The Islamic World to 1600
Although the entire Balkan region came under Ottoman control at some point during that Empire's existence, Islam spread throughout the region unevenly. Part of the reason behind the conflict in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s was the religious differences between the Orthodox Christian Serbs, the Catholic Croats, and the Muslim Bosnians. Why Bosnia converted en masse to Islam under the Ottoman Empire, while the other Balkan regions - with the exception of Albania, which also became mostly Muslim - remained Christian, was the subject of much scholarship in the wake of the Balkan war that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia in 1991.
Before the Ottoman invasion, Bosnia was one of the only Balkan regions without a strong allegiance to Christianity. An independent Bosnian Church had been established in the 11th century, outside the jurisdiction of either the Catholic or Orthodox Churches, but even that was on shaky ground by the time of the Ottoman invasion of the 15th century. Most scholars have rejected the old theory that Bosnia became a Muslim state because of an influx of Muslims that came to the region following the Ottoman invasion. Ottoman census figures show that there was in fact very little migration to Bosnia by the Turks; the increasing number of Muslims was due to the conversion of Bosnians already living in the region. In 1468-9, just after the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia, the Ottomans recorded approximately 185,000 Christians living there, as opposed to 1,700 Muslims. By 1485, the figure was 155,000 Christians and 22,000 Muslims. By 1520, there were about 98,000 Christians and 84,000 Muslims, and by 1600 the Muslims were the majority in Bosnia. Considering that the overall population did not significantly rise over this period, it is apparent that there was no influx of Muslims from outside the region; the Bosnians themselves simply converted.
The weakness of the Christian Church in Bosnia was the most important factor in the mass conversion to Islam that occurred there. There was a lack of Church organisation in Bosnia, particularly when compared to neighbouring Serbia or Croatia. Many Bosnians who did adhere to Christianity did so without guidance from any sort of higher Church authority in the region. This lack of guidance led to the development of a sort of folk Christianity in Bosnia, in which people adapted traditional rites and practices to their own needs. It was not difficult to transfer one's allegiance to a similarly popular form of folk Islam after the Ottoman invasion, particularly since many of the Bosnians' traditional holidays and festivals remained the same.
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It was also beneficial for Bosnians to convert to Islam, because they could then avoid paying the jizya, the tax paid by all non-Muslims in Islamic empires. In Orthodox Serbia, on the other hand, the desire to change religions for such financial reasons was not as strong, because the Ottomans looked quite favourably on Orthodox Christianity. It was the Catholic Church which suffered most under the Ottomans, since it was the Church of most of the Ottomans' European enemies, and thus the Serbian Orthodox Church was treated fairly well. That toleration of the Orthodox Church explains why Serbia did not convert to Islam to the same degree as Bosnia. Catholic Croatia, similarly, became a haven for Catholics fleeing Ottoman occupation in other Balkan regions, and thus it similarly had no desire to convert to Islam. |
The Gazi Husrev Beg Mosque in Sarajevo, built in 1531 |
It was also beneficial for Bosnians to convert to Islam, because they could then avoid paying the jizya, the tax paid by all non-Muslims in Islamic empires. In Orthodox Serbia, on the other hand, the desire to change religions for such financial reasons was not as strong, because the Ottomans looked quite favourably on Orthodox Christianity. It was the Catholic Church which suffered most under the Ottomans, since it was the Church of most of the Ottomans' European enemies, and thus the Serbian Orthodox Church was treated fairly well. That toleration of the Orthodox Church explains why Serbia did not convert to Islam to the same degree as Bosnia. Catholic Croatia, similarly, became a haven for Catholics fleeing Ottoman occupation in other Balkan regions, and thus it similarly had no desire to convert to Islam.
Rebuilding the Gazi Husrev Beg Mosque in 1996, after the war. Courtesy of www.islaam.com |
The increasing influence of Islam on Bosnia in the 16th century led the Ottomans to undertake construction of many Islamic monuments, particularly mosques and bridges. The main mosque in Bosnia is the Gazi Husrev Beg Mosque, named after the Governor of Bosnia, and built in 1531 by the same architect who later built the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne for Sultan Selim I. The mosque underwent reconstruction in 1996 after being damaged in the war. Another famous Islamic monument in Bosnia was the Old Bridge in the city of Mostar, which was built by the Ottomans in 1566. It was destroyed by shelling in 1993, and has now been replaced by a temporary suspension bridge. |
The Old Bridge in Mostar, Bosnia, was built in 1566 and destroyed in 1993, during the war
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Return to Ottoman Empire: Recovery and Renewed Conquest, 1402-1480 |