A Short Review on Bosnian Self-Conscience during the Ottoman Period
A Short Review on Bosnian Self-Conscience during the Ottoman Period

Summary/Abstract: During the 415-year long Ottoman rule in now Bosnia and Herzegovina and a part of adjacent countries that were a part of the Bosnian Eyalet until 1580, there was self-conscience of local people about Bosnia as their homeland. But, in many recent studies and papers on Ottoman Bosnia this fact was not stressed enough. On the contrary, some older generation historians wrote about the fast demise of Bosnian Kingdom under Sultan’s rule, indirectly stressing a lack of consciousness of people of that time about the country they lived in. However, newer archival research fully negate the earlier thesis that Bosnia “quietly” fell. It was exactly in numerous examples that one can see that Bosnian Medieval State, even before the arrival of Sultan Mehmed Fatih II in May 1463, offered resistance to the Ottoman army for 77 years. It continued even after the loss of the Medieval sovereignty. The Ottoman army needed 129 more years that with the fall of Bihać they establish Sultan’s rule in entire Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this period, the Ottoman authorities established seven sanjaks which were included in the Bosnian Eyalet on September 5th, 1580. The very name of the province kept the Medieval name of the country, as it was done by giving the name to the Bosnian and Herzegovinian sanjak. How much was consciousness of people of Bosnia as their country was present in the period to come we can see by name of many benefactors who, by erecting sacral and profane objects in their birth places, were founders of a large number of urban environments. In the same sense, many distinguished Bosnians and Herzegovinians of the Ottoman Empirekept their surname Bošnjak and Bosanac. Parallel with this, local people expressed connection with Bosnia as their homeland on all occasions. It was particularly vivid during numerous wars. In many battles they expressed their patriotism, mostly in the XVIII century (the Battle of Banja Luka in 1737 and the War of Dubica 1788-1791). In the XIX century, it was most vivid during the Movement for autonomy of Bosnia (1831-1832) under Husein–captain Gradaščević, in the resistance to Omer-pasha Latas (1850-1852), as well as offering resistance to establishing Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina (the end of July – October 20, 1878). This paper offers more detailed information on all this.

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