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History of Bosniaks
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Shtokavian
South Slavic
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v
t
e
The
Bosniaks

Bosniaks (Bosnian: Bošnjaci, pronounced [boʃɲǎːtsi];
singular masculine: Bošnjak, feminine: Bošnjakinja) are a South
Slavic nation and ethnic group inhabiting mainly the area of Bosnia
and Herzegovina. A native minority of
Bosniaks

Bosniaks live in other countries
in the Balkans; especially in the
Sandžak

Sandžak region of
Serbia

Serbia and
Montenegro

Montenegro (where
Bosniaks

Bosniaks form a regional majority), and in Croatia
and Kosovo.[a]
Bosniaks

Bosniaks are typically characterized[by whom?] by their
historic tie to the Bosnian historical region, traditional majority
adherence to
Islam

Islam since the 15th and 16th centuries, common culture
and Bosnian language.
English speakers

English speakers frequently refer to
Bosniaks

Bosniaks as
Bosnian Muslims[note 2] or simply as Bosnians, though the latter term
can also denote all inhabitants of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina (regardless
of ethnic origin) or apply to citizenship in the country.
Over two million
Bosniaks

Bosniaks live in the Balkans, with an estimated
additional million settled and living around the world. Ethnic
cleansing and genocide during the
Bosnian War

Bosnian War (1991–95) have had an
effect on the territorial distribution of the population. Partly due
to this,[20] a significant
Bosniak diaspora

Bosniak diaspora exists in a number of
countries, including Austria, Germany, Turkey, Australia, Sweden,
Canada

Canada and the United States.
Contents
1 Ethnology
1.1 Ethnonym
1.2 Identity
1.3 Relation to Serb and Croat nationalism
1.4 Origin
2 History
2.1 Middle Ages
2.1.1
Banate of Bosnia

Banate of Bosnia and the Bosnian Church
2.1.2 Expansion and the Bosnian Kingdom
2.2 Islamization and Ottoman era
2.2.1 The rise of the Bosnian national movement
2.3 Austro-Hungarian rule
2.4
Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia and World War II
2.5
Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia (1945-1992)
2.6 Bosnian War
3 Language
4 Culture
4.1 Folklore
4.2 Traditions and customs
4.3 Religion
4.4 Surnames and given names
4.5 Symbols
5 Communities
5.1 Diaspora
6 See also
7 Annotations
8 Notes
9 References
10 Sources
11 External links
Ethnology
Ethnonym
Main article: Name of Bosnia
In 1993, "Bosniak" was adopted by the Bosnian Muslim leadership as the
name of the Bosnian Muslim nationality.[21] During Yugoslavia, the
term "Muslims" (Serbo-Croatian: muslimani) was used for Bosnia and
Herzegovina's Muslim population.[22] The name of Bosnia
(Serbo-Croatian: Bosna) as a polity first appears in the 10th century.
The name of the polity of Bosnia as per traditional view in
linguistics originated as a hydronym, the name of the Bosna river,
believed to be of pre-Slavic origin.[23] The demonym "Bosnians" (as
Bošnjani) first appears in the 14th century, to denote the subjects
of the Kingdom of Bosnia.[24] The name was adopted by the Ottoman
Empire for the
Sanjak of Bosnia and Bosnia Eyalet, and during the
Ottoman period various Turkish-language variations of the root Bosna
were used as a demonym (such as Turkish: Boşnak, Bosnali, Bosnavi).
The term "Bosniaks" (Bošnjaci) was adopted as an ethnonym by the
Bosnian Muslim leadership in the 20th century, the term having
historically denoted all inhabitants of Bosnia, regardless of faith.
Identity
Bosniaks

Bosniaks are generally defined as the South Slavic nation on the
territory of the former
Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia whose members identify themselves
with
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina as their ethnic state and are part of such
a common nation, and of whom a majority are Muslim by religion.
Nevertheless, leaders and intellectuals of the Bosniak community may
have various perceptions of what it means to be Bosniak. Some may
point to an
Islamic

Islamic heritage, while others stress the purely secular
and national character of the Bosniak identity and its connection with
Bosnian territory and history.[25] Moreover, individuals outside
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina may hold their own personal interpretations as
well. Some people, such as Montenegrin Abdul Kurpejović, recognize an
Islamic

Islamic component in the Bosniak identity but see it as referring
exclusively to the
Slavic Muslims

Slavic Muslims in Bosnia.[26] Still others consider
all
Slavic Muslims

Slavic Muslims in the former
Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia (i.e. including the
Gorani) to be Bosniaks.[27]
Bosniak Institute, Sarajevo
In Yugoslavia,[28] unlike the preceding Austro-Hungarian Empire,[29]
there was no official recognition of Bosniak ethnicity.[30] As a
political compromise, the Constitution of
Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia was amended in
1968 to introduce "Muslims" in a national (as opposed to religious)
sense; effectively recognizing a constitutive nation whilst avoiding
the recognition of "Bosniak" or "Bosnian" as ethnic or national
designations. Prior to this, the great majority of
Bosnian Muslims

Bosnian Muslims had
declared either Ethnically Undecided Muslim or – to a lesser extent
– Undecided Yugoslav in censuses pertaining to
Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia as the
other available options were Serb-Muslim and Croat-Muslim.[31]
Although it achieved recognition as a distinct nation by an
alternative name, the use of Muslim as an ethnic designation was
opposed early on as it sought to label
Bosniaks

Bosniaks a religious group
instead of an ethnic one. To quote Bosnian president Hamdija Pozderac
at the time:
They don't permit
Bosnianhood
.svg/440px-Flag_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina_(1992-1998).svg.png)
Bosnianhood but they offer Muslimhood. Let us accept
their offer, although the wrong name, but with it we shall start the
process.
— In discussion with
Josip Broz Tito

Josip Broz Tito in 1971 on the constitutional
changes which recognized "Muslims"[32]
Upon Bosnia and Herzegovina's declaration of independence from
Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the great majority of Bosnian Muslims
aligned themselves with the Bosniak identity. In September 1993, at
the height of the Bosnian War, the Second Bosniak Congress formed a
basis for the official re-establishment of the historical ethnic name
Bosniak and deprecation of the former Muslim in use during SFR
Yugoslavia.[33] Today, the election law of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as
well as the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, recognizes the
results from the 1991 population census as results referring to
Bosniaks

Bosniaks which are, alongside Bosnian
Serbs

Serbs and Bosnian Croats, one of
the three constituent nations in post-war
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina and
the single largest ethnic group in the country.
In other ex-Yugoslav countries with significant Slavic Muslim
populations, adoption of the Bosniak name has been less consistent.
The effects of this phenomenon can best be seen in the censuses. For
instance, the 2003 Montenegrin census recorded 48,184 people who
registered as
Bosniaks

Bosniaks and 28,714 who registered as Muslim by
nationality. Although Montenegro's
Slavic Muslims

Slavic Muslims form one ethnic
community with a shared culture and history, this community is divided
on whether to register as
Bosniaks

Bosniaks (i.e. adopt Bosniak national
identity) or as Muslims by nationality.[26] Similarly, the 2002
Slovenian census recorded 8,062 people who registered as Bosnians,
presumably highlighting (in large part) the decision of many secular
Bosniaks

Bosniaks to primarily identify themselves in that way (a situation
somewhat comparable to the Yugoslav option during the socialist
period). However, such people comprise a minority (even in countries
such as
Montenegro

Montenegro where it is a significant political issue) while
the great majority of
Slavic Muslims

Slavic Muslims in the former
Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia have
adopted the Bosniak national name.
"Muslims/Muslimani" in SFR Yugoslavia
Republic
1971
1981
1991
Bosnia and Herzegovina
1,482,430 (39.6%)
1,630,033 (39.5%)
1,902,956 (43.5%)
Montenegro
70,236 (13.3%)
78,080 (13.4%)
89,614 (14.6%)
Croatia
18,457 (0.4%)
23,740 (0.5%)
43,469 (0.9%)
Macedonia
1,248 (0.1%)
39,512 (2.1%)
35,256 (1.7%)
Slovenia
3,197 (0.2%)
13,425 (0.7%)
26,867 (1.4%)
Serbia
154,364 (1.8%)
215,166 (2.3%)
246,411 (2.5%)
Yugoslavia
1,729,932 (8.4%)
1,999,957 (8.9%)
2,344,573 (10.0%)
Relation to Serb and Croat nationalism
As a melting ground for confrontations between different religions,
national mythologies, and concepts of statehood, much of the
historiography of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina has since the 19th century
been the subject of competing Serb and Croat nationalist claims part
of wider Serbian and Croatian hegemonic aspirations in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, inherently interwoven into the complex nature of the
Bosnian War

Bosnian War at the end of the 20th century.[34] As Andras
Riedlmayers's meticulous research for the Hague Tribunal demonstrates:
What happened in Bosnia is not just genocide, the willful destruction
of the essential foundations of one particular community or group of
people within a society [....] What happened in Bosnia is also
described as sociocide, the murdering of a progressive, complex, and
enlightened society in order that a regressive, simple, and bigoted
society could replace it.[35]
Contrary to frequent Serb and Croat nationalist claims, Bosnia and
Herzegovina

Herzegovina constitutes a historical entity which has its own identity
and its own history, according to Mitja Velikonja.[36] Robert Donia
claims that as
Serbia

Serbia and
Croatia

Croatia only occupied parts of Bosnia and
Herzegovina

Herzegovina briefly in the Middle Ages, neither have any serious
historical claims to Bosnia.[37] Moreover, Donia states that although
Bosnia did interact with its Serb and Croat neighbors over the
centuries, it had a very different history and culture from them.[38]
12th-century Byzantine historian
John Kinnamos reported that Bosnia
was not subordinated to the Grand Count of Serbia; rather the Bosnians
had their own distinct way of life and government.[39] According to
American historian John V.A. Fine, an expert on medieval Balkan
history, the
Bosnians

Bosnians (Bošnjani) have been a distinct people since at
least the 10th century.[40]
It is noted that writers on nationalism in
Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia or the Bosnian
War tend to ignore or overlook the Bosnian Muslim ideology and
activity and see them as victims of other nationalisms and not
nationalistic themselves.[41]
Origin
See also: Early history of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Genetic studies
on Bosniaks
The Early Slavs, a people from northeastern Europe, settled the
territory of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina (and neighboring regions) in the
sixth and early seventh century (amid the Migration Period), and were
composed of small tribal units drawn from a single Slavic
confederation known to the Byzantines as the
Sclaveni

Sclaveni (whilst the
related Antes, roughly speaking, colonized the eastern portions of the
Balkans).[42][43] Upon their arrival, the
Slavs

Slavs assimilated the
Paleo-Balkan, mostly romanized tribes, generically known as the
Illyrians

Illyrians on the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, but
also the romanized Celtic population which had intermingled with these
since the 4th century BC, and to a lesser extent the Germanic-speaking
Ostrogoths
.jpg/900px-Theodoric's_Palace_-_Sant'Apollinare_Nuovo_-_Ravenna_2016_(crop).jpg)
Ostrogoths which had entered the area in the late 4th century AD.
Timothy Gregory writes that "It is now generally agreed that the
people who lived in the
Balkans

Balkans after the Slavic "invasions" were
probably for the most part the same as those who had lived there
earlier, although the creation of new political groups and arrival of
small numbers of immigrants caused people to look at themselves as
distinct from their neighbours, including the Byzantines"[44]
Being a remote and mountainous region, Bosnia appears to have been
settled by a smaller number of Slavic colonizers than the region in
general and perhaps served as an area of refuge for the indigenous
peoples.[45] Tribes recorded under the ethnonyms of "Serb" and "Croat"
are described as a second, latter, migration of different people
during the second quarter of the 7th century who do not seem to have
been particularly numerous;[42][46] these early "Serb" and "Croat"
tribes, whose exact identity is subject to scholarly debate,[47] came
to predominate over the
Slavs

Slavs in the neighboring regions. Bosnia
proper, however, appears to have been a territory outside Serb and
Croat rule not being enumerated as one of the regions settled by those
tribes.[48] In time, Bosnia would come to form an independent unit
under a ruler, Ban Kulin, calling himself Bosnian.[49] In the 14th
century a
Bosnian kingdom

Bosnian kingdom centered on the river Bosna emerged. Its
people, when not using local (county, regional) names, called
themselves Bosnians.[40][50]
Following its conquest by the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire in the mid-15th century,
Bosnia experienced a rapid and extensive conversion of the local
population to Islam, and by the early 1600s roughly two thirds of
Bosnians

Bosnians were Muslim.[51][52] In addition, a smaller number of
converts from outside Bosnia were in time assimilated into the common
Bosniak unit, such as
Croats

Croats (mainly in Turkish Croatia, and the
Muslims of
Slavonia

Slavonia that fled to Bosnia following the Austro-Turkish
war), Serbian and Montenegrin Muhacirs (in
Sandžak

Sandžak particularly
Islamicized descendants of the Old Herzegovinian and highlander tribes
from Brda region, such as Rovčani, Moračani,
Drobnjaci

Drobnjaci and Kuči),
and slavicized Vlachs,[53] Albanians[53] and German Saxons.[53]
Genetic studies on
Bosniaks

Bosniaks show close affinity to other neighboring
South Slavs.[54]
Y-DNA

Y-DNA results show notable frequencies of I2
(43.50%),
R-M17

R-M17 (15.30%),
E-V13

E-V13 (12.90%),
J-M410
.png/440px-J2(Y-DNA).png)
J-M410 (7.10%). Principal
component analysis of Y-chromosomal haplogroup frequencies among the
three ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbs, Croats, and
Bosniaks, showed that
Serbs

Serbs and
Bosniaks

Bosniaks are genetically closer to
each other than either of them is to Croats.[55]
History
Main articles: History of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina and History of
Bosniaks
Middle Ages
Main article:
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Middle Ages
The western
Balkans

Balkans had been reconquered from "barbarians" by
Byzantine Emperor
Justinian
.jpg/440px-Mosaic_of_Justinianus_I_-_Basilica_San_Vitale_(Ravenna).jpg)
Justinian (r. 527–565).
Sclaveni

Sclaveni (Slavs) raided
the western Balkans, including Bosnia, in the 6th century.[56] The De
Administrando Imperio (DAI; ca. 960) mentions Bosnia
(Βοσωνα/Bosona) as a "small/little land" (or "small
country",[57] χοριον Βοσωνα/horion Bosona) part of
Serbia,[57] having been settled by
Serbs

Serbs along with
Zahumlje

Zahumlje and
Travunija

Travunija (both with territory in modern-day Bosnia and
Herzegovina);[49] it was referred to only once, at the end of the 32nd
chapter on the
Serbs

Serbs (a chapter overall drawn from older
writings).[57] This is the first mention of a Bosnian entity; it was
not a national entity, but a geographical one, mentioned strictly as
an integral part of Serbia.[57] Some scholars assert that the
inclusion of Bosnia in
Serbia

Serbia merely reflect the status in DAI's
time.[58] In the Early Middle Ages, Fine, Jr. believes that what is
today western
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of Croatia, while the
rest was divided between
Croatia

Croatia and Serbia.[49]
After the death of Serbian ruler
Časlav

Časlav (r. ca. 927–960), Bosnia
seems to have broken away from the Serbian state and became
politically independent.[59] Bulgaria briefly subjugated Bosnia at the
turn of the 10th century, after which it became part of the Byzantine
Empire.[59] In the 11th century, Bosnia was part of the Serbian state
of Duklja.[59][60]
In 1137, the
Kingdom of Hungary
.svg/250px-Flag_of_Hungary_(1915-1918;_angels).svg.png)
Kingdom of Hungary annexed most of the Bosnia region,
then briefly lost it in 1167 to Byzantum before regaining her in the
1180s. Prior to 1180 (the reign of Ban Kulin) parts of Bosnia were
briefly found in Serb or Croat units.[61] Anto Babić notes that
"Bosnia is mentioned on several occasions as a land of equal
importance and on the same footing as all other [South Slavic] lands
of this area."[62]
After frequent change of rule over the area between regional powers, a
de facto independent Bosnian state known as the
Banate of Bosnia

Banate of Bosnia arose
in the 12th century, though nominally under Hungarian sway.
Banate of Bosnia

Banate of Bosnia and the Bosnian Church
Main articles:
Banate of Bosnia

Banate of Bosnia and Bosnian Church
Medieval monumental tombstones (Stećci) that lie scattered across
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina are historically associated with the Bosnian
Church movement
Hval's Miscellany is a 15th-century
Bosnian Church

Bosnian Church codex and one of
the best known medieval manuscripts written in bosančica.
Christian missions emanating from Rome and Constantinople had since
the ninth century pushed into the
Balkans

Balkans and firmly established
Catholicism in Croatia, while Orthodoxy came to prevail in Bulgaria,
Macedonia, and eventually most of Serbia. Bosnia, lying in between,
remained a no-man's land due to its mountainous terrain and poor
communications. By the twelfth century most
Bosnians

Bosnians were probably
influenced by a nominal form of Catholicism characterized by a
widespread illiteracy and, not least, lack of knowledge in Latin
amongst Bosnian clergymen. Around this period, Bosnian independence
from Hungarian overlordship was effected during the reign
(1180–1204) of
Kulin Ban

Kulin Ban whose rule marked the start of a
religiopolitical controversy involving the native Bosnian Church. The
Hungarians, frustrated by Bosnia's assertion of independence,
successfully denigrated its patchy Christianity as heresy; in turn
rendering a pretext to reassert their authority in Bosnia. Hungarian
efforts to gain the loyalty and cooperation of the
Bosnians

Bosnians by
attempting to establish religious jurisdiction over Bosnia failed
however, inciting the Hungarians to persuade the papacy to declare a
crusade: finally invading Bosnia and warring there between 1235 and
1241. Experiencing various gradual success against stubborn Bosnian
resistance, the Hungarians eventually withdrew weakened by a Mongol
attack on Hungary. On the request of the Hungarians, Bosnia was
subordinated to an Hungarian archbishop by the pope, though rejected
by the Bosnians, the Hungarian-appointed bishop was driven out of
Bosnia. The Bosnians, rejecting ties with international Catholicism
came to consolidate their own independent church, known as the Bosnian
Church, condemned as heretical by both the Roman Catholic and Eastern
Orthodox churches. Though scholars have traditionally claimed the
church to be of a dualist, or neo-
Manichaean

Manichaean or
Bogomil

Bogomil nature
(characterized by the rejection of an omnipotent God, the Trinity,
church buildings, the cross, the cult of saints, and religious art),
some, such as John Fine, have stressed domestic evidence indicating
the retention of basic Catholic theology throughout the Middle
Ages.[63] Most scholars agree that adherents of the church referred to
themselves by a number of names; dobri
Bošnjani or
Bošnjani ("good
Bosnians" or simply "Bosnians"), Krstjani (Christians), dobri mužje
(good men), dobri ljudi (good people) and boni homines (following the
example of a dualist group in Italy). Catholic sources refer to them
as patarini (patarenes), while the
Serbs

Serbs called them Babuni (after
Babuna Mountain), the Serb term for Bogomils. The
Ottomans referred to
them as kristianlar while the Orthodox and Catholics were called gebir
or kafir, meaning "unbeliever".[64] The majority of the knowledge
about the church is retrieved from outside sources.
Expansion and the Bosnian Kingdom
Main article: Kingdom of Bosnia
The coat of arms of the Kotromanić dynasty on a 14th-century reverse
– with the fleur-de-lis, which is today used as a Bosniak national
symbol and was formerly featured on the flag of the Republic of Bosnia
and Herzegovina
Territorial evolution of the Bosnian Kingdom
Queen
Catherine of Bosnia

Catherine of Bosnia fled the Ottoman invasion, while her
children, prince Sigismund of Bosnia and princess Catherine, were
converted to Islam. Her daughter Catherine was erected the Kral Kızı
Monument after her death, while Sigismund, or later Ishak-beg
Kraljević, was designated as
Sanjak-bey of
Bolu
.jpg/500px-Vue_aérienne_entre_Ankara_et_Istanbul_(1).jpg)
Bolu by Mehmed the
Conqueror.
The Bosnian state was significantly strengthened under the rule (ca.
1318–1353) of ban
Stephen II of Bosnia

Stephen II of Bosnia who patched up Bosnia's
relations with the Hungarian kingdom and expanded the Bosnian state,
in turn incorporating Catholic and Orthodox domains to the west and
south; the latter following the conquer of
Zahumlje

Zahumlje (roughly
modern-day Herzegovina) from the Serbian Nemanjić dynasty. In the
1340s,
Franciscan

Franciscan missions were launched against alleged "heresy" in
Bosnia; prior to this, there had been no Catholics – or at least no
Catholic clergy or organization – in Bosnia proper for nearly a
century. By the year 1347, Stephen II was the first Bosnian ruler to
accept Catholicism, which from then on came to be – at least
nominally – the religion of all of Bosnia's medieval rulers, except
for possibly
Stephen Ostoja of Bosnia (1398–1404, 1409–18) who
continued to maintain close relations with the Bosnian Church. The
Bosnian nobility would subsequently often undertake nominal oaths to
quell "heretical movements" – in reality, however, the Bosnian state
was characterized by a religious plurality and tolerance up until the
Ottoman invasion of Bosnia in 1463.[65]
By the 1370s, the
Banate of Bosnia

Banate of Bosnia had evolved into the powerful
Kingdom of Bosnia

Kingdom of Bosnia following the coronation of
Tvrtko I of Bosnia

Tvrtko I of Bosnia as
the first Bosnian king in 1377, further expanding into neighboring
Serb and Croat dominions. However, even with the emergence of a
kingdom, no concrete Bosnian identity emerged; religious plurality,
independent-minded nobility, and a rugged, mountainous terrain
precluded cultural and political unity. As Noel Malcolm stated: "All
that one can sensibly say about the ethnic identity of the
Bosnians

Bosnians is
this: they were the
Slavs

Slavs who lived in Bosnia."[66]
Islamization and Ottoman era
See also: History of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina (1463–1878), Ottoman
conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Islamization of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, and Bosnian uprising
Upon his father's death in 1461, Stephen Tomašević succeeded to the
throne of Bosnia, a kingdom whose existence was being increasingly
threatened by the Ottomans. In same year, Stephen Tomašević made an
alliance with the Hungarians and asked
Pope Pius II

Pope Pius II for help in the
face of an impending Ottoman invasion. In 1463, after a dispute over
the tribute paid annually by the
Bosnian Kingdom

Bosnian Kingdom to the Ottomans, he
sent for help from the Venetians. However, no help ever arrived to
Bosnia from Christendom;[67] King
Matthias Corvinus

Matthias Corvinus of Hungary,
Skenderbeg

Skenderbeg of Albania and the Ragusans all failed to carry out their
promises,[68] while the Venetians flatly refused the king's pleas.[69]
In 1463, Sultan
Mehmed the Conqueror

Mehmed the Conqueror led an army into the country. The
royal city of
Bobovac

Bobovac soon fell, leaving Stephen Tomašević to
retreat to
Jajce
.jpg/510px-Jajce_(kolaž).jpg)
Jajce and later to Ključ. Mehmed invaded Bosnia and
conquered it very quickly, executing the last Bosnian king Stephen
Tomašević and his uncle Radivoj. Bosnia officially fell in 1463 and
became the westernmost province of the Ottoman Empire.
The Croatian humanist and poet Marko Marulić, known as the Father of
the Croatian Renaissance,[70] wrote Molitva suprotiva Turkom (Prayer
against the Turks) – a poem in 172 doubly rhymed dodecasyllablic
stanzas of anti-Turkish theme, written between 1493 and 1500, where
he, among others, included
Bosniaks

Bosniaks as the one of peoples who resisted
the Ottomans.[71]
The rise of Ottoman rule in the
Balkans

Balkans modified the religious picture
of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina as the
Ottomans brought with them a new
religion, Islam. Throughout the entire
Balkans

Balkans people were
sporadically converting in small numbers; Bosnia, by contrast,
experienced a rapid and extensive conversion of the local population
to Islam, and by the early 1600s approximately two thirds of the
population of Bosnia were Muslim.[51] Slovenian observer Benedikt
Kuripečič compiled the first reports of the religious communities in
the 1530s. According to the records for 1528 and 1529, there were a
total of 42,319 Christian and 26,666 Muslim households in the sanjaks
(Ottoman administrative units) of Bosnia, Zvornik and Herzegovina. In
a 1624 report on Bosnia (excluding Herzegovina) by Peter Masarechi, an
early-seventeenth-century apostolic visitor of the Roman Catholic
Church to Bosnia, the population figures are given as 450,000 Muslims,
150,000 Catholics and 75,000 Orthodox Christians.[72] Generally,
historians agree that the Islamization of the Bosnian population was
not the result of violent methods of conversions but was, for the most
part, peaceful and voluntary.[73] Scholars have long debated the
reasons that made this collective acceptance of
Islam

Islam possible among
the Bosniaks, although the religious dynamic of medieval Bosnia is
frequently cited.[74] Peter Masarechi, saw four basic reasons to
explain the more intensive Islamization in Bosnia: the 'heretical
past' of the Bosnians, which had left them confessionally weak and
capable of transferring their allegiance to Islam; the example of many
Bosnians

Bosnians who had attained high office through the devşirme, and as
powerful men were in a position to encourage their relatives and
associates to convert; a desire to escape from the burdens of taxation
and other services levied on non-Muslim citizens; and finally, an
equally strong desire to escape the proselytizing importunities of
Franciscan

Franciscan monks among the Orthodox population.[75] Always on a purely
religious ground, it is also said, by the orientalist Thomas Walker
Arnold for instance, that because of the major heresy in the region at
the time, oppressed by the Catholics and against whom Pope John XXII
even launched a crusade in 1325, the people were more receptive to the
Ottoman Turks. In fact, in the tradition of Bosnian Christians, there
were several practices that resembled Islam; like for instance;
praying five times a day (reciting the Lord's Prayer).[76] In time,
hesitant steps were made towards acceptance of Islam. At first, this
Islamisation was more or less nominal. In reality, it was an attempt
at reconciling the two faiths. It was a lengthy and halting progress
towards their final abandoning of their beliefs. For centuries, they
were not considered full-fledged Muslims, and they even paid taxes
like Christians.[77] This process of Islamisation was not yet finished
in the 17th century, as is witnessed by a keen English observer, Paul
Rycaut, who states in The Present State of the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire in 1670:
"But those of this Sect who strangely mix Christianity and
Mahometanism together, are many of the Souldiers who live on the
confines of
Serbia

Serbia and Bosnia; reading the gospel in the Sclavonian
tongue…; besides which, they are curious to learn the mysteries of
the Alchoran [Quran], and the Law of Arabick tongue. [...] The Potures
[Muslims] of Bosna are of this Sect, but pay taxes as Christians do;
they abhor Images and the sign of the Cross; they circumcise, bringing
the Authority of Christ's example for it."[78]
Stari Most

Stari Most was a 16th-century Ottoman bridge in the city of Mostar.
The Old
Bridge

Bridge stood for 427 years, until it was destroyed on 9
November 1993 by Bosnian Croat forces during the Croat-Bosniak War.
The bridge is considered as one of the most exemplary pieces of
Islamic

Islamic architecture in the
Balkans

Balkans and was designed by Mimar
Hayruddin, a student and apprentice of the famous architect Mimar
Sinan.[79][80][81]
Habsburg delegation, Joseph Freiherr von Lamberg and Nikola Jurišić,
in front of Gazi Husrev-beg, a Bosniak[82] sanjak-bey in the Ottoman
Empire during the first half of the 16th century. He was an effective
military strategist, and the greatest donor and builder of Sarajevo.
By, Benedikt Kuripečič, 1530.
Many children of Christian parents were separated from their families
and raised to be members of the
Janissary

Janissary Corps (this practice was
known as the devşirme system, 'devşirmek' meaning 'to gather' or 'to
recruit'). Owing to their education (for they were taught arts,
science, maths, poetry, literature and many of the languages spoken in
the Ottoman Empire), Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian became one of the
diplomatic languages at the porte. The Ottoman period that followed
was characterized by a change in the landscape through a gradual
modification of the settlements with the introduction of bazaars,
military garrisons and mosques. Converting to
Islam

Islam brought
considerable advantages, including access to Ottoman trade networks,
bureaucratic positions and the army. As a result, many
Bosnians

Bosnians were
appointed to serve as beylerbeys, sanjak-beys, mullahs, qadis, pashas,
muftis, janissary commanders, writers, and so forth in Istanbul,
Jerusalem

Jerusalem and Medina. Among these were important historical figures
were: prince Sigismund of Bosnia (later Ishak
Bey Kraloğlu),
Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha, Isa-beg Ishaković, Gazi Husrev-beg, Damat
Ibrahim Pasha, Ferhad
Pasha

Pasha Sokolović, Lala Mustafa
Pasha

Pasha and Sarı
Süleyman Pasha. At least seven viziers were of Bosnian origin, of
which the most renowned was Sokollu Mehmed
Pasha

Pasha (who served as Grand
Vizier under three sultans: Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II, and
Murad III[33]). The Ottoman rule also saw many architectural
investments in Bosnia and the creation and development of many new
cities including
Sarajevo

Sarajevo and Mostar. This is mostly because of the
high esteem the
Bosniaks

Bosniaks held in the eyes of the Sultans and the
Turks. Bosnia became also a strategic base from which the Ottomans
launched their armies northward and westward on campaigns of conquest
and pillage. The Turks regarded Bosnia as a "bastion of Islam" and its
inhabitants served as frontier guards (serhatlije).[83] The presence
of
Bosnians

Bosnians in the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire had an important social and
political effect on the country: it created a class of powerful state
officials and their descendants which came into conflict with the
feudal-military spahis and gradually encroached upon their land,
hastening the movement away from the feudal tenure towards private
estates and tax-farmers, creating a unique situation in Bosnia where
the rulers were native inhabitants converted to Islam.[84] Although
geographically located in Europe, Bosnia was perceived as culturally
distant. Because of the strong
Islamic

Islamic character of the country during
the Ottoman period, Bosnia was perceived as more oriental than the
Orient itself, an 'authentic East within Europe'.[85] The English
archeologist Arthur Evans, who traveled through Bosnia and Herzegovina
in the 1870s, claimed that "Bosnia remains the chosen land of
Mahometan [Muslim]
Conservatism

Conservatism [...] fanaticism has struck its
deepest roots among her renegade population, and reflects itself even
in the dress."[86][87]
Unlike all other European regions that came under Ottoman control,
Bosnia would retain its integrity as a distinct entity, first as the
Sanjak of Bosnia, and then as the Eyalet of Bosnia, the borders of
which were largely based on the preceding Bosnian Kingdom.[88]
Ottoman rule affected the ethnic and religious make-up of Bosnia and
Herzegovina

Herzegovina in additional ways. A large number of Bosnian Catholics
retreated to the still unconquered Catholic regions of Croatia,
Dalmatia, and Slovenia, at the time controlled by Habsburg Monarchy
and the Republic of Venice, respectively. To fill up depopulated areas
of northern and western Eyalet of Bosnia, the
Ottomans encouraged the
migration of large numbers of hardy settlers with military skills from
Serbia

Serbia and Herzegovina. Many of these settlers were Vlachs, members of
a nomadic pre-Slav
Balkan

Balkan population that had acquired a Latinate
language and specialized in stock breeding, horse raising,
long-distance trade, and fighting. Most were members of the Serbian
Orthodox church. Before the Ottoman conquest, that church had very few
members in the Bosnian lands outside
Herzegovina

Herzegovina and the eastern strip
of the
Drina

Drina valley; there is no definite evidence of any Orthodox
church buildings in central, northern, or western Bosnia before 1463.
With time most of the Vlach population adopted a Serb
identity.[89][90][91]
The 17th century brought major defeats and military setbacks on the
Ottoman Empire's western frontier. With major wars occurring every few
decades, Bosnia was economically and militarily exhausted. For Bosnia
and Bosniaks, the most critical conflict of all was the Great Turkish
War. At its very start in the mid-1680s, the Habsburgs retook nearly
all of Ottoman Hungary, sending tens of thousands of Muslim refugees
flooding into the Bosnian region. A similar process occurred with the
Habsburg conquest of
Lika

Lika and Slavonia. Thousands of Muslims from
these parts fled eastward into the Bosnian pashaluk, while those who
remained were forcibly converted to Catholicism. In total, it is
estimated that more than 100,000 Muslims were expelled from the
frontier regions and settled in Bosnia during this time. Many brought
with them a new sense of hostility towards Christianity.[citation
needed]
Ottoman military disasters continued into the next decade. In 1697,
Habsburg
Prince Eugene of Savoy

Prince Eugene of Savoy conducted an extremely successful
border raid which culminated in
Sarajevo

Sarajevo being put to the torch. The
Great Turkish War

Great Turkish War was finally ended by the
Treaty of Karlowitz

Treaty of Karlowitz in
1699. However, in the late 1710s yet another war between the Ottomans
and the Habsburg-Venetian alliance ensued. It was ended by the Treaty
of Passarowitz in 1718, but not before sending another wave of Muslim
refugees fleeing to Bosnia proper. These events created great unrest
among Bosniaks. The sentiment of discontent was further magnified by
war and an increased tax burden. As a result, Bosniak revolts sprang
up in
Herzegovina

Herzegovina in 1727, 1728, 1729, and 1732. A large plague that
resulted in the death of thousands during the early 1730s contributed
to the general chaos. In 1736, seeking to exploit these conditions,
The Habsburgs broke the
Treaty of Passarowitz

Treaty of Passarowitz and crossed the Sava
river boundary. In one of the most significant events in Bosniak
history, local Bosniak nobility organized a defense and counterattack
completely independent of the ineffective imperial authorities. On 4
August 1737, at the Battle of Banja Luka, the outnumbered Bosniak
forces routed the Habsburg army and sent them fleeing back to
Slavonia.
Gradačac Castle, built in 1824 by Bosniak general Husein-kapetan
Gradaščević, who rallied the
Bosnians

Bosnians against the Turkish
occupation and drove the
Ottomans out to Kosovo, winning Bosnia its
sovereignty for the coming year.
The Ottoman military reform efforts, that called for further expansion
of the centrally controlled army (nizam), new taxes and more Ottoman
bureaucracy would have important consequences in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. These reforms weakened the special status and privileges
for the Bosniak aristocracy and the formation of a modern army
endangered the privileges of the Bosnian Muslim military men and of
local lords, both were demanding greater independence from the
Constantinople.[92]
Barbara Jelavich states: "The Muslims of Bosnia
and
Herzegovina

Herzegovina [...] were becoming increasingly disillusioned with
the Ottoman government. The centralizing reforms cut directly into
their privileges and seemed to offer no compensating benefits.
[...]"[93] The turning point came with the end of the Russo-Ottoman
War of 1828–1829 and the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829. According to
the provisions of the treaty, the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire granted suzerainty to
Serbia

Serbia as a result of the Serbian revolution.[94][95] In a move that
outraged
Bosniaks

Bosniaks and launched numerous protests, newly autonomous
Serbia

Serbia was also given six districts (Bosnian: nahijas) that had
traditionally belonged to Bosnia. Following this move, seen as the
confiscation of historically Bosnian lands, the Bosnian autonomy
movement was born. In 1831 they joined together under the leader
Husein-kapetan Gradaščević and formally demanded the autonomy of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina with an elected native ruler. Gradaščević
made a call in May 1831, demanding that all Bosniak aristocrats
immediately join his army, along with all from the general populace
who wished to do so. Thousands rushed to join him, among them being
numerous Bosnian Christians, who were said to comprise up to a third
of his total forces. But the Ottoman government crushed the revolt,
led by the local Herzegovinian
Ali-paša Rizvanbegović

Ali-paša Rizvanbegović of Stolac, who
was later given Pashaluk of
Herzegovina

Herzegovina as a reward by the sultan
Mahmud II.
Husein Gradaščević

Husein Gradaščević died in Constantinople, under
controversial circumstances in 1834, and became a living legend in his
own time. Upon his death, he also became something of a martyr for
Bosnian pride. This positive sentiment was not exclusive to the Muslim
population, as Christians from
Posavina

Posavina are thought to have shared a
similar view for decades.
Husein Gradaščević

Husein Gradaščević is still today
considered a Bosniak national hero and one of the most revered figures
in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The rise of the Bosnian national movement
See also: Bosnian nationalism
National consciousness developed in
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina among the
three ethnic groups in the 19th century, with national identities
having had a major impact from the
Millet system

Millet system in place in Ottoman
society (where 'religion and nationality were closely intertwined and
often synonyms'). During Ottoman rule, there was a clear distinction
between Muslims and non-Muslims. There were different tax categories
and clothes, but only in the late 18th- and early 19th century "the
differentiations develop into ethnic and national forms of
identification", according to Soeren Keil. The bordering countries of
Serbia

Serbia and
Croatia

Croatia consequently laid claim to Bosnia and Herzegovina;
a combination of religion, ethnic identity and territorial claim was
the basis for the three distinct nations.[96]
However, members of the 19th century Illyrian movement, most notably
franciscan Ivan Franjo Jukić, whose
Bosnianhood
.svg/440px-Flag_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina_(1992-1998).svg.png)
Bosnianhood is apparent from his
very nom de plume "Slavophile Bosniak" (Slavoljub Bošnjak),[97]
emphasized
Bosniaks

Bosniaks (Bosnians) alongside
Serbs

Serbs and
Croats

Croats as one of
the "tribes" that constitute the "Illyrian nation".[98]
Although a Catholic, Fra
Ivan Franjo Jukić

Ivan Franjo Jukić considered himself Bosniak
and advocated the preservation of a unified Bosniak nation across all
three denominations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Influenced by the ideas of the
French Revolution

French Revolution and Illyrian
Movement, the majority of Bosnian Franciscans supported the freedom,
brotherhood, and unity of all South Slavs, while at the same time
stressing a unique Bosniak identity as separate from the Serb and
Croat identities. However, as pointed out by Denis Bašić, being a
Bosniak in the 19th century was very much a social status granted only
to the Muslim Bosnian aristocracy. Accordingly, Ivan Franjo Jukić
writes in 1851 that "the begs and other Muslim lords call
[Slavic-speaking Muslim peasants] Poturice [the Turkified ones] or
Ćose [the beardless ones], while Christians call them Balije [a
vulgar term that derives from the Ottoman period, and which applied to
occasional Bosnian Muslim nomads who lived in mountainous areas. Today
it is considered the most derogatory term for Bosniaks]."[99]
Sometimes the term Turčin (Turk) was commonly used to describe the
Bosnian and other Slavic Muslims, designating religious, and not
ethnic belonging. The Italian diplomat M. A. Pigafetta, wrote in 1585
that Bosnian Christian converts to
Islam

Islam refused to be identified as
"Turks", but as "Muslims".[100] Klement Božić, an interpreter at the
Prussian consulate in Bosnia during the 19th century stated that the
"Bosnian Christians are calling their Muslim compatriots as 'Turks'
and Muslim foreigners as 'Ottomans'; nor will ever a Muslim Bosniak
say to an Ottoman, that he is a Turk or call him his brother. [...] A
Bosniak Muslim can not tolerate the
Ottomans and he [the Ottoman]
despises the Bosniak".[101] Conrad Malte-Brun, a French-Danish
geographer, states also in his Universal Geography, in 1829, that the
term infidel is commonly used among the Muslims of Constantinople to
depict the Muslims of Bosnia; further he states that Bosnians
descended from the warriors of the northern race, and that their
barbarism needs to be imputed to an intellectual separation from the
rest of the Europe, because of their lack of the enlightenment of
Christendom.[102] Croatian writer Matija Mažuranić wrote in 1842
that "in Bosnia Christians do not dare to call themselves Bosniaks.
Mohammedans consider only themselves
Bosniaks

Bosniaks and Christians are only
the Bosniak serfs (raya) or, to use the other word, Vlachs."[103] The
Muslim city people, craftsmen and artisans, i.e., those who were not
serfs but rather free, that is, tax-exempt, also called themselves
Bosniaks

Bosniaks and their language bošnjački (Tur. boşnakça).[104] The
French diplomat and scholar Massieu de Clerval, who visited Bosnia in
1855, stated in his report that the "Bosnian Greeks [i.e. Orthodox
Christians], Muslims and Catholics live together and frequently in
very good harmony when foreign influences do not awake fanaticism and
the question of religious pride".[105]
Jukić's pupil and fellow friar Antun Knežević, was one of the main
protagonists of the multireligious Bošnjak (Bosniak) identity as
well, and even more vocal then friar Jukić. He fiercely advocated
against imminent
Croatization of Catholics on one side, as well as
imminent
Serbianization of Orthodox people on the other, as he called
it in his work. His position and doctrine was that all
Bosnians

Bosnians are
one people of three faiths, and that up to the late 19th century, no
Croats

Croats and
Serbs

Serbs lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although Knežević
was not a unique phenomenon in this sense, he certainly had strongest
impact, next to Jukić.[106][107] Prior to that it was Franciscan
Filip Lastrić

Filip Lastrić (1700–1783) who first wrote on the commonality of the
citizens in the Bosnian eyalet, regardless of their religion. In his
work Epitome vetustatum provinciae Bosniensis (1765), he claimed that
all inhabitants of the Bosnian province (eyalet) constituted "one
people" of the same descent.[108][109]
Bosniak resistance during the siege of
Sarajevo

Sarajevo in 1878 against the
Austro-Hungarian troops. Illustration from
The Graphic

The Graphic (London
newspapers), 1878.
Austro-Hungarian rule
See also: History of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina (1878–1918),
Austro-Hungarian campaign in
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878,
Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Bosnian crisis
The conflict rapidly spread and came to involve several
Balkan

Balkan states
and Great Powers, which eventually forced the
Ottomans to cede
administration of the country to Austria-
Hungary

Hungary through the Treaty of
Berlin (1878).[110] After the uprising in
Herzegovina

Herzegovina (1875–78) the
population of
Bosnian Muslims

Bosnian Muslims and Orthodox Christians in Bosnia
decreased. The Orthodox Christian population (534,000 in 1870)
decreased by 7 percent while Muslims decreased by a third.[111] The
Austrian census in 1879 recorded altogether 449,000 Muslims and
496,485 Orthodox Christians in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The losses were
245,000 Muslims and 37,500 Orthodox Christians.[111]
The loss of almost all Ottoman territories during the late 19th and
early 20th century, especially after the Austro-Hungarian annexation
of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina and the
Balkan

Balkan Wars, resulted in a large
number of Muslim emigrants to Turkey, known as "Muhacirs".
A large number of Muslims left
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina following the
Austrian occupation; official Austro-Hungarian records show that
56,000 people, mostly Muslims, emigrated between 1883 and 1920, but
the number of Muslim emigrants is probably much greater, as the
official record does not reflect emigration before 1883, nor include
those who left without permits. Those who stayed were concentrated in
towns and particularly proud of their urban culture, especially in the
Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, which soon became one of the most
multi-cultural cities in the former Yugoslavia.
During the 20th century
Bosnian Muslims

Bosnian Muslims founded several cultural and
welfare associations in order to promote and preserve their cultural
identity. The most prominent associations were Gajret, Merhamet,
Narodna Uzdanica and later Preporod. The Bosnian Muslim intelligentsia
also gathered around the magazine Bosnia in the 1860s to promote the
idea of a unified Bosniak nation. This Bosniak group would remain
active for several decades, with the continuity of ideas and the use
of the Bosniak name. From 1891 until 1910, they published a
Latin-script magazine titled Bošnjak (Bosniak), which promoted the
concept of Bosniakism (Bošnjaštvo) and openness toward European
culture. Since that time the
Bosniaks

Bosniaks adopted European culture under
the broader influence of Habsburg Monarchy. At the same time they kept
the peculiar characteristics of their Bosnian
Islamic

Islamic lifestyle.[112]
These initial, but important initiatives were followed by a new
magazine named Behar whose founders were Safvet-beg Bašagić
(1870–1934),
Edhem Mulabdić (1862–1954) and Osman Nuri Hadžić
(1869–1937).[113]
After the occupation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878, the Austrian
administration of Benjamin Kallay, the Austro-Hungarian governor of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, officially endorsed "Bosniakhood" as the basis
of a multi-confessional Bosnian nation that would include Christians
as well as Muslims. The policy attempted to isolate Bosnia and
Herzegovina

Herzegovina from its irredentist neighbors (Orthodox
Serbia

Serbia and
Catholic Croatia, but also the Muslims of the Ottoman Empire) and to
negate the concepts of Serbian and Croatian nationhood which had
already begun to take ground among the country's Orthodox and Catholic
communities, respectively.[114][115][116] The notion of Bosnian
nationhood was, however, firmly established only among the Bosnian
Muslims, while fiercely opposed by Serb and Croat nationalists who
were instead seeking to claim
Bosnian Muslims

Bosnian Muslims as their own, a move
that was rejected by most of them.[117]
Bosniaks

Bosniaks in the German newspaper
Die Gartenlaube

Die Gartenlaube – Illustrirtes
Familienblatt (1894).
After Kallay's death in 1903, the official policy slowly drifted
towards accepting the three-ethnic reality of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ultimately, the failure of Austro-Hungarian ambitions to nurture a
Bosniak identity amongst the Catholic and Orthodox led to almost
exclusively
Bosnian Muslims

Bosnian Muslims adhering to it, with 'Bosniakhood'
consequently adopted as a Bosnian Muslim ethnic ideology by
nationalist figures.[118] The journal "Bošnjak" ("Bosniak") founded
in 1891 by
Mehmed-beg Kapetanović Ljubušak

Mehmed-beg Kapetanović Ljubušak declared that Bosniaks
(in the sense of all Bosnians) were neither
Croats

Croats nor
Serbs

Serbs but a
distinct, though related people. It remarked that: "whereas the Croats
argue that the Orthodox are our greatest enemies and that
Serbdom

Serbdom is
the same as Orthodoxy, the
Serbs

Serbs wear themselves out calling our
attention to some bogus history, by which they have Serbianized the
whole world. We shall never deny that we belong to the South Slav
family; but we shall remain Bosniaks, like our forefathers, and
nothing else."[119]
Bosniaks

Bosniaks formed 31% of
Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry

Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry of the
Austro-Hungarian Army.[120] BHI was commended for their bravery in
service of the Austrian emperor in WWI, winning more medals than any
other unit.[121]
The jaunty military march Die Bosniaken Kommen was composed by Eduard
Wagnes in their honor.
In November 1881, upon introducing the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry,
the Austro-Hungarian government passed a Military Law (Wehrgesetz)
imposing an obligation upon all
Bosnian Muslims

Bosnian Muslims to serve in the
Imperial Army, which led to widespread riots in December 1881 and
throughout 1882; the Austrians appealed to the
Mufti

Mufti of Sarajevo,
Mustafa Hilmi Hadžiomerović (born 1816) and he soon issued a Fatwa
"calling on the
Bosniaks

Bosniaks to obey military Law."[122] Other important
Muslim community leaders such as Mehmed-beg Kapetanović Ljubušak,
later Mayor of Sarajevo, also appealed to young Muslim men to serve in
the Habsburg military.
In 1903, the
Gajret cultural society was established; it promoted Serb
identity among the
Slavic Muslims

Slavic Muslims of Austria-
Hungary

Hungary (today's Bosnia
and Herzegovina)[123] and viewed that the Muslims were
Serbs

Serbs lacking
ethnic consciousness.[124] The view that Muslims were
Serbs

Serbs is
probably the oldest of three ethnic theories among the Bosnian Muslims
themselves.[125]
At the outbreak of World War I,
Bosnian Muslims

Bosnian Muslims were conscripted to
serve in the Austro-Hungarian army, some chose to desert rather than
fight against fellow Slavs, whilst some
Bosniaks

Bosniaks attacked Bosnian
Serbs

Serbs in apparent anger after the assassination of Archduke Franz
Ferdinand. Austro-Hungarian authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina
imprisoned and extradited approximately 5,500 prominent Serbs,
700–2,200 of whom died in prison. 460
Serbs

Serbs were sentenced to death
and a predominantly Bosniak[126][127][128] special militia known as
the
Schutzkorps

Schutzkorps was established and carried out the persecution of
Serbs.[129] Neven Anđelić writes One can only guess what kind of
feeling was dominant in Bosnia at the time. Both animosity and
tolerance existed at the same time.[130]
Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia and World War II
See also: History of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina (1918-1941), History of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina (1941–1945), and History of Bosnia and
Herzegovina

Herzegovina (1945–1992)
Mehmed Spaho

Mehmed Spaho was one of the most important members of the Bosnian
Muslim community during the Kingdom of Serbs,
Croats

Croats and Slovenes.
13 February 1943 report of
Chetnik

Chetnik commander Pavle Đurišić
detailing massacres of thousands of Muslims in the counties of
Čajniče,
Foča

Foča and Pljevlja.
The Eternal flame (Bosnian: Vječna vatra) in Sarajevo, is a memorial
to the Serb, Muslim (i.e. Bosniak) and Croat military and civilian
victims of the Second World War.
After World War I, the Kingdom of Serbs,
Croats

Croats and
Slovenes
.jpg/440px-Zemljovid_slovenske_dežele_in_pokrajin_(Original).jpg)
Slovenes (later
known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) was formed. In it, Bosniaks
alongside Macedonians and
Montenegrins

Montenegrins were not acknowledged as a
distinct ethnic group.[131] However; the first provisional cabinet
included a Muslim.[132]
Politically,
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina was split into four banovinas with
Muslims being the minority in each.[133] After the Cvetković-Maček
Agreement 13 counties of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina were incorporated into
the Banovina of
Croatia

Croatia and 38 counties into the projected Serbian
portion of Yugoslavia.[133] In calculating the division, the Muslims
were discounted altogether[133] which prompted the
Bosniaks

Bosniaks into
creating the Movement for the Autonomy of Bosnia-Herzegovina.[134]
Moreover, land reforms proclaimed in the February 1919 affected 66.9
per cent of the land in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Given that the old
landowning was predominantly Bosniak, the land reforms were resisted.
Violence against Muslims and the enforced seizure of their lands
shortly ensued.
Bosniaks

Bosniaks were offered compensation but it was never
fully materialized. The regime sought to pay 255,000,000 dinars in
compensation per a period of 40 years with an interest rate of 6%.
Payments began in 1936 and were expected to be completed in 1975;
however in 1941 World War Two erupted and only 10% of the projected
remittances were made.[132]
During World War II, Bosniak elite and notables issued resolutions or
memorandums in various cities that publicly denounced Croat-Nazi
collaborationist measures, laws and violence against Serbs: Prijedor
(23 September),
Sarajevo

Sarajevo (the Resolution of
Sarajevo

Sarajevo Muslims of 12
October),
Mostar
.jpg/500px-Mostar_(collage_image).jpg)
Mostar (21 October),
Banja Luka

Banja Luka (12 November),
Bijeljina

Bijeljina (2
December) and
Tuzla
.jpg/600px-Tuzla_(collage_image).jpg)
Tuzla (11 December). The resolutions condemned the
Ustaše

Ustaše in Bosnia and Herzegovina, both for their mistreatment of
Muslims and for their attempts at turning Muslims and
Serbs

Serbs against
one another.[135] One memorandum declared that since the beginning of
the
Ustaše

Ustaše regime, that Muslims dreaded the lawless activities that
some Ustaše, some Croatian government authorities, and various
illegal groups perpetrated against the Serbs.[136] At this time
several massacres against
Bosniaks

Bosniaks were carried out by Serb and
Montenegrin Chetniks.[137][138][139] It is estimated that 75,000
Muslims died in the war,[140] although the number may have been as
high as 86,000 or 6.8 percent of their pre-war population.[141] A
number of Muslims joined the
Yugoslav Partisan

Yugoslav Partisan forces, "making it a
truly multi-ethnic force".[130] In the entirety of the war the
Yugoslav Partisans of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina were 23 percent
Muslim.[142] Even so, Serb-dominated Yugoslav Partisans would often
enter Bosniak villages killing Bosniak intellectuals and other
potential opponents.[143] In February 1943 the Germans approved the
13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)

13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) and
began recruitment. Muslims composed approximately 12 percent of the
civil service and armed forces of the Independent State of
Croatia.[144]
Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia (1945-1992)
See also: Socialist Republic of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina and History of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina (1945–92)
During the socialist Yugoslav period, the Muslims continued to be
treated as a religious group instead of an ethnic group.[145] In the
1948 census, Bosnia and Herzegovina's Muslims had three options in the
census: "Serb-Muslim", "Croat-Muslim", and "ethnically undeclared
Muslim".[145] In the 1953 census the category "Yugoslav, ethnically
undeclared" was introduced and the overwhelming majority of those who
declared themselves as such were Muslims.[145] The
Bosniaks

Bosniaks were
recognized as an ethnic group in 1961 but not as a nationality and in
1964 the Fourth Congress of the Bosnian Party assured the
Bosniaks

Bosniaks the
right to self-determination.[145] On that occasion, one of the leading
communist leaders, Rodoljub Čolaković, stated that "our Muslim
brothers" were equal with
Serbs

Serbs and
Croats

Croats and that they would not be
"forced to declare themselves as
Serbs

Serbs and Croats." He guaranteed them
"full freedom in their national determination"[146] In 1971, the
Muslims were fully recognized as a nationality and in the census the
option "Muslims by nationality" was added.[145]
Bosnian War
See also: Bosnian War, Srebrenica massacre, Rape in the Bosnian War,
Siege of Sarajevo, and
Ethnic cleansing

Ethnic cleansing in the Bosnian War
Gravestones at the Potočari genocide memorial near Srebrenica. Around
8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed by the units of the Bosnian
Serb Army during the
Srebrenica massacre

Srebrenica massacre in July 1995.
During the war, the
Bosniaks

Bosniaks were subject to ethnic cleansing and
genocide. The war caused hundreds of thousands of
Bosniaks

Bosniaks to flee the
nation. The war also caused many drastic demographic changes in
Bosnia.
Bosniaks

Bosniaks were prevalent throughout almost all of Bosnia in
1991, a year before the war officially broke out. As a result of the
war,
Bosniaks

Bosniaks in Bosnia were concentrated mostly in areas that were
held by the Bosnian government during the war for independence. Today
Bosniaks

Bosniaks make up the absolute majority in
Sarajevo

Sarajevo and its canton,
most of northwestern Bosnia around Bihać, as well as central Bosnia,
Brčko District, Goražde,
Podrinje

Podrinje and parts of Herzegovina.
The
Sarajevo

Sarajevo Red Line, a memorial event of the Siege of Sarajevo's
20th anniversary. 11,541 empty chairs symbolized 11,541 victims of the
war which, according to Research and Documentation Center were killed
during the Siege of Sarajevo.[147][148]
At the outset of the Bosnian war, forces of the Bosnian Serb Army
attacked the Bosnian Muslim civilian population in eastern Bosnia.
Once towns and villages were securely in their hands, the Serb
nationalist forces – military, police, the paramilitaries and,
sometimes, even Serb villagers – applied the same pattern: houses
and apartments were systematically ransacked or burnt down, civilians
were rounded up or captured, and sometimes beaten or killed in the
process. Men and women were separated, with many of the men massacred
or detained in the camps. The women were kept in various detention
centers where they had to live in intolerably unhygienic conditions,
where they were mistreated in many ways including being raped
repeatedly. Serb nationalist soldiers or policemen would come to these
detention centres, select one or more women, take them out and rape
them.[149][150] The
Serbs

Serbs had the upper hand due to heavier weaponry
(despite less manpower) that was given to them by the Yugoslav
People's Army and established control over most areas where
Serbs

Serbs had
relative majority but also in areas where they were a significant
minority in both rural and urban regions excluding the larger towns of
Sarajevo

Sarajevo and Mostar. The Serb nationalist military and political
leadership received the most accusations of war crimes by the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia (ICTY) many
of which have been confirmed after the war in ICTY trials. Most of the
capital
Sarajevo

Sarajevo was predominantly held by the Bosniaks. In the 44
months of the siege, terror against
Sarajevo

Sarajevo residents varied in
intensity, but the purpose remained the same: inflict suffering on
civilians to force the Bosnian authorities to accept Serb
demands.[151] The VRS surrounded it (alternatively, the Serb forces
situated themselves in the areas surrounding
Sarajevo

Sarajevo the so-called
Ring around Sarajevo), deploying troops and artillery in the
surrounding hills in what would become the longest siege in the
history of modern warfare lasting nearly 4 years.
Throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, mosques were systematically
destroyed by Serb and Croat armed forces. Among the most important
losses were two mosques in Banja Luka, Arnaudija and Ferhadija mosque,
that were on the
United Nations

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) register of world cultural monuments.
Language
Main article: Bosnian language
The Charter of
Kulin Ban

Kulin Ban from 1189, written in
Bosnian Cyrillic

Bosnian Cyrillic is the
oldest document of its kind among the
South Slavic languages

South Slavic languages and is
currently in a
Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg museum.[152]
Bosnian grammar from 1890; written by the unsigned author Frano
Vuletić.
Bosnian language

Bosnian language dictionary Magbuli 'arif or Potur Šahidija, written
by
Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi

Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi in 1631 using a Bosnian variant of
the Perso-Arabic script.
Bosniaks

Bosniaks speak the Bosnian language, a South Slavic language of the
Western South Slavic subgroup. Standard Bosnian is considered a
variety of "Serbo-Croatian",[153][154] as mutually intelligible with
the Croatian and Serbian languages (see Differences in standard
Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian) which are all based on the Shtokavian
dialect. As such,
Serbo-Croatian

Serbo-Croatian is an arbitrary term applied to a
language spoken by several ethnic groups, including the Bosniaks, and
is for various reasons controversial for native speakers who do not
use the term.[155] As result, paraphrases such as Serbo-Croat-Bosnian
(SCB) or Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS) tend to be used in English on
occasion.
At the vernacular level,
Bosniaks

Bosniaks are more linguistically homogeneous
than
Serbs

Serbs or
Croats

Croats who also speak non-standard dialects beside
Shtokavian. With respect to lexicon, Bosnian is characterized by its
larger number of Ottoman Turkish (as well as Arabic and Persian)
loanwords (called Orientalisms) in relation to the other
Serbo-Croatian

Serbo-Croatian varieties.
The first official dictionary in the
Bosnian language

Bosnian language was published in
1992.[156] Church Slavonic is attested since at least the Kingdom of
Bosnia; the Charter of Ban Kulin, written in Cyrillic, remains one of
the oldest written South Slavic state documents.
The modern
Bosnian language

Bosnian language principally uses the Latin alphabet.
However, Cyrillic (popularly termed
Bosnian Cyrillic

Bosnian Cyrillic or Bosančica)
was employed much earlier, as evident in medieval charters and on
monumental tombstones (stećci) found scattered throughout the
landscape. One of the most important documents is the Charter of Ban
Kulin, which is regarded by Bosnian authors as one of the oldest
official recorded documents to be written in Bosnian
Cyrillic.[157][158] The use of Cyrillic was largely replaced by
Arebica

Arebica (Matufovica), a Bosnian variant of the Perso-Arabic script,
upon the introduction of
Islam

Islam in the 15th century, first among the
elite, then amongst the public, and was commonly used up until the
19th century.[159]
Culture
Folklore
Gazi Husrev-begova medresa or Kuršumli medresa, madrasa founded in
1537 in honor to Gazi Husrev Bey's mother Seldžuklija, in the old
part of Sarajevo.
Buna river, near the town of Blagaj in southern Herzegovina. Blagaj is
situated at the spring of the
Buna river

Buna river and a historical tekke
(tekija or
Dervish

Dervish monastery). The Blagaj Tekija was built around
1520, with elements of
Ottoman architecture

Ottoman architecture and Mediterranean
style[160][161] and is considered a national monument.
Like many other elements of Bosniak culture, Bosniak folklore is
derived from European, Slavic and Ottoman influences, typically taking
place prior to the 19th century. Generally, folklore also varies from
region to region and city to city. Cities like
Sarajevo

Sarajevo and Mostar
have a rich tradition all by themselves. Many man-made structures such
as bridges and fountains, as well as natural sites, also play a
significant role. At the very roots of the Bosniak folk soul are the
national music genres called
Sevdalinka and Ilahije.[citation needed]
There are many signs of pagan practices being carried over first into
Christianity and later into
Islam

Islam in
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina – for
example, the use of the mountain tops as a place of worship, and the
name of pagan gods, such as
Perun

Perun and Thor, that survived in oral
tradition until the twentieth century.[162] Slavic traditions such as
dragons, fairies and Vila, are also present. Fairies are often
mentioned in Bosniak epics, poetry and folk songs. Well known are
"gorske vile", or fairies from the mountains which dance on very green
meadows. The cult of post-pagan
Perun

Perun survived as the day of Elijah
the Thunderer which was another important event for Bosnian Muslims.
Muhamed Hadžijahić mentions: "In Muslim celebration of this holiday,
we see traces of ancient pagan traditions related to cult of sun and
rain." This tradition is among
Bosnian Muslims

Bosnian Muslims known as Aliđun and
among the
Serbs

Serbs as Ilijevdan. Pre-Slavic influences are far less
common but nonetheless present. Certain elements of paleo-Balkan
beliefs have also been found.[163] One of these traditions which could
originate from the pre-Slavic era, is a Bosniak tradition of placing a
horse's scull tied with a rope into river Bosna, to fight off
drought.[164] Djevojačka pećina, or the Maiden's Cave, is a
traditional place of the 'Rain Prayer' near
Kladanj

Kladanj in north-eastern
Bosnia, where
Bosnian Muslims

Bosnian Muslims gather to pray for the soul of the
maiden whose grave is said to be at the entrance to the cave. This
tradition is of pre-
Islamic

Islamic origin and is a place where the followers
of the medieval
Bosnian Church

Bosnian Church held their pilgrimage. Another Bosnian
Muslim place of pilgrimage is
Ajvatovica near
Prusac
_(14595323987).jpg/440px-Durch_Bosnien_und_die_Herzegovina_kreuz_und_quer;_Wanderungen_(1897)_(14595323987).jpg)
Prusac in central Bosnia
and Herzegovina, which is the largest
Islamic

Islamic traditional, religious
and cultural event in Europe, and is a place where devout Bosnian
Muslims remember and give thanks to the founder of the holy site,
Ajvaz-dedo, whose forty day prayers were heard by
Allah

Allah and much
needed water came out of a rock that had split open in a miraculous
act. Even though the pilgrimage at
Ajvatovica is a marking of the
sixteenth-century conversion to
Islam

Islam in Bosnia,[165] the tradition of
this event is also linked to the pre-
Islamic

Islamic cult of St George's Day,
and not to any of Hijri calendars. The green banners of Islam,
takbir's and nasheed's are an integral part of the Ajvatovica's
spirit. The procession is approaching shahid's cemetery from the time
of
Mehmed the Conqueror

Mehmed the Conqueror and prays with Sūrat al-Fātiḥah to martyrs
of Bosnia. Other important
Islamic

Islamic holy sites are the khanqah's,
dervish houses of prayer, where members of the Sufi mystical order
gather around their leaders to engage in religious contemplation and
rituals. One of the oldest is the 15th century Isa-beg's tekke
(Isa-begova tekija) in Sarajevo.[citation needed]
National heroes are typically historical figures, whose lives and
skills in battle are emphasized. These include figures such as Ban
Kulin, the founder of medieval Bosnia who has come to acquire a
legendary status. The historian William Miller wrote in 1921 that
"even today, the people regard him as a favorite of the fairies, and
his reign as a golden age.";[166] King Tvrtko I of Bosnia, King during
the peak of the Bosnian kingdom; Gazi Husrev-beg, the second Ottoman
governor of Bosnia who conquered many territories in Dalmatia,
Northern Bosnia, and Croatia; Đerzelez Alija, an almost mythical
character who even the Ottoman Sultan was said to have called "A
Hero", Sokollu Mehmed
Pasha

Pasha (Mehmed-paša Sokolović), the Bosnian
Ottoman Grand Vizier, whose heroism was depicted in the Bosnian poetry
and folk songs and Husein Gradaščević, known as "The Dragon of
Bosnia" who led the
Bosnian uprising

Bosnian uprising against the
Ottomans in the 19th
century.[citation needed]
Traditions and customs
Further information: Culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Music of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and List of
Bosniaks

Bosniaks in music
Girls dancing a traditional Bosniak kolo.
A Bosniak playing gusle, painting by Ivana Kobilica, ca. 1900.
The nation takes pride in the native melancholic folk songs
sevdalinka, the precious medieval filigree manufactured by old
Sarajevo

Sarajevo craftsmen, and a wide array of traditional wisdom transmitted
to newer generations by word of mouth, but in recent years written
down in numerous books. Another prevalent tradition is "Muštuluk",
whereby a gift is owed to any bringer of good news.
Rural folk traditions in Bosnia include the shouted, polyphonic ganga
and ravne pjesme (flat song) styles, as well as instruments like a
wooden flute and šargija. The gusle, an instrument found throughout
the Balkans, is also used to accompany ancient South Slavic epic
poems. The most versatile and skillful gusle-performer of Bosniak
ethnicity was the Montenegrin Bosniak
Avdo Međedović (1875–1953).
Bosniaks

Bosniaks have also at an international level left behind a musical
legacy to the rest of Europe, and some examples of this is the 16th
century lutenist-composer from Venice, Franciscus Bossinensis, and the
Austrian-Jewish opera composer
Alexander von Zemlinsky

Alexander von Zemlinsky who was partly
of Bosnian Muslim origin.
Statues of writer
Meša Selimović

Meša Selimović and painter Ismet Mujezinović in
Tuzla.
Probably the most distinctive and identifiably Bosniak of music,
Sevdalinka is a kind of emotional, melancholic folk song that often
describes sad subjects such as love and loss, the death of a dear
person or heartbreak. Sevdalinkas were traditionally performed with a
saz, a Turkish string instrument, which was later replaced by the
accordion. However the more modern arrangement, to the derision of
some purists, is typically a vocalist accompanied by the accordion
along with snare drums, upright bass, guitars, clarinets and violins.
Sevdalinkas are unique to Bosnia and Herzegovina. They arose in
Ottoman Bosnia as urban
Bosnian music

Bosnian music with often oriental influences.
In the early 19th century, Bosniak poet
Umihana Čuvidina

Umihana Čuvidina contributed
greatly to sevdalinka with her poems about her lost love, which she
sang. The poets which in large has contributed to the rich heritage of
Bosniak people, include among others Derviš-paša Bajezidagić,
Abdullah Bosnevi, Hasan Kafi Pruščak, Abdurrahman Sirri, Abdulvehab
Ilhamija, Mula Mustafa Bašeskija, Hasan Kaimija, Ivan Franjo Jukić,
Safvet-beg Bašagić, Musa Ćazim Ćatić, Mak Dizdar, as many
prominent prose writers, such as Enver Čolaković, Skender
Kulenović,
Meša Selimović

Meša Selimović (although he declared himself as a
Serb[167]), Abdulah Sidran, Nedžad Ibrišimović,
Zaim Topčić and
Zlatko Topčić. Historical journals as Gajret, Behar and Bošnjak are
some of the most prominent publications, which in a big way
contributed to the preservation of the Bosniak identity in late 19th
and early 20th century. The Bosnian literature, are generally known
for their ballads; The Mourning Song of the Noble Wife of the Hasan
Aga[168] (or better known as Hasanaginica), Smrt Omera i Merime (Omer
and Merimas death) and Smrt braće Morića (The death of brothers
Morić).
Hasanaginica

Hasanaginica were told from generation to generation in oral
form, until it was finally written and published in 1774 by an Italian
anthropologist, Alberto Fortis, in his book Viaggio in Dalmazia ('A
travel across Dalmatia').[169]
Hasanaginica

Hasanaginica is considered as the one
of the most beautiful ballads ever written, and were subsequently
translated to German (Johann Wolfgang Goethe, 1775), English (Walter
Scott, 1798), Russian (Aleksandr Pushkin, 1835), French (Prosper
Mérimée, 1827, and Adam Mickiewicz, 1841) and other world's
languages, becoming an integral part of the world literary heritage
already in the 18th century.
Religion
Further information:
Islam

Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnian Madrasa, ca. 1906
The Hadži-Alija Mosque, Počitelj, constructed in 1562/63
The
Bosnian Muslims

Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) are traditionally[170][171][172] and
predominantly Sunni Muslim.[173] Historically
Sufism

Sufism has also played a
significant role among the
Bosnian Muslims

Bosnian Muslims who tended to favor more
mainstream Sunni orders such as the Naqshbandiyya,
Rifa'i

Rifa'i and
Qadiriyya. There are also
Bosniaks

Bosniaks who can be categorized as
Nondenominational Muslims

Nondenominational Muslims and Cultural Muslims.[174] The Bosnian
Islamic

Islamic community has also been influenced by other currents within
Islam

Islam than the one in
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina prevailing
Hanafi

Hanafi school,
especially since the 1990s war.[175] The position of
Sufism

Sufism in Bosnia
during the Ottoman era was legally the same as in other parts of the
empire. Bosnian Sufis produced literature, often in oriental languages
(Arabic and Turkish), although a few also wrote in
Serbo-Croatian,[176] such as Abdurrahman Sirri (1785-1846/47) and
Abdulwahāb Žepčewī (1773–1821). Another Sufi from Bosnia was
Sheikh Hali Hamza, whose doctrines were considered to contradict the
official interpretation of Islam. His supporters hamzevije formed a
religious movement that is often described as a sect closely related
to the tariqa of bajrami-melami.[177] Another prominent Bosniak Sufi
was Hasan Kafi Pruščak, a Sufi thinker and the most prominent figure
of the scientific literature and intellectual life of the 16th century
Bosniaks.
In a 1998 public opinion poll, 78.3% of
Bosniaks

Bosniaks in the Federation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina declared themselves to be religious.[178]
Bosnian Muslims

Bosnian Muslims tend to often be described as moderate, secular and
European-oriented compared to other Muslim groups.[179]
Bosniaks

Bosniaks have
been described as "Cultural Muslims"[180] or "Progressive
Muslims".[181]
Kjell Magnusson points out that religion played a major role in the
processes that shaped the national movements and the formation of the
new states in the
Balkans

Balkans after the Ottoman retreat, since the
Ottomans distinguished peoples after their religious
affiliations.[182] Although religion only plays a minor role in the
daily lives of the ethnic groups of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina today, the
following stereotypes are still rather current, namely, that the Serbs
are Orthodox, the
Croats

Croats Catholic and the
Bosniaks

Bosniaks Muslim; those
native
Bosnians

Bosnians who remained Christian and did not convert to Islam
over time came to identify as ethnic Serb or Croat, helping to explain
the apparent ethnic mix in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Still, however, there
are a few individuals who violate the aforementioned pattern and
practice other religions actively, often due to intermarriage.[183]
Surnames and given names
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Bosniak surnames, as is typical among the
South Slavs

South Slavs from former
Yugoslavia, often end with "ić" or "ović". This is a patronymic
which basically translates to "son of" in English and plays the same
role as "son" in English surnames such as
Johnson or Wilson. What
comes prior to this can often tell a lot about the history of a
certain family.
Most Bosniak surnames follow a familiar pattern dating from the period
of time that surnames in
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina were standardized.
Some Bosniak Muslim surnames have the name of the founder of the
family first, followed by an
Islamic

Islamic profession or title, and ending
with ić. Examples of this include Izetbegović (Son of Izet bey), and
Hadžiosmanović ("son of Osman Hajji"). Other variations of this
pattern can include surnames that only mention the name, such as
Osmanović ("son of Osman"), and surnames that only mention
profession, such as Imamović ("son of the Imam"). Some even mention
religion as well such as "Muslimović" ("meaning son of a Muslim").
Quite a few Bosniak surnames do not necessarily have
Islamic

Islamic roots to
them, but end in -ović and -ić; common amongst Slavic surnames.
These surnames have probably stayed the same since medieval times, and
typically come from old Bosnian nobility, or come from the last wave
of converts to Islam. Examples of such surnames include Tvrtković and
Kulenović.
There are also other surnames that do not end in ić at all. These
surnames are typically derived from place of origin, occupations, or
various others such factors in the family's history. Examples of such
surnames include Zlatar ("goldsmith") Kovač ("blacksmith") or Kolar
("wheelwright").
There are some Bosniak surnames of foreign origin, indicating that the
founder of the family came from a place outside Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Many such Bosniak surnames have Albanian, Vlach, Turkic
or Arab origins. Examples of such surnames include Arnautović (from
Arnaut - Turkish ethnonym used to denote Albanians), Vlasić (from
Vlach people), Tatarević (from Tatar people) and Arapović (from Arap
- Turkish ethnonym used to denote Arabs). There are also some surnames
which are presumed to be of pre-Slavic origin. Some examples of such
surnames may be of Illyrian or Celtic origin, such as the surname
Mataruga and Motoruga.[184]
Many Bosniak surnames are also common as Croatian and Serbian
surnames: Puškar, Jašić, Sučić, Subašić, Begić, Hadžić.
Given names or first names among
Bosniaks

Bosniaks have mostly Arabic, or
Turkish, roots such as Osman, Mehmed, Muhamed, Alija, Ismet, Kemal,
Hasan, Ibrahim, Mustafa, Ahmed, Husein, Hamza, Haris, Halid, Refik,
Tarik, Faruk, Abdulah, Amer, Sulejman, Mahir, Enver, and many others.
South Slavic given names such as "Zlatan" or "Zlatko" are also present
primarily among non-religious Bosniaks. What is notable however is
that due to the structure of the Bosnian language, many of the Muslim
given names have been altered to create uniquely Bosniak given names.
Some of the Oriental given names have been shortened. For example:
Huso short for Husein, Ahmo short for Ahmed, Meho short for Mehmed.
One example of this is that of the Bosniak humorous characters Mujo
and Suljo, whose given names are actually Bosniak short forms of
Mustafa and Sulejman. More present still is the transformation of
given names that in Arabic or Turkish are confined to one gender to
apply to the other sex. In Bosnian, simply taking away the letter "a"
changes the traditionally feminine "Jasmina" into the popular male
name "Jasmin". Similarly, adding an "a" to the typically male "Mahir"
results in the feminine "Mahira".[185]
Symbols
The coat of arms with the Fleur-de-lis, a common symbol of Bosniaks.
The Bosniak religious flag, used together with the national medieval
coat of arms with the
Fleur-de-lis
.svg/440px-Fleur_de_lys_(or).svg.png)
Fleur-de-lis during the 1990s.
The traditional symbol of the Bosniak people is a fleur-de-lis coat of
arms, decorated with six golden lilies, also referred to Lilium
bosniacum, a native lily of the region.[186] This Bosniak national
symbol is derived from the coat of arms of the medieval Kingdom of
Bosnia, and was particularly used in the context of the rule of
Bosnian King Tvrtko I of Bosnia. According to some sources, the
Bosnian coat of arms, with six golden lilies, originated from the
French descended Capetian House of Anjou.[187] The member of this
dynasty, Louis I of Hungary, was married to Elizabeth of Bosnia,
daughter of the ban Stephen II of Bosnia, with Tvrtko I consequently
embracing the heraldic lily as a symbol of the Bosnian royalty in
token of the familial relations between the Angevins and the Bosnian
royal family. It is also likely that the
Bosnians

Bosnians adopted, or were
granted, the fleur-de-lis on their coat of arms as a reward for taking
the Angevin side.
This emblem was revived in 1992 as a symbol of Bosnian nationhood and
represented the flag of the Republic of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina between
1992 and 1998. Although the state insignia was replaced in 1999 on
request of the other two ethnic groups, the flag of the Federation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina still features a fleur-de-lis alongside the
Croatian chequy. The Bosnian fleur-de-lis also appears on the flags
and arms of many cantons, municipalities, cities and towns. It is
still used as official insignia of the Bosniak regiment of the Armed
Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[188] The
Fleur-de-lis
.svg/440px-Fleur_de_lys_(or).svg.png)
Fleur-de-lis can also be
commonly found as ornament in mosques and on Muslim tombstones.
Swedish historian Senimir Resić states that the emblem of the
fleur-de-lis (symbolizing the Christian Middle Ages) which become a
national symbol of
Bosniaks

Bosniaks in 1992, was, in that time of war and
Islamophobia, intended to draw attention to the
Western world

Western world of the
Christian and medieval European past of the Bosnian Muslims.[189]
Another Bosniak flag dates from the Ottoman era, and is a white
crescent moon and star on a green background. The flag was also the
symbol of the short-lived independent Bosnia in the 19th century and
of the
Bosnian uprising

Bosnian uprising against the Turks led by Husein
Gradaščević.
Communities
Bosniaks

Bosniaks in
Serbia

Serbia and
Montenegro

Montenegro according to population censuses
held in 2002 and 2003, respectively.
National emblem of the
Bosniaks

Bosniaks of
Serbia

Serbia and
Bosniaks

Bosniaks of Montenegro.
National consciousness has also spread to most
Bosniaks

Bosniaks in the
neighboring countries and increasingly around the world after the
Bosnian war. The largest number of
Bosniaks

Bosniaks outside Bosnia and
Herzegovina

Herzegovina are found in
Serbia

Serbia and
Montenegro

Montenegro (specifically in the
Sandžak

Sandžak region). The city of
Novi Pazar

Novi Pazar is home to the largest
Bosniak population outside Bosnia. Another 40,000
Bosniaks

Bosniaks are found
in
Croatia

Croatia and 38,000 in Slovenia. However, some of them still
identify themselves as "Muslims" or "Bosnians", according to latest
estimates. In Macedonia there are estimated to be about 17,000
Bosniaks.
Due to warfare and ethnic cleansing during the war in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, a large part of the world's estimated 3–4 million
Bosniaks

Bosniaks are found in countries outside the Balkans. The highest
Bosniak populations outside the ex-Yugoslavian states are found in the
United States, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Australia,
Canada, and Turkey. Prior generations of Bosniak immigrants to some of
these countries have by now been mostly integrated.
In Western countries, a large majority of the
Bosniaks

Bosniaks are war
refugees who only arrived in these countries beginning in the 1990s.
They still speak Bosnian, and maintain cultural and religious
communities, visit their mother country regularly and send remittances
to families back home.
Diaspora
See also: Bosnian diaspora
There is a significant
Bosniak diaspora

Bosniak diaspora in the rest of Europe, Turkey,
United States

United States and Canada.
Turkey: The community in
Turkey

Turkey has its origins predominantly in the
exodus of Muslims from the
Bosnia Eyalet

Bosnia Eyalet taking place in the 19th and
early 20th century as result of the collapse of Ottoman rule in the
Balkans. According to estimates commissioned in 2008 by the National
Security Council of
Turkey

Turkey as many as 2 million Turkish citizens are
of Bosniak ancestry.[190]
Bosniaks

Bosniaks mostly live in the Marmara Region,
in the north-west. The biggest Bosniak community in
Turkey

Turkey is in
Istanbul; the borough
Yenibosna

Yenibosna (formerly Saraybosna, after Sarajevo),
saw rapid migration from the Ottoman
Balkans

Balkans after the founding of the
Republic of Turkey.[191] There are notable Bosniak communities in
İzmir, Karamürsel, Yalova,
Bursa

Bursa and Edirne.
United States: The first Bosnian arrivals came around the 1860s.
According to a 2000 estimate, there are some 350,000 Americans of
Bosnian ancestry.[2]
Bosniaks

Bosniaks were early leaders in the establishment
of Chicago's Muslim community. In 1906, they established Džemijetul
Hajrije (The Benevolent Society) of
Illinois

Illinois to preserve the
community's religious and national traditions as well as to provide
mutual assistance for funerals and illness. The organization
established chapters in Gary, Indiana, in 1913, and Butte, Montana, in
1916, and is the oldest existing Muslim organization in the United
States. There are numerous Bosniak cultural, sport and religious
associations. Bosnian-language newspapers and other periodicals are
published in many states; the largest in the
United States

United States is the St.
Louis based newspaper "Sabah".
Canada: According to the 2001 census, there are 25,665 people who
claimed Bosnian ancestry.[192] A large majority of Bosnian Canadians
emigrated to
Canada

Canada during and after the Bosnian War, although Bosnian
migration dates back to the 19th century.[192] Traditional centers of
residence and culture for people from
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina are in
Toronto,
Montreal

Montreal and Vancouver. Numerous Bosniak cultural, sport and
religious associations, Bosnian-language newspapers and other
periodicals are published in many states. The largest Bosnian
organisation in
Canada

Canada is the Congress of North American
Bosniaks.[193]
See also
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina portal
Islam

Islam portal
Bosniaks

Bosniaks of Croatia
Bosniaks

Bosniaks of Montenegro
Bosniaks

Bosniaks of Serbia
Bosnian American
Bosnian Australian
Bosnian Austrian
Bosniaks

Bosniaks in Kosovo
Bosnian War
Croat–Bosniak War
Bushnak
Constitutional nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina
List of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina patriotic songs
List of Bosniaks
Annotations
^ a b
Kosovo

Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the
Republic of
Kosovo

Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo
unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia
continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two
governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the
Brussels Agreement.
Kosovo

Kosovo has received formal recognition as an
independent state from 113 out of 193
United Nations

United Nations member states.
Notes
^ Addition of higher and lower population estimates given below
^ This term is considered inaccurate since not all
Bosniaks

Bosniaks profess
Islam

Islam or practice the religion. Partly because of this, since the
dissolution of Yugoslavia, Bosniak has replaced Muslim as an official
ethnic term in part to avoid confusion with the religious term
"Muslim" as an adherent of Islam. Additionally,
Bosniaks

Bosniaks are native to
Montenegro,
Serbia

Serbia including Kosovo, and Croatia, whilst
Islam

Islam in
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina may be practised by non-Bosniaks, such as the
Turks of Bosnia and Herzegovina."Bosnia and Herzegovina: People", The
World Factbook, American CIA, 2016 [2007], ISSN 1553-8133,
retrieved 2016-04-13
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Books
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Perspectives on Nationality, Politics, and Opposition in the Former
Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. Duke University Press.
ISBN 0-8223-1490-8.
Basic, Denis (2009). The Roots of the Religious, Ethnic, and National
Identity of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Muslims. University of
Washington. Archived from the original on 2014-06-28.
Bulić, Dejan (2013). The Fortifications of the Late Antiquity and
Early Byzantine Period. The World of the Slavs: Studies of the East,
West and South Slavs: Civitas, Oppidas, Villas and Archeological
Evidence (7th to 11th Centuries AD). Istorijski institut.
ISBN 978-86-7743-104-4.
Donia, Robert J.; Fine, John Van Antwerp, Jr. (1994). Bosnia and
Hercegovina: A
Tradition

Tradition Betrayed. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers.
ISBN 978-1-85065-212-0.
Fine, John Van Antwerp, Jr. (1991). The Early Medieval Balkans: A
Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. University
of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-08149-3.
Friedman, Francine "The Bosnian Muslims: The Making of a Yugoslav
Nation," in Melissa Bokovoy, Jill Irvine, and Carol Lilly, eds.,
State-Society Relations in Yugoslavia, 1945-1992, 1997
Kaimakamova, Miliana; Salamon, Maciej (2007). Byzantium, new peoples,
new powers: the Byzantino-Slav contact zone, from the ninth to the
fifteenth century. Towarzystwo Wydawnicze "Historia Iagellonica".
ISBN 978-83-88737-83-1.
Karčić, Fikret (1995). The
Bosniaks

Bosniaks and the Challenges of Modernity:
Late Ottoman and Hapsburg Times.
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Pinson, Mark (1994). The Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina: Their Historic
Development from the Middle Ages to the Dissolution of Yugoslavia.
Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-932885-09-8.
Ramet, Sabrina P. (2006). The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building and
Legitimation, 1918–2004.
Indiana

Indiana University Press.
ISBN 0-271-01629-9.
Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia,
1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration. Stanford University Press.
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Journals
Babuna, Aydin (1999). "Nationalism and the Bosnian muslims". East
European Quarterly. 33 (2): 195–.
Bauer, Deron. The ethno-religious identity of Bosnian Muslims: A
literature-based ethnography. Fuller Theological Seminary, School of
Intercultural Studies, 2012.
Friedman, Francine (2000). "The muslim slavs of Bosnia and Herzegovina
(with reference to the Sandzak of Novi Pazar):
Islam

Islam as national
identity". Nationalities Papers. 28 (1): 165–180.
doi:10.1080/00905990050002498.
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Self-determination

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Bosnians, Bosniaks,
Croats

Croats and Serbs". Reconstructing multiethnic
societies: the case of Bosnia-Herzegovina: 31–62.
Larise, Dunja (2015). "The
Islamic

Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina
and nation building by muslims/
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Bosniaks in the Western Balkans".
Nationalities Papers. 43 (2): 195–212.
doi:10.1080/00905992.2014.998186.
Lopasic, Alexander (1981). "Bosnian muslims: a search for identity".
Bulletin. British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. 8 (2):
115–125.
Lomonosov, Matvey (2012). "Illyrianism in Bosnian style: Balkan
antiquity in contemporary national mythology and identity construction
among the Bosniaks" (PDF). The South Slav Journal. 31 (3-4):
61–83.
Ramet, Pedro (1985). "Primordial ethnicity or modern nationalism: The
case of Yugoslavia's Muslims". Nationalities Papers. 13 (2):
165–187. doi:10.1080/00905998508408020.
External links
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