Muftija Šemsekadić u pjesmama sandžačkih Bošnjaka
Mufti Šemsekadić in the Songs of Sandžak Bosniaks

Summary/Abstract: Shortly before the Berlin Congress (1878), when there was first word of the possibility of an Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia, the mufti of Pljevalj Mehmed Nurudin Šemsekadić became politically active. He established a connection with the Bosniak elite in Sarajevo and began the preparation for armed resistance against the Austro-Hungarians. Once their troops had entered, mufti Šemsekadić and his volunteer squads headed towards Bosnia and on several occasions defeated Austro-Hungarian troops. However, despite that, the Bosnian cities gradually fell, one after the other, and he, with an increasingly smaller number of followers, withdrew in the direction of Sandžak. Many songs were soon sung about this mufti, who quickly gained a reputation for his bravery and his ability to incite opposition. The aim of this paper is to find and make a record of the songs of the historical figure of mufti Šemsekadić, as well as to analyze them in the context of historical events. The paper offers a theoretical analysis of the life of the mufti of Pljevalj, Šemsekadić, and his role in putting up resistance to the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia. We also recorded and, using the “Finnish method” (a method used in ethnomusicology), wrote down five songs about him which are even today sung among the Bosniaks of the region of Sandžak. This paper will help us make a contribution to the preservation of the Bosniak music tradition, as well as view the reflections of historical events in folk music.

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