Tragom Evlije Čelebija kroz Hercegovački sandžak

Anđelko VlašićDijana Pinjuh

2023

In this book, the authors analyze the journey of the Ottoman travel writer Evliya Çelebi (1611–1685 or later), who visited the Sanjak of Herzegovina in 1664 and in his Book of Travels left numerous testimonies about Herzegovina in the second half of the 17th century. The book is based on the previously unresearched material contained in the manuscript which is considered to be the autograph, i.e. the original manuscript of Evliya’s book. The mentioned material from the autograph is compared with the hitherto known material on Ottoman Herzegovina in the edition of his travelogue translated and edited by Hazim Šabanović in the 1950s, as well as with other historiographical information on the history of Herzegovina in the second half of the 17th century. The book consists of two parts. In the first part, with the aim of obtaining a clearer picture of the area visited by Evliya, the authors give an overview of the history of the medieval region of Hum. The territory of Hum in the 10th and 11th centuries included the area from the right bank of the river Neretva up to the river Cetina. Under the influence of various lords the boundaries of Hum changed frequently. The largest territorial expansion of Hum will be achieved during the reign of the noble house of Kosača, whose most important representative was Stjepan Kosača, who since 1448 held the title of duke (herceg). The area ruled by Herceg Stjepan stretched from Prijepolje in the northeast to the Bay of Kotor in the south, and from Omiš in the west to Duvno in the north. At that time, the Ottoman Empire, led by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, became more and more aggressive in its territorial expansion, which will also be reflected in the area ruled by Herceg Stjepan. Already during the Herceg’s lifetime, the mentioned area began to be called Herzegovina. Although the house of Kosača had been cooperating with the Ottomans since 1411, this relationship was on unequal terms from the very beginning and could not save Herzegovina from Ottoman conquest. After Mehmed II conquered Bosnia in 1463, it was only a matter of time before the same fate befell Herzegovina. That it did not surrender without a fight is clearly shown by the examples of the forts of Sokol, Blagaj and Ključ, which resisted the Ottoman conquerors the longest of all fortified towns. With the Ottoman conquest of the town which is today called Herceg Novi in 1482 and the fort of Koš on the Neretva ten years later, the last defended remnants of the former territory of Herceg Stjepan fell to the Ottomans. Even before the final fall of Herzegovina, the Ottomans founded first the Vilayet, and then the Sanjak of Herzegovina, making the former territory of Herceg Stjepan part of the Ottoman state, under whose rule it would remain until the end of the 19th century. The period of Ottoman expansion during the 16th century and the affirmation of the Ottoman state as a world power was followed by a period of stagnation and financial and economic difficulties. Despite the deepening crisis, the Ottoman sultans entered into new conflicts with various enemies of the Empire. The events in Herzegovina were particularly affected by the Ottoman Empire’s conflict with the Republic of Venice: the Cretan War (1645–1669) was fought mostly on the island of Crete, but warring activities also took place on the eastern Adriatic coast and inflicted new suffering on the population of Herzegovina. On the Venetian side, the Uskoks, i.e. the defectors from the Ottoman territory who were attracted by the Venetians to their side with various privileges, took an active part in the warring activities, as they undertook numerous campaigns on the other side of the Venetian-Ottoman border. In such circumstances, both Muslim and Christian subjects of the Ottoman Empire in Herzegovina perished. The second part of the book deals with Evliya’s description of the Sanjak of Herzegovina, which the authors analyze and compare with the current state of Ottoman tangible and intangible heritage in the area. Describing the then-Herzegovina, Evliya gives numerous descriptions of the sufferings to which the local population was exposed during the Cretan War. He did not omit the folk tales he heard from his hosts, descriptions of the natural riches he admired, various specialties he tasted, as well as descriptions of the inhabitants and their everyday lives. Evliya paid special attention to the descriptions of Muslim settlements and its most important public buildings. Traveling through Herzegovina of the period, the Ottoman traveler recorded valuable descriptions of Prijepolje, Pljevlja, Čajniče, Foča, Herceg Novi, Nevesinje, Stolac, Počitelj, Blagaj, Mostar and Konjic, which was the last stop on his journey through the Sanjak of Herzegovina. During the analysis of Evliya’s notes on the tangible and intangible culture of the Sanjak of Herzegovina we tried to explore not only the condition of the buildings, but also to physically pass through the area of then-Herzegovina. Following Evliya’s route on the ground, we tried to convey as faithfully as possible the current state of the buildings he described. Although many of the buildings from the Ottoman period have long since collapsed – for some it is not known where they stood or what they looked like – a number have survived to this day, at least in a dilapidated condition. We tried to experience Herzegovina through Evliya’s eyes – bearing in mind that our trip lasted much shorter, since we traveled by car and not on horseback. Comparing Evliya’s notes with the current situation, we tried to give as accurate a description as possible of the route we took, but also of other interesting things we heard from the locals. Great help during our field research was provided by the locals of numerous Herzegovinian settlements who directed us to the right path in unknown locations, warned us of possible problems or referred us to other people who could be of help – and often they themselves were a source of numerous interesting information and stories from the past. As for the autograph of the Book of Travels as a source for supplementing the information available to us through the translation of Hazim Šabanović, it can be argued that the new data from the autograph contribute to a clearer picture of Ottoman Herzegovina in the second half of the 17th century and help clarify some ambiguities. Much of the information given by Evliya is precise, clear and reliable, which will be of great help to researchers in shedding light on the Herzegovinian history of the mentioned period. As for the parts of the travelogue where the data are deficient or unconvincing, it should be borne in mind that Evliya was not able to verify many of it, or relied on the sources available to him and had no reason to question them. In addition, it should be taken into account that Evliya did not strive to present precise data at all times, but that he also wrote with the aim of impressing his readers. In any case, we believe that Evliya’s travelogue is a valuable historical source that future researchers should approach as such.