Mijat Tomić (died 1656) was a

hajduk A hajduk ( hu, hajdúk, plural of ) is a type of irregular infantry found in Central and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries. They have reputations ranging from bandits to freedom fighters depending on time, p ...

who led brigands which fought against

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

rule in present-day

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

Biography

He was born in the village of Brišnik near

Tomislavgrad Tomislavgrad (), also known by its former name Duvno (), is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It mainly covers an area of the historical and geographica ...

. Although his exact birth date is uncertain, Mijat is said to have lost his parents at a young age, and by 1640, was known to have had at least two brothers and two sisters. As a child, Mijat was reputed to have been physically strong, a characteristic that was later proven in future battles. One legend states that he won while competing in some games popular with the local Muslim population. The defeat did not sit well with the Muslims and they decided that he should be killed. Mijat then fled to the mountain

Vran Vran ( sr-cyrl, Вран) is a mountain in the municipality of Tomislavgrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has an altitude of . See also *List of mountains in Bosnia and Herzegovina List of mountains in Bosnia and Herzegovina: References * ...

, marking the beginning of his life as a hajduk. Facts about the life of Mijat Tomić were published in the 18th century book ''Cvit razgovora naroda i jezika iliričkoga aliti rvackoga'' (1747) by Franciscan priest, Filip Grabovac. In reference to Tomić, Grabovac claimed that, following his death, "never existed a real hajduk like him nor will there ever be one". Mijat Tomić died on or around 20 July 1656 (on the feast day of St. Elijah) in Doljani, a settlement near Jablanica in present-day Bosnia-Herzegovina. Many poems and legends are in the agreement that he was betrayed by his godfather, Ilija Bobovac. A Venetian source about Mijat's death states that there were more cheers in Sarajevo on the news of his death "than when news arrived about the capture of Baghdad" a few years earlier (1638).Bagarić, Ivo. ''Duvno: Povijest župa duvanjskog samostana''. Duvno: Sveta baština, 1989. p. 70.

Trivia

Hajdučka Republika Mijata Tomića Hajdučka Republika Mijata Tomića ( en, The Hajduk Republic of Mijat Tomić, link=yes), is the private property of Mijat Tomić, spreading over seven hectares between the mountains of Vran and Čvrsnica, and a tourist destination as a self-pr ...

, a self-proclaimed

micronation A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified se ...

in Bosnia-Herzegovina, is named after him.

References

Sources

* MARKO DRAGI�
Poetika i Povijest Hrvatske Usmene Književnosti
ffst.hr; accessed 30 November 2015.

External links

Mijat Tomić profile
tgbrisnik.homepage24.de Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian outlaws 1656 deaths People from Tomislavgrad Year of birth unknown {{crime-bio-stub