It is first recorded in 1342 as a village during the reign of Stefan Dušan, and about a century later in 1455 at the beginning of the Ottoman era it had a small population of 300 households.

Eric P. Hamp connected the word with an Indo-European derivative *pṛ-tu- (ford) + *stein (cognate to English stone) which in Proto-Albanian, spoken in the region before the reign of Roman Emperor Trajan (1st–2nd century CE) produced Pristina.

[14] The area of Pristina has been inhabited since the Neolithic era by Early European Farmers after 7,000 BCE in the Balkans: Starčevo followed by its successors Vinča, Baden and lastly Bubanj-Hum.

[8] By the early Iron Age, the distinctly Dardanian local variant of the Illyrian Glasinac-Mati culture appears in Kosovo with a particular spread in hilltop settlements.

[citation needed] In the early 11th century, Pristina fell under Byzantine Empire rule and the area was included into a theme (province) called Bulgaria.

[22] A first brief description of it as a town was given a few years later by the Byzantine Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos, on his visit to Stefan Dušan at his royal court, describing Pristina as a 'unfortified village'.

A bitter feud between Lazarević and Đurađ Branković developed and led to open conflict, with Pristina being the scene of heavy fighting in 1409 and 1410.

[25] At the turn of the 15th century during the time of the Serbian Despotate, Pristina was a major trading post for silver, with many traders hailing from the Republic of Ragusa.

[31] During the Austro-Turkish War in the late 17th century, citizens of Pristina under the leadership of the Catholic Albanian priest Pjetër Bogdani pledged loyalty to the Austrian army and supplied troops.

[38] However, The Kingdom of Serbia opposed the plan for a Greater Albania, preferring a partition of the European territory of the Ottoman Empire among the four Balkan allies.

[42] A Danish journalist based in Skopje reported that the Serbian campaign in Pristina "had taken on the character of a horrific massacring of the Albanian population".

[49][50] This ended a long period when the institution had been run as an outpost of Belgrade University and gave a major boost to Albanian-language education and culture in Kosovo.

Pristina was spared large scale destruction compared to towns like Gjakova or Peja that suffered heavily at the hands of Serbian forces.

For their strategic importance, however, a number of military targets were hit in Pristina during NATO's aerial campaign, including the post office, police headquarters and army barracks, today's Adem Jashari garrison on the road to Kosovo Polje.

Many of those expelled were directed onto trains apparently brought to Pristina's main station for the express purpose of deporting them to the border of the Republic of Macedonia, where they were forced into exile.

Several strategic targets in Pristina were attacked by NATO during the war, but serious physical damage appears to have largely been restricted to a few specific neighborhoods shelled by Yugoslav security forces.

[56] Pristina International Airport's new terminal opened for operations in October 2013, which was built in response to a growing demand for air travel in Kosovo.

[82] Most foreign tourists come from Albania, Turkey, Germany, United States, Slovenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, with the number of visitors from elsewhere growing every year.

[88] Pristina is the center of education in the country and home to many public and private primary and secondary schools, colleges, academies and universities, located in different areas across the city.

Finance, arts, journalism, medicine, dentistry, pharmaceuticals, veterinary programs, and engineering are among the most popular fields for foreigners to undertake in the city.

[98] However, numerous types of monuments have been preserved, including four mosques, a restored orthodox church, an Ottoman bath, a public fountain, a clock tower, several traditional houses as well as European-influenced architecture buildings such as the Kosovo Museum.

[99] These symbolize the historical and cultural character of Pristina as it was developed throughout centuries in the spirit of conquering empires (Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian).

[100][failed verification] The Mbretëresha e Dardanisë (Queen of Dardania) or Hyjnesha ne Fron (The Goddess on the Throne) is an artifact that was found during some excavations in 1955[101] in the area of Ulpiana,[102] a suburb of Pristina.

But before talking about genre development, a key point that has to be mentioned is without doubt the rich folklore of Kosovo most of which unfortunately has not been digitalized and saved in archives.

Some of few international music artists of Albanian heritage that were born or their families were from Pristina are Rita Ora, Dua Lipa and Era Istrefi.

The festival features renowned performers of contemporary times and notable figures on music charts, such as Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, J Balvin, Calvin Harris, Martin Garrix, Afrojack, Hardwell, Stormzy, Skepta, AJ Tracey, Action Bronson, Gashi, and numerous other regional and international artists and performers.

[116] In its 5 years of formation it has offered interpretations by both world-famous pianists such as Peter Donohoe, Janina Fialkowska, Kosovo-Albanian musicians of international renown like Ardita Statovci, Alberta Troni and local talents.

Pristina constitutes the economic and financial heart of Kosovo, in part due to its high population, modern infrastructure and geographical location in the center of the country.

Following the independence of Kosovo, the city has undergone significant improvements and developments vastly modernizing and expanding the economy, infrastructure and most notably transportation by air, rail and road.

During the administration of Përparim Rama, the municipality of Pristina introduced a new bike-sharing system named Prishtina Bikes, in partnership with Nextbike.