Motajica who continued, and offered strong resistance until their defeat in mid-October, after extensive looting and burning of villages by the Ottomans.
