The Sanjak of Pojega (; ) was an administrative territorial entity of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

formed around 1538. It existed until the

Treaty of Karlowitz The Treaty of Karlowitz, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1699, in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by the Holy League at the Battle of Zenta, was signed in Karlowitz, in the Military Frontier of the Habsburg Monarchy (present-day ...

(1699), when the region was transferred to the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

. It was located in present-day eastern

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, in the

Slavonia Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...

region. The capital of the sanjak was Pojega (Croatian: Požega).

History

The city of Požega was taken by Yahyapaşazade Mehmed Bey tr">:tr:Yahyapaşazade_Mehmet_Paşa">tr the Sanjakbey of Semendire (Smederevo), most likely on January 15, 1537, and the citadel was taken ten days later. By early 1538, the Sanjak of Pojega was created and, after the

Battle of Gorjani The Battle of Gorjani (, ) or Battle of Đakovo () was fought on 9 October 1537 at Gorjani, a place in present-day Slavonia (today in eastern Croatia), between the towns of Đakovo and Valpovo, as part of the Little War in Hungary as well as t ...

, Mehmed Bey's son Arslan tr">:tr:Yahyapaşazade_Arslan_Paşa">trwas appointed the first sanjakbey. The first

defter A ''defter'' was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire. Etymology The term is derived from Greek , literally 'processed animal skin, leather, fur', meaning a book, having pages of goat parchment used along with papyrus ...

in the sanjak was held in 1540. The Sanjak of Pojega included territory between

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

and

Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.

rivers and at first was part of the

Rumelia Eyalet The Eyalet of Rumeli, or Eyalet of Rumelia (), known as the Beylerbeylik of Rumeli until 1591, was a first-level province ('' beylerbeylik'' or ''eyalet'') of the Ottoman Empire encompassing most of the Balkans ("Rumelia"). For most of its history ...

. In 1541, it was included into

Budin Eyalet Budin Eyalet (also known as Province of Budin/Buda or Pashalik of Budin/Buda, ) was an administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire in Central Europe and the Balkans. It was formed on the territories that Ottoman Empire conquered fro ...

, in 1580 into

Bosnia Eyalet The Eyalet of Bosnia (; By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters ; ), was an eyalet (administrative division, also known as a ''beylerbeylik'') of the Ottoman Empire, mostly based on the territory of the present-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ...

, in 1596 into Zigetvar Eyalet, and in 1600 into

Kanije Eyalet The Kanije Eyalet () was an administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire formed in 1600 and existing until the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz. It included parts of present-day Hungary and Croatia History The province of Kanije was establish ...

. The Sanjak of Požega was one of six Ottoman sanjaks with most developed

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

(besides sanjaks of

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, ...

Nicopolis Nicopolis () or Actia Nicopolis was the capital city of the Roman province of Epirus (Roman province), Epirus. Its site, near Preveza, Greece, still contains impressive ruins. The city was founded in 29 BC by Octavian in commemoration of his ...

Vidin Vidin (, ) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as of the Metropolitan of Vidin (since ...

Zvornik Zvornik ( sr-cyrl, Зворник, ) is a city in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2013, it had a population of 58,856 inhabitants. Zvornik is located on the Drina River, on the eastern slopes of Majevica mountain, at the altitude of ...

and

Mohács Mohács (; Croatian: ''Mohač''; ; ; ; ) is a town in Baranya County, Hungary, on the right bank of the Danube. Etymology The name probably comes from the Slavic ''*Mъchačь'',''*Mocháč'': ''mъchъ'' (moss, Hungarian ''moha'' is a loanword ...

). Toward Croatian and Slavonian border the Ottomans populated numerous Christian

Vlachs Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula ...

, who either already lived there or who were brought from Ottoman (Serbian) territories, to live between their border garrisons. Turks to deserted area of

Požega Valley The Požega Valley () is a geographic microregion of Croatia, located in central Slavonia, encompassing the eastern part of the Požega-Slavonia County. It is located in the Pannonian Basin, bounded by Psunj, Papuk and Krndija mountains from west ...

settled Orthodox Vlachs from Bosnia. Part of the Croats who remained in that area converted to Islam while part accepted the Ottoman rule without converting to Islam. Indigenous Croatian population and Hungarians as taxpayers in Srijem and Slavonia 1555 are called Vlachs. Part of the colonists came from area south of the

, especially from the Soli and Usora areas, continuing the process which already started after 1521. At beginning of the 17th century it seems that there was a new wave of colonization, about 10,000 families which are assumed to come from Sanjak of Klis or with less possibility from area of

Sanjak of Bosnia Sanjak of Bosnia (, / Босански санџак) was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire established in 1463 when the lands conquered from the Bosnian Kingdom were transformed into a sanjak and Isa-Beg Isaković was appointed its fi ...

. Because of the substantial number of Vlachs, parts of the

Sanjak of Pakrac The Sanjak of Pakrac () or Sanjak of Čazma or Sanjak of Cernica was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire whose capital was first Čazma, Zaçasna and then Pakrac and Cernik, Brod-Posavina County, Cernik in Ottoman Slavonia. It was establishe ...

and Sanjak of Požega were referred to as ''Mala Vlaška'' (). It is estimated that in year 1600 were 15,000 Muslims in that area. According to academician Mirko Marković most of Požega Muslims come from Islamized Croats. However, triggered by the last administrative changes, a mutiny started in Pojega in 1611. Mutineers requested that Sanjak of Pojega should be returned to the jurisdiction of the

. Because of the mutiny, the decision from 1600 was changed and Sanjak of Pojega became a

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

shared between Bosnia and Kanije eyalets. After the Ottoman defeat in the

Battle of Slankamen The Battle of Slankamen was fought on 19 August 1691, near Stari Slankamen, Slankamen in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Sanjak of Syrmia (modern-day Vojvodina, Serbia), between the Ottoman Empire, and Habsburg monarchy, Habsburg Austrian forces ...

(1691), the 1699

transferred territory of the sanjak to the

, thus the Sanjak of Pojega ceased to exist. The last

sanjak-bey ''Sanjak-bey'', ''sanjaq-bey'' or ''-beg'' () was the title given in the Ottoman Empire to a bey (a high-ranking officer, but usually not a pasha) appointed to the military and administrative command of a district (''sanjak'', in Arabic '' liwa’' ...

of the Sanjak of Pojega was Ibrahim-pasha.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pojega, Sanjak of Ottoman period in the history of Croatia History of Slavonia Sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire in Europe States and territories established in the 1530s States and territories disestablished in the 1690s

Sanjak of Pojega The Sanjak of Pojega (; ) was an administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire formed around 1538. It existed until the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699), when the region was transferred to the Habsburg monarchy. It was located in present-da ...

1538 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1699 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire

History

See also

References