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Bosanska Krajina

Coordinates:44°46′N17°11′E/ 44.767°N 17.183°E/44.767; 17.183
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Map of the region with towns.

Bosanska Krajina(Serbian Cyrillic:Босанска Крајина,pronounced[bɔ̌sanskaːkrâjina]) is a geographical region, a subregion ofBosnia,in westernBosnia and Herzegovina.It is enclosed by a number of rivers, namely theSava(north),Glina(northwest),VrbanjaandVrbas(east and southeast, respectively). The region is also a historic, economic and cultural entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, noted for its preserved nature and wildlife diversity.[1]

The largest city and historical center of the region isBanja Luka.Other cities and towns includeBihać,Bosanska Krupa,Bosanski Petrovac,Bosansko Grahovo,Bužim,Cazin,Drvar,Gradiška,Ključ,Kostajnica,Kozarska Dubica,Laktaši,Mrkonjić Grad,Novi Grad,Prijedor,Sanski Most,Šipovo,Velika Kladuša,Teslić,Prnjavor. [1]

Bosanska Krajina has no formal status; however, it has a significant cultural and historical identity that was formed through several historic and economic events. The territory of Bosanska Krajina is currently divided betweenRepublika Srpskaand theFederation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Naming[edit]

During theMedieval Bosniaperiod, the region of Bosanska Krajina was known asDonji Kraji(transl. Lower Ends) andZapadne Strane(transl. Westward Sides). After theOttoman conquestofBosnian Kingdom,and empire's subsequent westward expansion, the region between theUnaandVrbasrivers became known asKrajina(transl. Frontier) orBosanska Krajina(transl. Bosnian Frontier). The first recorded usage of the nameBosanska Krajinais in 1594.[2]Also, for the same territory, theexonymTurkish Croatiaappeared in German speakingAustria-Hungaryin the first decades of the 18th century, and was first used in maps created by theAustro-Hungarian — Ottoman Border Commission,which was mandated by thepeace treaty of Karlowitz(1699), and then thepeace treaty of Passarowitz(1718), and consisted exclusively of Austrians' and Venetians' military cartographers, and one Croat (Vitezović).[3][4][5]In the mid 19th century the termTurkish Croatia,used in some Austrian maps for theWestern Balkans,was replaced in favor of region's common name,Bosanska Krajina.[3]

Geography[edit]

Balkana Lake

Sub-regions (geographical and historical) include:Bihaćka krajina,Cazinska krajina,Potkozarje,Lijevče,etc.

History[edit]

Middle Ages[edit]

In the 6th century, today's northwestern Bosnia was part of theRoman province of Dalmatia.It fell under the jurisdiction of theEastern Roman Empire.Shortly thereafter,Eurasian Avarsand theirSlavicsubjects from central-eastern Europe invaded Dalmatia and settled in what is nowBosnia and Herzegovina.In the 7th century theSerbsandCroatsformed principalities initially under theEastern Roman Empire.The region was part of theDuchy of Croatiain the Early Middle Ages.[6]which later became part of theKingdom of CroatiaunderTomislav I[7]

Archaeological data show that cemeteries of northwestern Bosnia clearly indicate that from the first half of the 10th century this territory was under political rule of the Croatian ruler.[8]

Northern parts of the territories were part of Slavonian Banate (parishes Sana, Vrbas and Dubica, and Lower Pounje was part of Zagreb parish) as lower S(c)lavonia, where parish Sana served as seat ofBabonić family,and later theBlagaj family,and southern were parts of Pset and Pliva parish.

In the 13th and 14th century, from Pliva parish, a region calledDonji Kraji,located in today's southern Bosanska Krajina developed, and was first mentioned as a property of theDiocese of Bosniaand claimed by theBosnian Banate.

By the 14th century, theOttoman Empirehad significantly expanded into the western Balkans in aseries of wars,and the Turkish westward incursions eventually made this region an Ottoman borderland.Jajcehad fallen to the Ottomans in 1463, marking the downfall of the Kingdom of Bosnia, although was later taken from the Ottomans and organized as defensive Banate ofJajce.TheBattle of Krbava Fieldin 1493 effectively ended theKingdom of Hungary's persistent hold over the entire region, restricting them to fortified cities, and when Jajce fell again in 1528, Ottoman rule persisted almost till the end of 19th. century.

In the late 15th century, a local Croatian lord (knez) Juraj Mikuličić erected a fort in the village ofBužimnear Bihać, fearing the advancing Ottoman army. Mikuličić died in 1495, but the Bužim fort would not pass to Ottoman control until 1576.[9]Bosanska Krajina was the last Region in Bosnia to fall to the Ottoman Empire, the last city tofallwasBihaćin 1592 which eventually paved the way for theIslamizationof the region.[10]

Ottoman period[edit]

After the crucial 1526Battle of Mohácsand the1527 election in Cetin,Croatia became part of the AustrianHabsburg Empire.The Ottoman Empire formally established theEyalet of Bosniain 1580. The Croatian lands in general were reduced to a fraction of what they encompassed, and only the westernmost parts of today's Bosanska Krajina still resisted the Ottoman rule. Nevertheless, the Ottoman armies preferred to advance towards their targets in the northwest through more easily passable terrain, such as along the riverDanube,for exampleViennawasfirst besieged in 1529after the army had gone throughOsijek,MohácsandBuda.The natural obstacles in and around the region, especially at the time, included the rivers Sava, Vrbas, Una andSana,as well as the mountains such asPlješevica,Šator,Klekovača,Raduša,Grmeč,KozaraandVlašić.[citation needed]

Turkish incursions expanded further to the north, andCharles of Styriaerected a new fortified city ofKarlovacin 1579. In 1580 the Turks responded by declaring thePashaluk of Bosniawhich unified all the Sanjaks, including territory in modern-day Croatia. As a result of the wars and border changes, the Catholic Croat population moved north, and was replaced with Orthodox Serbs.[11]

The Bužim fort, under Ottoman control since 1576, was successfully held by the Ottomans in numerous battles (1685, 1686, 1688, 1737) and it was also upgraded (1626, 1834) until their eventual surrender in the 19th century. The building remains to this day as a monument to the Ottoman conquest.[9]

Bihać held out longer than Bužim; it was a free royal city and at one time the capital of the Kingdom of Croatia (metropolis et propugnaculum totius regni Croatiae).[12]But, in 1592 the Turkish army of about 20,000 underHasan-pasa Predojević,an Ottomanvizier,attacked and forcefully occupied Bihać.

When theOttoman Empirelost the 1683–1690War of the Holy Leagueto theHabsburg monarchyand her allies, and cededSlavoniaand Hungary to Austria at the 1699Treaty of Karlowitz,the northern and western borders of the Sanjak of Bosnia (corresponding largely to the modern Bosnian borders), became a permanent frontier between the Austrian andOttomanempires.

19th century[edit]

In mid-1858, an uprising known asPecija's First Revoltbroke out in the region, resulting from Ottoman pressure against the local Serb populace. It was crushed by December.

The Bosnian Frontier, like the rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina, participated in the 1875 – 1878Herzegovina Uprising.

World War II[edit]

Monument to the Revolution,dedicated to the victims of theKozara Offensiveand the aftermath

During World War II, Bosanska Krajina was known for its very strong resistance to the Fascist regime of theIndependent State of Croatia.The local Serb population in Bosanska Krajina was targeted in theGenocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatiaby the regime's Croat and Bosniak bands, serving as an overture to future conflicts at the end of the 20th century. The anti-fascistPartisan movementin the Bosanska Krajina region was more ethnically diverse than in any other part of former Yugoslavia during World War II. In the winter of 1942/1943 the Partisans established theRepublic of Bihaćin Bosanska Krajina. Soon afterwards, Bosanska Krajina was also the place of historical agreements that have taken place in Jajce and Mrkonjić Grad in 1943, ones that established the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in its current borders, as well as theFederation of Yugoslavia.[citation needed]

Bosnian War[edit]

Ethnic Composition in Bosanska Krajina (1991, 1994)[13]
1991 1994
Serbs 625,000 875,000
Bosniaks and Croats 550,000 50,000

During the 1992-95Bosnian War,Bosanska Krajina was divided betweenRepublika Srpska,theRepublic of Bosnia and Herzegovina,and theAutonomous Province of Western Bosnia.The Serb entity ofSAO Bosanska Krajinawas established in summer 1991. The region was also a place of concentration camps, includingManjačaandOmarskawhereBosniakswere held, tortured, raped, and killed.

For the past two years, non-Serbs in the Bosanska Krajina area have been "cleansed" through systematic persecution that includestorture,murder,rape,beatings,harassment,de jurediscrimination,intimidation,expulsion from homes, confiscation of property, bombing of businesses, dismissal from work, outlawing of all scripts except the Cyrillic in public institutions, and the destruction of cultural objects such as mosques and Catholic churches.

— Human Rights Watchreport 1994[14]

Demography[edit]

Serbian traditional clothingfrom Bosanska Krajina

The population of the region numbered almost one million before theBosnian War.The composition of the current population of Bosanska Krajina has dramatically changed, because of expulsions, forced relocation and emigration during the Bosnian war in 1992–95.

Economics[edit]

In the immediate aftermath of World War II Bosanska Krajina was considered one of the poorest regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This poverty was a contributing factor to 1950Cazin Uprisingagainst the communist government, the only such uprising in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina and Yugoslavia.

The later economic boom and prosperity of Bosanska Krajina was mostly due to planned urban development programs that were created specifically for this region in early and mid-1970s by Urban Institute in Banja Luka. The development was further stimulated by the simplification of the banking system that encouraged investments in resource processing industry. As a result, the region has seen a boom in agricultural and industrial production.

Agrokomerc,a food manufacturing industry located in northwest region was the largest food manufacturer in Bosnia and Herzegovina and former Yugoslavia. Other industries included chemical industry Saniteks in Velika Kladuša,electronics industryRudi Cajevec in Banja Luka, Textile industry Sana in Bosanski Novi as well as a range of wood and food processing companies that stimulated an economic boom in this region. There was also a significant ore industry developed around the Kozara Mountain.

Transport and aviation[edit]

B&H AirlinesATR 72at Banja Luka airport preparing for the flight to Zürich, August 2010

The expressway E-661 (locally known as M-16) leads north toCroatia,existing as an expressway from Banja Luka toLaktašiand as a two-lane road fromLaktašito the Bosnian/Croatian border. This second section of the road is currently being upgraded to an expressway.

Under planning is two new expressways. One from Prijedor to Bosanska Dubica to shorten the travelling time to Zagreb. The other one is to the east heading towards Doboj and connecting Bosanska Krajina to the importantCorridor Vcin Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Banja Luka International Airportis located 23 km from Banja Luka. There are two airlines currently, B&H Airlines and Adria Airways, with regular flights to Ljubljana (four times weekly) and Zürich (three times weekly). Charter flights also operate from the airport, and the airport can be used as a back-up to Sarajevo Airport. Zagreb Airport, due to weather conditions in winter often preferable to Sarajevo, is approximately two hours away from Banja Luka by car.

Željava Air Base,situated on the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina under Plješevica Mountain, near the town of Bihać in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was the largest underground airport and military airbase in the former Yugoslavia and one of the largest in Europe.

Prijedoralso has an airfield in the north-eastern part of the city in the area of Urije. The airfield has a fleet of light aircraft and sailplanes. The airfield was used by the Yugoslav partisans and was the first operative partisan airfield during World War II. The airfield also serves as the home of the city's renovated Parachuting club.

Bosanska Krajina is the hub of the railway services in Bosnia and Herzegovina, comprising more than one-half of the railway network of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Services operate to the northern and western Bosnian towns Banja Luka, Prijedor, Bosanski Novi and Bihać. The rail network also operates to Zagreb (twice daily), and Belgrade.

Gallery[edit]

Historical gallery[edit]

See also[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBosanska Krajina.

References[edit]

  1. ^abMučibabić B., Ed. (1998).Geografski atlas Bosne i Hercegovine.Sarajevo: Geodetski zavod BiH.ISBN9958-766-00-0.
  2. ^Dragomir Vukičić; Nevenka Gošić (1985).Collection of papers and materials of the fifth Yugoslav onomastic conference.Akademija nauka i umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine. p. 75.
  3. ^abMagaš, Branka; Žanić, Ivo (2001).The War in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina 1991–1995.Taylor & Francis.p. 11.ISBN0-7146-8201-2.
  4. ^Jayne, Kingsley Garland (1911)."Bosnia and Herzegovina".InChisholm, Hugh(ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 279–286.Donji Kraj, the later Krajina, Kraina or Turkish Croatia, in the north-west
  5. ^Županc, Ivan; Fuerst-Bjeliš, Borna (1 September 2007)."Images of the Croatian Borderlands: Selected Examples of Early Modern Cartography".Hrvatski geografski glasnik.69(1): 5–19.doi:10.21861/HGG.2007.69.01.01.ISSN1331-5854.Retrieved25 June2010– viaHrčak.Schimek's Map of the Turkish Croatia, 1788. (Facsimile from Marković 1998). "Turkisch Croatien"
  6. ^Fine 1991,p. 53.
  7. ^Fine 1991,p. 262.
  8. ^Petrinec, Maja (2012)."Observations on post-Carolingian Weapons and equestrian Equipment in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina within the Context of historical Events of the 10th and 11th Century".Starohrvatska Prosvjeta.III(39). Split, Croatia: Muzej hrvatskih arheoloških spomenika: 111.ISSN0351-4536– viaHrčak.
  9. ^abCommission to Preserve National Monuments, Sarajevo (2007-11-28)."Old Fort – Buzim – Bosnia and Herzegovina"(PDF).Council of Europe.Retrieved2010-06-24.
  10. ^admin (2016-12-06)."Osvajanje Bihaća 1592. godine - događaj kojim je cijeli prostor današnje Bosne i Hercegovine došao pod osmansku vlast".BOSNAE(in Bosnian).Retrieved2022-08-26.
  11. ^Noel Malcolm (1994)."The Vlachs in Bosnia".Bosnia: A Short History.New York University Press. Archived fromthe originalon 2007-10-13.Retrieved2010-06-18.
  12. ^Hamdija Kreševljaković."Stari bosanski gradovi. Vieux bourgs bosniaques"(PDF).p. 30.Retrieved2019-11-11.
  13. ^Ramet, Sabrina P. (2006).The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building and Legitimation, 1918–2004.Indiana University Press. p. 430.ISBN0-271-01629-9.
  14. ^""Ethnic Cleansing" Continues in Northern Bosnia "(PDF).Human Rights Watch. November 1994.

Sources[edit]


44°46′N17°11′E/ 44.767°N 17.183°E/44.767; 17.183

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