Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Catholic West (Croatia) and the Orthodox East (Serbia), borrowing elements from both but
not fully belonging to either.
After periods of rule by the Illyrians (ancestors of today's Albanians) and the Romans,
Bosnia fostered its own thriving Slavic culture during the Middle Ages. This was the time
of the Bogomil culture: A homegrown branch of Christianity that was neither Catholic nor
Orthodox—and was viewed with suspicion by both faiths. The Bogomil (literally “dear to
God”) faith was simple, ascetic, and somewhat mystic, combining elements of Slavic, Il-
lyrian, andCeltic traditions. TheBogomils—who comprised amajority ofthepopulation of
medieval Bosnia—had a thriving civilization. Vivid artifacts of the Bogomil kingdom are
still around, such as their engraved burial grave markers, called
ste
ć
aks
(some of the best-
preserved are in Stolac, near Mostar).
WhentheOttomans(fromwhat'snowcalledTurkey)tookoverthislandinthe15thcen-
tury, they tolerated different faiths...but offered generous economic and political incentives
to those who converted to Islam. In negotiating their religious freedoms with the sultans,
Bosnia's Roman Catholics (who identified as Croats) and Eastern Orthodox (who identified
as Serbs) both had the support of larger church hierarchies outside of Bosnia. But the Bo-
gomils had no bargaining power, and were more likely to swap one monotheistic faith for
another—creating the Muslim South Slav ethnicity that would come to be known as “Bos-
niak.”
Under the Ottomans, Bosnia flourished. The Ottoman sultans invested in infrastructure
(primarily bridges—including Mostar's Old Bridge—and fountains) and architecture, in-
cluding many mosques, hammams (baths), caravanserais (inns), madrassas (theological
schools), and so on. Bosnian Muslims rose through the ranks of the empire, becoming mil-
itary generals, religious leaders, beloved poets, and even grand viziers (top-level advisers to
the sultans).
After four centuries of rule, the Ottoman Empire entered a steep decline. The Bosniak
military hero Husein Gradaš
č
evi
ć
—nicknamed “The Dragon of Bosnia” (Zmaj od
Bosne)—led an armed uprising in the 1830s. Though he died in battle, his movement even-
tually brought about the end of the archaic Ottoman system of rule in Bosnia, leading to a
greater degree of autonomy.
But Bosnia was bound for even bigger changes. Unable to continue to rule over its
vast holdings, in 1878 the Ottomans passed control of Bosnia-Herzegovina to their Habs-
burgrival,theAustro-HungarianEmpire(whichalreadycontrolledneighboringCroatiaand
Slovenia). The Habsburgs quickly moved to modernize Bosnia, erecting buildings and in-
vesting in infrastructure. Sarajevo, Mostar, and many other Bosnian cities still show the im-
pressive results of these efforts, which pulled Bosnia from their antiquated Ottoman ways
into the modern world. Habsburg rule piped in mainstream European culture—which, un-
til then, had scarcely penetrated Bosnian soil. Now Bosnian urbanites and aristocrats ex-
