Part 13

5. _Flora._--Serajevo museum has a collection of the Bosnian flora, representing over 3000 species; among them, the rare _Veronica crinita, Pinus leucodermis, Picea omorica_ and _Daphne Blagayana_. About 50% of the occupied territory is clothed with forest. "Bosnia begins with the forest," says a native proverb, "Herzegovina with the rock"; and this account is, broadly speaking, accurate, although the Bosnian Karst is as bare as that of Herzegovina. Below the mountain crests, where only the hardiest lichens and mosses can survive, comes a belt of large timber, including many giant trees, 200 ft. high, and 20 ft. in girth at the level of a man's shoulder. Dense brushwood prevails on the foothills. There are three main zones of woodland. Up to 2500 ft. among the ranges of northern Bosnia, the sunnier slopes are overgrown by oaks, the shadier by beeches. Farther south, in central Bosnia, the oak rarely mounts beyond the foothills, being superseded by the beech, elm, ash, fir and pine, up to 5000 ft. The third zone is characterized by the predominance, up to 6000 ft., of the fir, pine and other conifers. In all three zones occur the chestnut, aspen, willow (especially _Salix laurea_), hornbeam, birch, alder, juniper and yew; while the mountain ash, hazel, wild plum, wild pear and other wild fruit trees are found at rarer intervals. Until 1878 the forests were almost neglected; afterwards, the government was forced to levy a graduated tax on goats, owing to the damage they inflicted upon young trees, and to curtail the popular rights of cutting timber and fir-wood and of pasturage. These measures were largely successful, but in 1902 the export of oak staves was discontinued owing to a shortage of supply.

6. _Agriculture._--In 1895, according to the agricultural survey, the surface of Bosnia and Herzegovina was laid out as follows:--

Acres. Plough-land. 2,355,499 Garden-ground. 103,040 Meadow. 739,200 Vineyards. 12,598 Pasture. 1,875,840 Forest. 5,670,619 Unproductive. 210,998

Apart from the arid wastes of the Karst, the soil is well adapted for the growing of cereals, especially Indian corn; olives, vines, mulberries, figs, pomegranates, melons, oranges, lemons, rice and tobacco flourish in Herzegovina and the more sheltered portions of Bosnia. Near Doboj, on the Bosna, there is a state sugar-refinery, for which beetroot is largely grown in the vicinity. _Pyrethrum cinerariaefolium_ is exported for the manufacture of insect-powder, and sunflowers are cultivated for the oil contained in their seeds. The plum-orchards of the Posavina furnish prunes and a spirit called _slivovica, shlivovitsa_ or _sliwowitz_. This district is the headquarters of a thriving trade in pigs. Poultry, bees and silkworms are commonly kept. On the whole agriculture is backward, despite the richness of the soil; for the cultivators are a very conservative race, and prefer the methods and implements of their ancestors. Many improvements were, nevertheless, introduced by the government after 1878. Machinery was lent to the farmers, and free grants of seed were made. Model farms were established at Livno and at Gacko, on the Montenegrin border; a school of viticulture near Mostar; a model poultry-farm at Prijedor, close to the Croatian boundary; a school of agriculture and dairy farming at Ilidze; and another school at Modric, near the mouth of the Bosna, where a certain number of village schoolmasters are annually trained, for six weeks, in practical husbandry. Seed is distributed, and agricultural machinery lent, by the government. To better the breeds of live-stock, a stud-farm was opened near Serajevo, and foreign horses, cattle, sheep and poultry are imported.

7. _Land Tenure._--The _zadruga_, or household community, more common in Servia (q.v.), survives to a small extent in Bosnia and Herzegovina; but, as a rule, the tenure of land resembles the system called _metayage_. At the time of the Austrian occupation (1878) it was regulated by a Turkish enactment[1] of the 12th of September 1859. Apart from gardens and house-property, all land was, according to this enactment, owned by the state; in practice, it was held by the Moslem _begs_ or _beys_ (nobles) and _agas_ (landlords), who let it to the peasantry. The landlord received from his tenant (_kmet_) a fixed percentage, usually one third (_tretina_), of the annual produce; and, of the remaining two thirds, the cash equivalent of one tenth (_desetina_) went to the state. The amount of the _desetina_ was always fixed first, and served as a basis for the assessment of the _tretina_, which, however, was generally paid in kind. At any time the tenant could relinquish his holding; but he could only be evicted for refusing to pay his _tretina_, for wilful neglect of his land or for damage done to it. The landlord was bound to keep his tenants' dwellings and outhouses in repair. Should he desire to sell his estates, the right of pre-emption belonged to the tenants, or, in default, to the neighbours. Thus foreign speculators in land were excluded, while a class of peasant proprietors was created; its numbers being increased by the custom that, if any man reclaimed a piece of waste land, it became his own property after ten years. The Turkish land-system remained in force during the entire period of the occupation (1878-1908). It had worked, on the whole, satisfactorily; and between 1885 and 1895 the number of peasants farming their own land rose from 117,000 to 200,000. One conspicuous feature of the Bosnian land-system is the Moslem _Vakuf_, or ecclesiastical property, consisting of estates dedicated to such charitable purposes as poor-relief, and the endowment of mosques, schools, hospitals, cemeteries and baths. It is administered by a central board of Moslem officials, who meet in Sarajevo, under state supervision. Its income rose to L25,000 in 1895, having quadrupled itself in ten years. The _Vakuf_ tenants were at that time extremely prosperous, for their rent had been fixed for ten years in advance on the basis of the year's harvest, and so had not risen proportionately to the value of their holdings.

8. _Industries and Commerce._--Beside agriculture, which employed over 88% of the whole population in 1895, the other industries are insignificant. Chief among them are weaving and leather and metal work, carried on by the workmen in their own houses. There are also government workshops, opened with a view to a higher technical and artistic development of the house industry. More particularly, chased and inlaid metallic wares, _bez_ (thin cotton) and carpet-weaving receive government support. Besides the sugar-refinery already mentioned, there were in 1900 four tobacco factories, a national printing-press, an annular furnace for brick-burning, an iron-foundry and several blast-furnaces, under the management of the state. Among the larger private establishments there existed in the same year seven breweries, one brandy distillery, two jam, two soap and candle factories, two building and furniture works, a factory for spinning thread, one iron and steel works, one paper and one ammonia and soda factory, and one mineral-oil refinery.

In respect of foreign trade Bosnia and Herzegovina were in 1882 included in the customs and commercial system of Austria-Hungary, to the extinction of all intermediate imposts. Since 1898 special statistics have been drawn up respecting their trade also with Austria and Hungary. According to these statistics the most important articles of export are coal and turf, fruit, minerals, soda, iron and steel, and cattle. Other articles of export are chemicals, dyeing and tanning stuffs, tobacco, sugar-beet and kitchen-salt. The imports consist principally of food stuffs, building materials, drinks, sugar, machinery, glass, fats, clothes, wooden and stone wares, and various manufactured goods.

There is a national bank in Serajevo, which carries on a hypothecary credit business and manages the wholesale trade of the tobacco factories. There are savings banks in Banjaluka, Bjelina and Brcka.

9. _Communications._--The construction of carriage-roads, wholly neglected by the Turks, was carried out on a large scale by the Austrians. Two railways were also built, in connexion with the Hungarian state system. One crosses the Una at Kostajnica, and, after skirting the right bank of that river as far as Novi, strikes eastward to Banjaluka. The other, a narrow-gauge line, crosses the Save at Bosna Brod, and follows the Bosna to Serajevo, throwing out branches eastward beyond Dolnja Tuzla, and westward to Jajce and Bugojno. It then pierces through the mountains of northern Herzegovina, traverses the Narenta valley, and runs almost parallel with the coast to Trebinje, Ragusa and the Bocche di Cattaro. Up to this point the railways of the occupied territory were complete in 1901. A farther line, from Serajevo to the frontiers of Servia and Novibazar, was undertaken in 1902, and by 1906 782 m. of railway were open. Small steamers ply on the Drina, Save and Una, but the Bosna, though broad from its very source, is, like the Vrbas, too full of shallows to be utilized; while the Narenta only begins to be navigable when it enters Dalmatia. All the railway lines, like the postal, telegraphic and telephonic services, are state property. In many of the principal towns there are also government hotels.

Serajevo, with 41,543 inhabitants in 1895, is the capital of the combined provinces, and other important places are Mostar (17,010), the capital of Herzegovina, Banjaluka (14,812), Dolnja Tuzla (11,034), Travnik (6626), Livno (5273), Visoko(5000), Foca (4217), Jajce (3929) and Trebinje (2966). All these are described in separate articles.

10. _Population and National Characteristics._--In 1895 the population, which tends to increase slowly, with a preponderance of males over females, numbered 1,568,092. The alien element is small, consisting chiefly of Austro-Hungarians, gipsies, Italians and Jews. Spanish is a comomon language of the Jews, whose ancestors fled hither, during the 16th century, to escape the Inquisition. The natives are officially described as Bosniaks, but classify themselves according to religion. Thus the Roman Catholics prefer the name of Croats, Hrvats or Latins; the Orthodox, of Serbs; the Moslems, of Turks. All alike belong to the Serbo-Croatian branch of the Slavonic race; and all speak a language almost identical with Servian, though written by the Roman Catholics in Latin instead of Cyrillic letters. A full account of this language, and its literature, is given under SERVIA and CROATIA-SLAVONIA. To avoid offending either "Serbs" or "Croats," it is officially designated "Bosnisch." In some parts of Herzegovina the dress, manners and physical type of the peasantry are akin to those of Montenegro. The Bosnians or Bosniaks resemble their Servian kinsfolk in both appearance and character. They have the same love for poetry, music and romance; the same intense pride in their race and history; many of the same superstitions and customs. The Christians retain the Servian costume, modified in detail, as by the occasional use of the turban or fez. The "Turkish" women have in some districts abandoned the veil; but in others they even cover the eyes when they leave home. Polygamy is almost unknown, possibly because many of the "Turks" are descended from the austere Bogomils, who were, in most cases, converted to Islam, but more probably because the "Turks" are as a rule too poor to provide for more than one wife on the scale required by Islamic law. In general, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina are sober and thrifty, subsisting chiefly on Indian corn, dried meat, milk and vegetables. Their houses are built of timber and thatch, or clay tiles, except in the Karst region, where stone is more plentiful than wood. Family ties are strong, and the women are not ill-treated, although they share in all kinds of manual labour.

11. _Government._--At the time of the Austrian annexation in 1908, the only remaining token of Ottoman suzerainty was that the foreign consuls received their _exequatur_ from Turkey, instead of Austria; otherwise the government of the country was conducted in the name of the Austrian emperor, through the imperial minister of finance at Vienna, who controlled the civil service for the occupied territory. Its central bureau, with departments of the interior, religion and education, finance and justice, was established at Serajevo; and its members were largely recruited among the Austrian Slavs, who were better able than the Germans to comprehend the local customs and language. A consultative assembly, composed of the highest ecclesiastical authorities, together with 12 popular representatives, also met at Serajevo. For administrative purposes the country was divided into 6 districts or prefectures (_kreise_), which were subdivided into 49 subprefectures (_bezirke_).

Every large town has a mayor and deputy mayor, appointed by the government, and a town council, of whom one third are similarly appointed, while the citizens choose the rest; a proportionate number of councillors representing each religious community. To ensure economy, the decisions of this body are supervised by a government commissioner. The commune is preserved, somewhat as in Servia (q.v.), but with modified powers. Each district has its court of law, where cases are tried by three official judges and two assessors, selected from the leading citizens. The assessors vote equally with the judges, and three votes decide the verdict. Except where the litigants and witnesses are German, the Serbo-Croatian language is used. An appeal, on points of law alone, may be carried to the supreme court in Serajevo, and there tried by five judges without assessors. In cases not involving a sum greater than 300 florins (L25), no appeal will lie; and where only 50 florins (L4:3:4) are in question, the case is summarily decided at the _Bagatelle Gericht_, or court for trifling cases. The number of lawyers admitted to practice is strictly limited. As far as possible, the Turkish law was retained during the period of occupation; all cases between Moslems were settled in separate courts by Moslem judges, against whom there was an appeal to the supreme court, aided by assessors. All able-bodied males are liable, on reaching their 21st year, for 3 years' service with the colours, and 9 years in the reserve. The garrison numbers about 20,000 Austrian troops, and there are 7100 native troops. The principal military stations are Bjelina, Zvornik, Visegrad, Gorazda, Foca, Bilek, Avtovac and Trebinje, along the eastern frontier; Mostar and Stolac in the south; Livno in the west; and Bihac in the north.

12. _Religion._--In 1895 43% of the population were Orthodox Christians, 35% Moslems and 21% Roman Catholics. The patriarch of Constantinople is the nominal head of the Orthodox priesthood; but by an arrangement concluded in 1879, his authority was delegated to the Austrian emperor, in exchange for a revenue equal to the tribute previously paid by the clergy of the provinces; and his nominations for the metropolitanate of Serajevo, and the bishoprics of Dolnja Tuzla, Banjaluka and Mostar require the imperial assent. Under Turkish rule the communes chose their own parish priests, but this right is now vested in the government. The Roman Catholics have an archbishop in Serajevo, a bishop in Mostar and an apostolic administrator in Banjaluka. Serajevo is also the seat of the Jewish chief rabbi; and of the highest Moslem ecclesiastic, or _reis-el-ulema_, who with his council is nominated and paid by the government. The inferior Moslem clergy draw their stipends from the _Vakuf_. Considerable bitterness prevails between the rival confessions, each aiming at political ascendancy, but the government favours none. In order to conciliate even the Moslems, who include the bulk of the great landholders and of the urban population, its representatives visit the mosques in state on festivals; grants are made for the Mecca pilgrimage; and even the howling Dervishes in Serajevo are maintained by the state.

13. _Education._--Education for boys and girls between the ages of seven and fifteen is free, but not compulsory. The state supports primary schools (352 in 1905), where reading, writing, arithmetic and history are taught; and separate instruction is given by the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Jewish and Moslem clergy. There are also various private schools, belonging to the different religious communities. These receive a grant from the government, which nevertheless encourages all parents to send their children to its own schools. One of the earliest and best-known private schools is the orphanage at Serajevo, founded in 1869 by two English ladies, Miss Irby and Miss Mackenzie. In the Moslem schools, which, in 1905, comprised 855 _mektebs_ or primary schools, and 41 _madrasas_ or high schools, instruction is usually given in Turkish or Arabic; while in Orthodox schools the books are printed in Cyrillic characters.

For higher education there were in 1908 three gymnasia, a real-school at Banjaluka, a technical college and a teachers' training-college at Serajevo, where, also, is the state school for Moslem law-students, called _scheriatschule_ from the _sheri_ or Turkish code; and various theological, commercial and art institutes. Promising pupils are frequently sent to Vienna University, with scholarships, which may be forfeited if the holders engage in political agitation.

14. _Antiquities._--Up to 1900 no traces of palaeolithic man had been discovered in Bosnia or Herzegovina; but many later prehistoric remains are preserved in Serajevo museum. The neolithic station of Butmir, near Ilidze, was probably a lake-dwellers' colony, and has yielded numerous stone and horn implements, clay figures and pottery. Not far off, similar relics were found at Sobunar, Zlatiste and Debelobrdo; iron and bronze ornaments, vessels and weapons, often of elaborate design, occur in the huts and cemeteries of Glasinac, and in the cemetery of Jezerine, where they are associated with objects in silver, tin, amber, glass, &c. Among the numerous finds made in other districts may be mentioned the discovery, at Vrankamer, near Bihac, of 98 African coins, the oldest of which dates from 300 B.C. Many vestiges of Roman rule survive, such as roads, mines, ruins, tombs, coins, frescoes and inscriptions. Such remains occur frequently near Bihac, Foca, Livno, Jajce and Serajevo; and especially near the sources of the Drina. The period between the downfall of Roman power, late in the 5th century, and the growth of a Bosnian state, in the 11th, is poorer in antiquities. The later middle ages are represented by several monasteries, and many castles, such as those of Dervent, Doboj, Maglaj, Zepce and Vranduk, on the Bosna; Bihac, on the Una; Prijedor and Kljuc, on the Sana; and Stolac, Gabela, Irebinje and Konjica, in Herzegovina. The bridge across the Narenta, at Konjica, is said to date from the 10th century. A group of signs carved on some rocks near Visegrad have been regarded as cuneiform writing, but are probably medieval masonic symbols. In a few cases, such as the Begova Dzamia at Serajevo, the Foca mosques and the Mostar bridge, the buildings raised by the Turks are of high architectural merit. More remarkable are the tombstones, generally measuring 6 ft. in length, 3 in height and 3 in breadth, which have been supposed to mark the graves of the Bogomils. These are, as a rule, quite unadorned, a few only being decorated with rude has-reliefs of animals, plants, weapons, the crescent and star, or, very rarely, the cross.

Formation of the Banate.

15. _History._--Under Roman rule Bosnia had no separate name or history, and until the great Slavonic immigration of 636 it remained an undifferentiated part of Illyria (q.v.). Owing to the scarcity of authoritative documents, it is impossible to describe in detail the events of the next three centuries. During this period Bosnia became the generally accepted name for the valley of the Bosna (ancient _Basanius_); and subsequently for several outlying and tributary principalities, notably those of Soli, afterwards Tuzla; Usora, along the south-eastern bank of the Save; Donji Kraj, the later Krajina, Kraina or Turkish Croatia, in the north-west; and Rama, the modern district of Livno. The old Illyrian population was rapidly absorbed or expelled, its Latin institutions being replaced by the autonomous tribal divisions, or _Zupanates_, of the Slavs. Pressure from Hungary and Byzantium gradually welded these isolated social units into a single nation, whose ruler was known as the Ban (q.v.). But the central power remained weak, and the country possessed no strong natural frontiers. It seems probable that the bans were originally viceroys of the Croatian kings, who resumed their sovereignty over Bosnia from 958 to 1010. Thenceforward, until 1180, the bans continued subject to the Eastern empire or Hungary, with brief intervals of independence. The territory now called Herzegovina was also subject to various foreign powers. It comprised the principalities of Tribunia or Travunja, with its capital at Trebinje; and Hlum or Hum, the Zachlumia of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, who gives a clear picture of this region as it was in the 10th century.[2]

Religious controversies.

The schism between Eastern and Western Christendom left Bosnia divided between the Greek and Latin Churches. Early in the 12th century a new religion, that of the Bogomils (q.v.), was introduced, and denounced as heretical. Its converts nevertheless included many of the Bosnian nobles and the ban Kulin (1180-1204), whose reign was long proverbial for its prosperity, owing to the flourishing state of commerce and agriculture, and the extensive mining operations carried on by the Ragusans. An unusually able ruler, connected by marriage with the powerful Servian dynasty of Nemanya, and by treaty with the republic of Ragusa,[3] Kulin perceived in the new doctrines a barrier between his subjects and Hungary. He was compelled to recant, under strong pressure from Pope Innocent III. and Bela III. of Hungary; but, despite all efforts, Bogomilism incessantly gained ground. In 1232 Stephen, the successor of Kulin, was dethroned by the native magnates, who chose instead Matthew Ninoslav, a Bogomil. This event illustrates the three dominant characteristics of Bosnian history: the strength of the aristocracy; the corresponding weakness of the central authority, enhanced by the lack of any definite rule of inheritance; and the supreme influence of religion. Threatened by Pope Gregory IX. with a crusade, Ninoslav was baptized, only to abjure Christianity in 1233. For six years he withstood the Hungarian crusaders, led by Kaloman, duke of Croatia; in 1241 the Tatar invasion of Hungary afforded him a brief respite; and in 1244 peace was concluded after a Bosnian campaign against Croatia. A renewal of the crusade proving equally vain, in 1247 Pope Innocent III. entered into friendly negotiations with the ban, whose country was for the moment an independent and formidable state. The importance attached to its conversion is well attested by the correspondence of Pope Gregory IX. with Ninoslav and various Bosnian ecclesiastics.[4]

Period of Hungarian supremacy.

On the death of Ninoslav in 1250, vigorous efforts were made to exterminate the Bogomil heresy; and to this end, Bela IV., who appeared as the champion of Roman Catholicism, secured the election of his nominee Prijesda to the banate. Direct Hungarian suzerainty lasted until 1299, the bans preserving only a shadow of their former power. From 1299 to 1322 the country was ruled by the Croatian princes, Paul and Mladen Subic, who, though vassals of Hungary, reunited the provinces of Upper and Lower Bosnia, created by the Hungarians in order to prevent the growth of a dangerous national unity. A rising of the native magnates in 1322 resulted in the election of the Bogomil, Stephen Kotromanic, last and greatest of the Bosnian bans.

Stephen Kotromanic.