Bosniaks are a South Slavic ethnic group, native to the region of Bosnia of which the majority are Muslims (90%) . The term Bosniaks was used to describe everyone in that region regardless of their religion until late 1800s. It was established again after decades of suppression in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Bosniak Assembly adopted the ethnonym to replace "Bosnian Muslims." Scholars believe that the move was partly motivated by a desire to distinguish the Bosniaks from the term Muslim to describe their nationality in the former Yugoslavia.[1] These scholars contend that the Bosniaks are distinguishable from comparable groups (such as the Croats and the Serbs) due to a collective identity based on a shared environment, cultural practices and experiences.[2]
The Slavs settled in Bosnia, Herzegovina and the surrounding lands, which were part of the Eastern Roman Empire, in the seventh century. The Slavic Serbs and Croats settled some time after the first Slavic wave, and the Croats established a kingdom in north-western Croatia. The Serbs settled in present-day south-central Serbia before expanding into the upper Drina valley of eastern Bosnia and East Herzegovina, known in the Late Middle Ages as Zachlumia (Zahumlje). The Croats in the west were influenced by the Germanic Carolingian Empire and the Roman Catholic Church. Croatia was closely tied to Hungary and, later, Austria until the twentieth century. The Serbs in the east, under periodic Byzantine rule, converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and absorbed Byzantine culture. After centuries of rule by Croatia, Serb principalities and the Byzantine Empire, a Bosnian kingdom flourished in central Bosnia between the 12th and the 15th centuries.[3]
Ethnicity in medieval Bosnia has been debated since the second half of the 19th century. All three Bosnian ethnic groups differ, their viewpoints influenced by nationalism. Noel Malcolm, chair of the board of trustees at the Bosnian Institute, wrote in Bosnia: A Short History:
As for the question of whether the inhabitants of Bosnia were really Croat or really Serb in 1180, it cannot be answered, for two reasons: first, because we lack evidence, and secondly because the question lacks meaning. We can say that the majority of the Bosnian territory was probably occupied by Croats - or at least, by Slavs under Croat rule - in the seventh century; but that is a tribal label which has little or no meaning five centuries later. The Bosnians were generally closer to the Croats in their religious and political history; but to apply the modern notion of Croat identity (something constructed in recent centuries out of religion, history, and language) to anyone in this period would be an anachronism. All that one can sensibly say about the ethnic identity of the Bosnians is this: they were the Slavs who lived in Bosnia.[4]
The Kingdom of Bosnia blended Eastern and Western cultural influences. Nominally Roman Catholic, the Bosnian kings embraced elements of Byzantine culture and formed alliances with the neighboring rulers of Croatian-Dalmatian and Serb states. Due to Bosnia's mountainous terrain and its location on the border of Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, control by church authorities was weak. Members of the indigenous Bosnian Church, known as krstjani ("Christians"), were considered heretics by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church.
At its greatest extent, under King Tvrtko I, the Bosnian kingdom included most of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina (except north-western Bosnia) and parts of Dalmatia and western Serbia and Montenegro. Discord among his heirs weakened the kingdom after his death, and Bosnia and the Serb principalities in the east were unable to prevent Ottoman Turkish incursions into the western Balkans. The final Turkish conquest, in 1463, marked the end of an independent Bosnia and the beginning of a civilization based on Islam.
Historians have debated how, and why, many ethnic Bosnians converted to Islam.[5] After their conquest of Bosnia, the Ottoman Empire tried to convert their Christian and pagan subjects to Islam. The gradual conversion of many medieval Bosnians to Islam proceeded at different rates, depending on area and group. Conversion was more rapid in urban areas, centers of learning and of the Ottoman administration, than in the countryside. Merchants found it advantageous to convert to Islam because they gained greater freedom of movement and state protection of their goods. Many converted, and were trained as soldiers.
Forced conversion of children was known as devshirme; a notable example is the Bosnian Serb soldier Mehmet Pasa Sokolovic. The Ottoman Empire was focused on militaristic expansion, based on religion, and the maintenance of power. By this time, Muslims were already a large majority of Bosnia's population.
The Ottoman conquest of Bosnia was notable because, unlike other European regions which came under Ottoman control, Bosnia retained its status as a distinct entity–first as a sanjak, then as an eyalet. The Ottomans imported their feudal system into Bosnia shortly after their takeover, and estates were granted to sipahi in return for military service. At the beginning of the Ottoman period, These estates were usually granted to Muslims early in the Ottoman era, and exclusively to Muslims later on. These land grants gradually became hereditary; most Bosnian landowners were Muslims by the end of the Ottoman period, and most Christians were peasants or serfs.
The main reason for the spread of Islam in the region was probably the weak presence of the Bosnian Church at the time. The old rivalry between the Catholic and Bosnian churches (and with the Orthodox Church in some areas) contributed to the disorganized religious structure in much of the region. To many Bosnians, religion was a combination of tradition and superstition. Their neighbors had well-funded, organized religious institutions, and it was relatively easy for Bosnians to convert from their Christianity to Islam. The only other European region under Ottoman control in which a large segment of the population adopted Islam was Albania, also home to competing Christian sects. Taxes on Muslims (and Orthodox Vlachs) were lower than on other rayah,[6][pageneeded] although a hatt-i humayun attempted to eliminate this inequality.[7]
Urban centers grew, the vast majority of which were Muslim. Cities founded at the time, such as Sarajevo and Mostar, had an Islamic character and advanced living standards. Slaves who converted to Islam could petition for their freedom, and many Christians enslaved during the wars with Habsburg Austria, Hungary, and the Republic of Venice converted to Islam to secure their release. Many of these newly-freed converts settled in the growing cities, contributing to their development.
The primary discrimination faced by non-Muslims was legal, since Christians and Jews were not allowed to file lawsuits or testify against Muslims in court. Although Christian and Jewish subjects of the sultan paid a poll tax (from which Muslims were exempt), Muslims paid the religious zakat; Catholics donated to the church on a voluntary basis. Under devshirme, boys were gathered from Ottoman lands and sent to Istanbul to convert to Islam and be trained as janissaries.
The 17th century brought military defeats on the Ottoman Empire's western frontier. With major wars occurring every few decades, Bosnia was economically and militarily exhausted. The most critical conflict was the Great Turkish War. At its start in the mid-1680s, the Habsburgs conquered nearly all of Ottoman Hungary and sent tens of thousands of Muslim refugees into Bosnia. A similar influx occurred with the Habsburg conquest of Lika and Slavonia. Thousands of Muslims fled eastward into Bosnia, and those who remained were forcibly converted to Catholicism.[citation needed] An estimated 100,000 or more Muslims were expelled from the frontier regions and settled in Bosnia during this time; many brought hostility towards Christianity.
Ottoman military disasters continued into the next decade. In 1697, Habsburg Prince Eugene of Savoy conducted a border raid which resulted in the burning of Sarajevo. The war was finally ended by the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. However, during the late 1710s another war between the Ottomans and the Habsburg-Venetian alliance followed. It was ended by the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, after another wave of Muslim refugees fled to Bosnia.
The wars and an increased tax burden created unrest among the Bosniaks, and revolts sprang up in Herzegovina in 1727, 1728, 1729, and 1732. In 1736, the Habsburgs broke the Treaty of Passarowitz and crossed the Sava River. The local Bosniak nobility organized a defence and counterattack independent of the ineffective imperial authorities. On August 4, at the Battle of Banja Luka, the outnumbered Bosniak forces routed the Habsburg army and sent them back to Slavonia. The Great Plague of 1738, however (which killed tens of thousands), contributed to the chaos.
Ottoman authorities traditionally classified subjects of the empire not by nationality, but by religion. During the nineteenth century, a national consciousness began to increase among the South Slavs; according to some historians, Catholic Bosnians increasingly began to think of themselves as Croats and Orthodox Bosnians as Serbs. A Bosnian Muslim national consciousness was first attested in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with early Bosniak nationalists beginning to assert a national identity distinct from their Orthodox and Catholic neighbors and the other Muslim inhabitants of the empire.
In 1862 Muslims, including Bosniaks, were expelled from Serbia.[8] Bosnia and Herzegovina were occupied and administered by Austria-Hungary in 1878, and a number of Bosniaks left the region. According to Austro-Hungarian records, 56,000 people (mostly Bosniaks) emigrated between 1883 and 1920; the number of Bosniak emigrants is probably larger, since the official record does not reflect emigration before 1883 or include those who left without permits. Most of the emigrants probably fled in fear of retribution after the inter-communal violence of the 1875–1878 uprising. Many Serbs from Herzegovina left for the United States during that period. One geographer estimates that there are 350,000 Bosniaks in Turkey, although that figure includes the descendants of Muslim South Slavs who emigrated from the Sandžak region during (and after) the First Balkan War. Another wave of Bosniak emigration occurred after the end of the First World War, when Bosnia and Herzegovina became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Urban Bosniaks were particularly proud of their cosmopolitan culture, especially in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo; until World War II, it was home to thriving Bosniak, Serb, Croat, and Jewish communities. After 1945, Sarajevo was one of the most ethnically-mixed cities in the former Yugoslavia.[9]
With the birth of the Illyrian movement, Bosniak intelligentsia gathered around the magazine Bosnia in the 1860s (which promoted the idea of a Bosniak nation); the father of Bosnian poet Safvet-beg Bašagić was a member of this group. The Bosniak group remained active for several decades, with a continuity of ideas and the use of the archaic Bosniak name. From 1891 to 1910, they published the magazine Bosniak. By the beginning of the 20th century, however, the group had nearly died out; its most prominent members died or embraced Croat identity.
The administration of Benjamin Kallay, the Austria-Hungarian governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina, enforced the idea of a Bosnian nation (Bosanci) which would include Catholics, Orthodox and Muslims. The idea was fiercely opposed by Croats, Serbs, and a number of Muslims.
The Muslim National Organization (MNO), a political party founded in 1906, was opposed to the regime and promoted Muslims as separate from Serbs and Croats. Although a group of Croat Muslim dissidents formed the Muslim Progressive Party (MNS), it received little popular support and soon faded.
The first constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1910, cited Serbs, Croats and Muslims as "native peoples".[This quote needs a citation] In elections held soon afterwards, the MNO, the Serb National Organization (SNO) and the Croat National Community (HNZ) received almost unanimous support in separate ballots;[citation needed] their members formed a parliament, although it had little power in the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Only Serbs, Croats and Slovenes were recognized as ethnic groups in the 1921 census, and many Bosniaks left the ethnicity field blank. This phenomenon was a topic of debate amongst scholars and politicians for years, with some saying that those who did not declare their ethnicity were descendants of Turks and should be expelled. Thanks to JMO influence, however, incidents of oppression against Bosniaks were isolated.
A number of opposition parties then recognized Muslims as a separate nation; according to a 1930s document, among them was the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.[full citation needed] Many Bosnian Muslims joined the party and became partisans, a number of whom became commanders and political leaders.
Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1991, before the Bosnian War
The Declaration of the State Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ZAVNOBiH), with essentially the same wording as the 1910 constitution and issued by the partisan government on 25 November 1943, is considered the constitutional basis of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. The declaration was violated as soon as the war ended, since the constitution of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (later the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) cited only Serbs and Croats as native peoples. In the 1948 Yugoslav census, 90 percent of Muslims declared themselves nationality-undetermined; many who registered as Serbs or Croats did so largely out of societal and economic pressure. When the "Yugoslav, nationality undeclared" option became available in 1953, 900,000 people registered as such.
Serb dominance of Bosnian communist leadership weakened, and the opportunity arose for a new national identity. In the 1961 Yugoslav census, the ethnic-Muslim option first appeared; by 1963, Muslims were listed with Serbs and Croats in the Bosnian constitution. In 1968, "Muslim" denoted ethnic (rather than religious) identity. Although the decision was debated by communist officials, Bosniak national identity continued to develop until the Yugoslav Wars. There were two approaches: Muslim nationalism (supported by Hamdija Pozderac) and an Islamic religious revival supported by Alija Izetbegović. The effects of both concepts of what constitutes a Bosnian Muslim (which have occasionally clashed) can be seen to the present day.
In September 1993, the Congress of Bosniak Intellectuals (Bosnian: Drugi bošnjački sabor) re-introduced the historical ethnic name Bosniaks. Although Serbs and Croats objected to the name as a ploy to depict them as Bosnian foreigners, the archaic term means "Bosnians" and was once used for all inhabitants of Bosnia (regardless of religion). According to Bosniaks, Bosniak is the historical term for their nation; if they wanted to monopolize Bosnian history, they could have used the term Bosanci.[citation needed] The name has been used outside Bosnia since the 1990s for the Slavic Muslim populations of other former Yugoslav republics, such as Serbia and North Macedonia; it makes a Bosniak-Bosnian distinction which matches the Serb-Serbian and Croat-Croatian distinctions between ethnicity and residence.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country in Southeast Europe on the Balkan Peninsula. It has had permanent settlement since the Neolithic Age. By the early historical period it was inhabited by Illyrians and Celts. Christianity arrived in the 1st century, and by the 4th century the area became part of the Western Roman Empire. Germanic tribes invaded soon after, followed by Slavs in the 6th century.
More than 96% of population of Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to one of its three autochthonous constituent peoples : Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. The term constituent refers to the fact that these three ethnic groups are explicitly mentioned in the constitution, and that none of them can be considered a minority or immigrant. The most easily recognisable feature that distinguishes the three ethnic groups is their religion, with Bosniaks predominantly Muslim, Serbs predominantly Eastern Orthodox, and Croats Catholic.
Sandžak is a historical and geo-political region in the Balkans, located in the southwestern part of Serbia and the eastern part of Montenegro. The Serbo-Croatian term Sandžak derives from the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, a former Ottoman administrative district founded in 1865.
"Muslims" is a designation for the ethnoreligious group of Serbo-Croatian-speaking Muslims of Slavic heritage, inhabiting mostly the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The term, adopted in the 1971 Constitution of Yugoslavia, groups together a number of distinct South Slavic communities of Islamic ethnocultural tradition. Prior to 1993, a vast majority of present-day Bosniaks self-identified as ethnic Muslims, along with some smaller groups of different ethnicity, such as Gorani and Torbeši. This designation did not include Yugoslav non-Slavic Muslims, such as Turks, some Romani people and majority of Albanians.
Islam is the most widespread religion in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was introduced to the local population in the 15th and 16th centuries as a result of the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, often referred to as Bosnian Serbs or Herzegovinian Serbs, are native and one of the three constitutive nations of the country, predominantly residing in the political-territorial entity of Republika Srpska. Most declare themselves Orthodox Christians and speakers of the Serbian language.
This article is about the Demographic history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and deals with the country's documented demographics over time. For an overview of the various ethnic groups and their historical development, see Ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The dominant religion in Vojvodina is Orthodox Christianity, mainly represented by the Serbian Orthodox Church, while other important religions of the region are Catholic Christianity, Protestant Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
The Ottoman Empire era of rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Herzegovina lasted from 1463/1482 to 1908.
The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina, often referred to as Bosnian Croats or Herzegovinian Croats, are native to Bosnia and Herzegovina and constitute the third most populous ethnic group, after Bosniaks and Serbs. They are also one of the constitutive nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina have made significant contributions to the culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most Croats declare themselves Catholics and speakers of the Croatian language.
The Diet of Bosnia and Herzegovina was a representative assembly with competence over the Austro-Hungarian Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The parliament established in 1910 had a certain legislative authority, however, its resolutions were subject to approval by the Austrian and Hungarian government. It ceased its operation in July 1914 and was legally abolished in 1915.
Bosnia and Herzegovina fell under Austro-Hungarian rule in 1878, when the Congress of Berlin approved the occupation of the Bosnia Vilayet, which officially remained part of the Ottoman Empire. Three decades later, in 1908, Austria-Hungary provoked the Bosnian Crisis by formally annexing the occupied zone, establishing the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the joint control of Austria and Hungary.
Bosniak nationalism or Bosniakdom is the nationalism that asserts the nationality of Bosniaks and promotes the cultural unity of the Bosniaks. It should not be confused with Bosnian nationalism, often referred to as Bosniandom, as Bosniaks are treated as a constituent people by the preamble of Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whereas people who identify as Bosnians for nationality are not. Bosniaks were formerly called Muslims in census data but this model was last used in the 1991 census.
The Bosniaks are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Kosovo as well as in Austria, Germany, Turkey and Sweden. They also constitute a significant diaspora with several communities across Europe, the Americas and Oceania.
Yugoslavism, Yugoslavdom, or Yugoslav nationalism is an ideology supporting the notion that the South Slavs, namely the Bosniaks, Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes, but also Bulgarians, belong to a single Yugoslav nation separated by diverging historical circumstances, forms of speech, and religious divides. During the interwar period, Yugoslavism became predominant in, and then the official ideology of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. There were two major forms of Yugoslavism in the period: the regime favoured integral Yugoslavism promoting unitarism, centralisation, and unification of the country's ethnic groups into a single Yugoslav nation, by coercion if necessary. The approach was also applied to languages spoken in the Kingdom. The main alternative was federalist Yugoslavism which advocated the autonomy of the historical lands in the form of a federation and gradual unification without outside pressure. Both agreed on the concept of National Oneness developed as an expression of the strategic alliance of South Slavs in Austria-Hungary in the early 20th century. The concept was meant as a notion that the South Slavs belong to a single "race", were of "one blood", and had shared language. It was considered neutral regarding the choice of centralism or federalism.
Bosnians are people native to the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially the region of Bosnia. As a common demonym, the term Bosnians refers to all inhabitants/citizens of the country, regardless of any ethnic, cultural or religious affiliation. It can also be used as a designation for anyone who is descended from the region of Bosnia. Also, a Bosnian can be anyone who holds citizenship of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus is largely synonymous with the all-encompassing national demonym Bosnians and Herzegovinians.
Croat Muslims are Muslims of Croat ethnic origin. They consist primarily of the descendants of the Ottoman-era Croats.
Serb Muslims or Serb Mohammedans, also referred to as Čitaci, are ethnic Serbs who are Muslims by their religious affiliation.
Bosniakisation designates the process of ethnic and cultural assimilation of non-Bosniak individuals or groups into the Bosniak ethnocultural corpus. Historically, bosniakisation was directed mainly towards some other South Slavic groups, like ethnic Muslims (Muslimani) in former Yugoslavia. Since Bosniaks are Sunni Muslims, Bosniakisation was also manifested towards some distinctive ethnoreligious minorities within Serbian and Croatian national corpus, mainly towards Serbian Muslims and Croatian Muslims.
The Bosniak National Awakening, also known as the Bosniak Revival or Bosniak Renaissance, is a period in history of the Bosniak people in which the Bosniaks and their intellectual front gathered together to stop the assimilation of their culture, language, people and country during the rise of Serb and Croat irredentism while being under Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and Yugoslav rule. The National Awakening traces its roots to the 17th century but had been commonly adapted in the 19th and 20th century.
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