O obavijesnom potencijalu osmansko-turske arhivske građe za povijest Srba u Hrvatskoj: uvodne napomene
On informational potential of Ottoman-Turkish archival sources for history of Serbs in Croatia: an introductory note

Summary/Abstract: The informative potential of Ottoman archival sources in general, and for the history of Serbs in Croatia in particular, is at the same time colossal and quite limited. The reason for that is the very nature of records, especially the domesday books, which were compiled exclusively out of fiscal interest. However it is possible to confirm the fact that in areas where Serbs lived as a fairly compact mass in the twentieth century (or “yesterday”) changes have not been substantial since the sixteenth century, except for some increase in population density. In the time of the Ottoman rule this refers to the Vlach population which was under the authority of the Serbian Orthodox church. Ottoman sources do not give any information on how their identity was articulated, but it is safe to assume that it was quite fluid. On the other hand, it is possible to find much data on different forms of life from the anthroponomastic, toponomastic, ecohistorical and many other realms. Thus it becomes possible to make significant progress in investigating these phenomena by combining Ottoman with non-Turkish sources such as Croatia, Latin or German.

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