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140 MAIL BALICIT~B Cultural Achievements of Bosnian Muslims
Cultural life in Bosnia under the Ottomans was traditionalist. While
neighbouring Dalmatia was refreshed by the ideas of humanism in the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries, and Croatian humanists nurtured the new ideas of the
West in their land, brilliant men of letters in Bosnia were almost exclusively
occupied with religious, moralistic, and mystic themes. There was no cultural
exchange between the Ottoman Empire and the West until the seventeenth
century, and the subsequent relations were very superficial and limited to
diplomats and wealthy businessmen. Although Western scholars concerned
themselves with Turkish chronicles and Arabic literature and science, scholars
in the Ottoman Empire showed little interest in these subjects except for the
medical works of Arab scholars, which they copied and studied for obvious
practical reasons. All cultural achievement was viewed in the light of the
religious tradition and remained subservient to it. Understood in a religious
light, the Ottoman period left a deep impact on the spirit, mind, and external
cultural profile of the Bosnian Muslims, an impact expressed in literature, art,
and historical development.
The Bosnian population, if only in the upper middle classes, reached
a considerable educational level and held firm ethical beliefs. Islam was the
decisive factor in the transformation: it advocated discipline and cleanliness of
body and soul, starting with the ablutions that preceded the five daily prayers.
Also, the regulating force of religion was brought to bear on the fulfilment of
social duties, such as dispensing by the faithful of two and one-half percent of
their net savings as alms (zuluit), an amount that was used to establish
institutions for the common good (mosques, poor-relief kitchens, b$ths, bridges,
clock-towers, etc.). This religious and moral influence of Islam provided the
impetus which led to the architectural achievements of Muslim Bosnia.
In addition, the Bosnians gave outstanding service to the empire. In
spite of their distance from Constantinople and the difference in language and
temperament, they immediately succeeded in entering into positions of the
central government. In the most brilliant century of the Ottoman Empire, the
sixteenth, the Bosnians occupied positions of leadership and power in the
Ottoman administration. During the years 1544 to 1612, nine grand viziers came
from Bosnia, and Bosnia gave to the Empire most of the twenty-four grand
viziers of Croatian ancestry in addition to many pashas, sandiak-begs, begler-
begs, and other dignitaries. During that century Croatian was the second
language in the Porte, and all principal military experts spoke both Turkish and
Croatian. When, after suffering several disasters in the seventeenth century, the
Ottoman State became weak in its defence of Bosnia, Bosnian Muslims defended
their own borders and even resumed their ancient incursions into the Croatian
Catholic territory. When the Sultan ceded Bosnia to Austria at the Congress of
Berlin in 1878, the Bosnian Muslims stood up to defend themselves and offered
exceptionally strong resistance to Austria.
As pointed out earlier, the total cultural achievement of Bosnian-
Herzegovinian Muslims is often overlooked. In modern times this neglect results
not only from the prejudice and the concomitant lack of sufficient scholarly