The history of Belgrade during the period of Serbian autonomy (de facto, 1817-67) and Ottoman-Serbian dual administration has been dominated by the notions of Islamic city and Europeanization, supposed homogeneity and mutual exclusivity of “Turkish” and Serbian cultural, architectural and urban forms, an assumed total break with the past, and the teleological tendencies to project aspects of the nation-state into the past. On the other hand, numerous documents in the Ottoman, Serbian and British archives show that the dynamics of the dual administration Belgrade was much more complex in terms of local government, intercommunal relations, struggle over space, and the involvement of Ottoman and Serbian state structures in the development of the city. This paper inquires into such complexity through the account of Belgradi Rashid, who was from a notable family and had first-hand information about Ottoman administration as well as the daily affairs of the city. His work, “Tarih-i Vak’a-i Hayretnüma-i Belgrad”, was written in 3 volumes and an appendix, and narrates and discusses the important events that took place during the period of autonomy. In addition to providing information about the events, Rashid’s account embodies a very interesting perspective on the problems of the dual administration as they exist in urban space. While Rashid often adopts an elitist tone, he can also be seen vindicating Muslim lower classes. Moreover, he has sympathy for Serbian constitutionalists and even talks approvingly of the 1848 Revolutions. Although he laments the erosion of Ottoman control over the city and the eventual ejection of Muslims, he does not have a dualistic perspective that advocates Ottoman claims and blames only the Serbians. Rashid is critical of the Ottoman provincial officialdom and in general has a sophisticated sense of the political and how it affects ordinary people’s lives. The paper argues that this seemingly enigmatic combination of support for nobility, defense of urban middle classes, elements of liberalism, a sharp critique of bureaucracy, and critical history writing was brought together by a desire to defend a Muslim urban space that was under threat. It is therefore possible to consider Belgradi Rashid’s work as the expression of a supra-class urban consciousness, which, witnessing the impoverishment and disenfranchisement of the old landlord class with sadness, opted to defend the interests of the gentry as well as the urban bourgeoisie, and not necessarily those of the Ottoman state, in and through Belgrade’s urban space.