In the 16th century, the menace of the Ottoman agression became a historical reality also for a part of the today’s territory of Czechoslovakia. The rule of the Ottoman Empire in South Slovakia, lasting for a century and a half, has been paid attention by our historiography in a number of treatises dealing with partial questions and concerning certain regions. Inherited from the Ottoman administration, a number of historical documents related to the Hungarian-Habsburg area, and translations (as. well as original texts, in some cases) of a few hundreds of Turkish documents, have been edited.1/ Research materials are also supplied, of course, by Hungarian historiography, treating the problem in question for the whole of former Hungary, as well as separate writings by historians from other countries. The first more comprehensive summary of ...
Contents
Introduction / I
Zdenka Vesela: Slovakia and the Ottoman Expansion in the 16th and 17th Centuries / 5 Milan Vaaio: Social Structure of Yugoslav Countries Under the Ottoman Rule Till the End of the 17th Century / 45 Kveta Kuçerova: The Influence of the Ottoman Expansion on Ethnic Changes and Social development in Central Europe / 78 Alexander Stojanovski: The Character and the Influence of the Ottoman Rule in Yugoslav Countries in the 15th and 16th Centuries, With Special Reference to Macedonia / 92 Ignacij Voje: The Influence to the Ottoman Empire on Slovenian Countries in the 15th and 16th Centuries (Problems and State of Historiography) / 108 Avdo Suceska: The Position of Bosnian Muslims in the Ottoman State / 142 Olga Zirojevic: The Ottoman Military Organisation in Yugoslav Countries in the 15th and 16th Centuries / 176 Vojtdch Kopdan: The Military Character of the Ottoman Expansion in Slovakia / 189 Josef Polifiensky: The Turkish Question in European Policy in the 16th and 17 th Century / 215 Peter RatkoS: On the Anti-Ottoman Public Opinion before the Rise of the Vilayet of Buda (Sources and Trends of Development) / 232 ZdenSk SimeCek: Ottoman Expansion in Cseoh Reports of the 16th and the Beginning of the 17th Century / 252 Branislav Djurdjev: The Serbian Cburah in the History of the Serbian Nation under the Ottoman Rule (till the Reinstatement of the Patriarchate of Pecs in 1557) / 288 Nedim Filipovic: A Contribution to the Problem of Islamization in the Balkan under the Ottoman Rule / 305 Hasan Kalefii: Oriental Culture in Yugoslav Countries from the 15th Century till the End of the 17th Century / 359
List of Authors / 405
INTRODUCTION
The recent decade of Ottoman studies has brought about a number of new pieces of Knowledge concerning the character of the Ottoman rule in the territory with a prevailing majority of non-Turkish inhabitants, including, the countries of today’s Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. Many primary documents have been edited and investigated, which has resulted in a revision of several views left over by national historiographies of the past. Hpwever, the overwhelming majority of these contributions have been published in partial studies and especially publications which but seldom have passed the frontier of their own local milieus.
This is why both historians and Turkologists specializing in Ottoman studies from Yugoslavia and Czecho¬slovakia welcomed the decision of the Czechoslovak-Yugoslav Committee of Historians to take up, as the theme of their 9th Joint Conference, the question of the Ottoman expansion and its consequences at the time when the majority of today's Yugoslavia as well as a part of Slovakia were components of the large Ottoman Empire. At that Conference taking place in Brno, an the 4th-7th November, 1975, fourteen papers were presented, providing all the participants with an opportunity to inform the colleagues on the most recent results of their studies and to exchange views and give them precision, in direct discussions. Some results of these discussions were then included in the final form of the papers.
All of the contributions were aimed at defining the character of the Ottoman rule in the territory of today's Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, in the 16th and 17th centuries, as well as describing the reflection of this historical factor in international politics and the internal poli¬tical situation of the neighbouring countries and, to some extent, also the whole of Europe. It was, first of all, a survey of the development of the social organization and structure of society in Yugoslavia and, moreover, the territory of the Ottoman Balkan in general, at the respective time, accentuating especially the question of the social division and the social constitution of the Ottoman feudalism.
Attention was paid also to the social structure of the territory of South Slovakia affected by its incorporation in the Ottoman Empire. Very clearly, the class attitude of the people of Slovakia towards the Ottoman rule was empha-sized. Besides, some papers drew attention to various prob¬lems of internal politics and the ideological utilization of the Ottoman expansion as an important factor* in an endeavour to concentrate all the people around the Catholic Church and dynasty, in a common resistance to the Ottoman and Islamic enemy.
The Ottoman aggression provided also one of the main impulses to an advancement of newspaper reporting in Czech countries, at the rear of the front. Here also, an evaluation of all-European politics has shown the question of the Ottoman menace in a new light, in opposition to the previous views of Czechoslovak historiography. Besides, the investigation of ethnic shifts affected by the spread of the Ottoman power has recently brought about new pieces of knowledge concerning the movements of the Balkan Slavs northwards and westwards.
These studies dealing with territories which were subject to the direct Ottoman rule only to some degree and for a shorter period of time, pointed to some common features so far unnoticed and the possibility to make a comparison of the position of Slovakia with the similar situation prevailing in the eastern regions of the Slovenian Republic.Another interesting parallel resulted from the papers treating the defence of the Ottoman-Habsburg frontier and the composition of armies on the both sides of the zone of fight.
The Conference offered an opportunity to exchange views concerning not only numerous partial historical facts and various aspects of the life of society in the respective period, but also a number of fundamental questions concerning the development of late feudalism aa a social formation in general.
Owing to the lack of extant materials, the papers of Czechoslovak historians were not able to analyze some aspects of the life of society in Ottoman Slovakia, such as, e.g., questions of the ideological and cultural deve-lopment. On the contrary, papers from Yugoslavia presented a profound evaluation of the Islamio material and spiritual culture crested by the nations of today's Yugoslavia, as an integral component of their national culture affecting also the members of non-Uuslim communities. At the same time, the connection of this Islamic culture and enlightenment with the culture of the Islamic Middle East was emphasized. The papers read by some Yugoslav specialists enlarged our knowledge of the activities of the Serbian Church and the duration of its organization, under the Ottoman rule, and summed up the significant question of Islamization as a social factor, both from the point of view of the course of this, historical process and its social operation.
Most attention was focussed on the form of the Ottoman feudalism, i.e. the individual questions of social structure, both in papers and the ensuing discussions. Besides the problem of the social position of non-Muslims and the role of religious groups belonging to the characteristic conception of Islam in general, also the reflection of this division in the class structure of Ottoman society was discussed. The tax system of the Ottoman Empire, one of the main means of the control of society by the ruling; class, was reflected in the process of the Islamization of Yugoslavia in a prominent way* This was supported also by the different economic situation in some regions, e.g. Bosnia, resulting, apart from other things, from the transit commerce of European countries with the East. New conclusions were reached also in dealing with Islamization as a form of incorporating the conquered territories with the Ottoman State, especially oh the ground of a detailed analysis of the class structure of pre-Ottoman society and the inclusion of pre-Ottoman social strata into the new social organization* Besides attempts at characterizing the Ottoman town, which question remained but roughly sketched, the analysis of the process of Islamization belongs to the most significant contributions of the Conference.
The individual papers consist of independent stu» dies, provided with notes by the authors* We attach much importance to this apparatus, because it presents surveys of the most pertinent literature concerning the respective themes. As these studies,in their entirety, represent a homogeneous whole comprising a survey of the contemporary views of Czechoslovak and Yugoslav historiography of the Ottoman problems in the national history, the organizer of the Conference, the Czechoslovak-Yugoslav Committee of Historians, accepted with pleasure the suggestion of the Oriental Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, to publish this set in a world language* (The Czech text of all papers was published under the title, Osmanske moc ve stfedni a jihovychodni EvropA v 16.-17.stoleti, Vols. 1-2, Prague 1977, internal edition of the Czechoslovak-Soviet Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.) All speakers had prepared an authorized version of their contributions in their own language and their papers were rendered into English through the medium of Czech, but the texts were compared to the original versions. For technical reasons, some papers had to be slightly shortened, but their contents as well as stylistic peculiarities, in most cases, have been maintained.
The transliteration of terms from the field of Ottoman and Islamic studies was unified in ell papers, according to the system of Islam Ansiklopedisi. Some term, however, typical of the Balkan milieu, have been left in Serbo-Croatian forms, eVen though being of Turkish (or Persian or Arabic) origin. Similar was also the treatment of the transliteration of personal names. We believe that the present publication will offer both the specialists in Ottoman studies and general historians a homogeneous set of answers to many fundamental his¬torical, social and cultural questions, as viewed today by specialists in Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, and that this common effort will incite also further research within a broader community of scholars.
Dr. Zdenka Veseld
ZdenkaVeselA Slovakia and the Ottoman Expansion in the 16th and 17th Centuries
In the 16th century, the menace of the Ottoman agression became a historical reality also for a part of the today’s territory of Czechoslovakia. The rule of the Ottoman Empire in South Slovakia, lasting for a century and a half, has been paid attention by our historiography in a number of treatises dealing with partial questions and concerning certain regions. Inherited from the Ottoman administration, a number of historical documents related to the Hungarian-Habsburg area, and translations (as. well as original texts, in some cases) of a few hundreds of Turkish documents, have been edited.1/
Research materials are also supplied, of course, by Hungarian historiography, treating the problem in question for the whole of former Hungary, as well as separate writings by historians from other countries. The first more comprehensive summary of the whole problem of this historical period, undoubtedly representing, first of all, a deviation from the line of development, was presented in the rather small book "The Turks in Slovakia", by J. Horvath. and V. Kopcan.2/ It was meant for a large mass of readers and therefore, unfortunately, could not be profound enough, the authors having also to simplify certain problems. I am mentioning this circumstance, at the beginning of my paper, in. order to emphasize that I shall endeavour to classify our today’s knowledge of the historical development of Slovakia in the Ottoman period from a slightly different point of view,i.e. that of a Czech Turkologist, and to present a few suggestions.
For a further study of this problem. Let us now sum up the period between the twenties of the 16th century and the end of the 17th century, i.e.the Peace …
Dr. Jaroslav Cesar, Prof. Dr. FrantiSek Hejl
Dissertationes Orientales 40 Ottoman Rule in Middle Europe and Balkan
Oriental Institute in Academia
Czechoslovak Academy Dissertationes Orientales Vol: 40 Ottoman Rule in Middle Europe and Balkan in the 16th and 17th Centuries
Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences Oriental Institute
Scientific Editor Dr. Jaroslav Cesar, DrSc. Reviewer Prof. Dr. FrantiSek Hejl, CSc.
Papers presented at the 9th Joint Conference of the Czechoslovak-Yugoslav Historical Committee
Published by the Oriental Institute in Academia, Publishing House of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences
