NOTES ABOUT BOSNIA BY AHMED DŽEVDET-PASHA

A simple step into the virtual world will reveal the information that the name of Ahmed Dževdet-pasha (1822–1895) is associated with the codification of Ottoman civil law based on the European legal system. This dignitary of the Ottoman state, born in the area of present Bulgaria, is the author of many works in the field of history, law, grammar, linguistics in general, logic and astronomy; he held positions of the minister of finance, justice, trade and education, he was a kaziasker (chief judge), a teacher, sultan's advisor etc. However, what is Ahmed Dževdet-pasha to Bosnia?  

The reason for Ahmed Dževdet-efendi's (he would become a pasha later!) arrival in Bosnia was implementation of a new military organization, since Bosnia was almost four decades late in this activity. Dževdet-ef., together with Bosnian regent Topal Osman-pasha, achieved positive reforms; however, judging by reports, he was not satisfied with only formal persuasion of people to agree with nizam, regular army. His reports to sultan Abdulaziz from 16.7.1863 to 24.10.1864 contain many descriptions of habits, tradition, economic conditions, trade, crafts, administration, schooling, language and character of Bosnian population. By analyzing such elements Dževdet-ef. managed to fully perform the task assigned to him, and left to Bosnia a legacy of rich historiographic and ethnological material which is, unfortunately, still insufficiently used. According to Dževdet-efendi himself, his introduction of regular army was “edebi ve maneviˮ, courteous and polite. “Whenever conscription began in Bosnia, it encountered resistance,” he wrote. Therefore, he used diplomacy: he had observed that people in Bosnia liked green color, that they admired it and that girls' songs abounded with description of green, and he thus negotiated green binjišes (coats) with golden braids. Wearing them in lineup in Sarajevo, soldiers looked “like angels”, as they were described later on. While in other parts of the Empire military service was five years long, a concession was made to Bosnia and the duration was set at three years, and nine years in reserve. This is how Dževdet-ef. justified it in his report: “There are people who suddenly jump three steps ahead for some petty reason, but then make four steps back upon a slightest pressure. Bosniaks are not such people. It is difficult to force them to make one step, but if they do, they do not go back.”.

One of the least frequently mentioned details from Dževdet-ef.'s reports is his request for composing the first anthem/march of Bosnian army, whose lyrics were written by fra Grgo Martić, and music was composed by juzbaša (captain) Fuad-aga, with Martić’s help. In reports, the anthem Hajde, hajde, dođite pod bajrak! (Come, come under the flag!) was translated into Ottoman.  

Dževdet-ef. also wrote about the language which was spoken in Bosnia when, describing his speech in Sarajevo, he claimed that “most present Bosniaks did not understand Turkish” and that therefore the president of the Provincial Council Abdullah-ef. Uzunić translated his speech into “their” language. Dževdet-ef. wrote that during the first official performance of the march, flag-raising and procession of soldiers, Bosnian leaders whispered to each other asking whose such a magnificent army was, and then others said: “Well, it's our army! Can't you see that officers of the Bosnian battalion command them, and that they talk in Bosnian?”

Dževdet-ef. toured Bosnian Eyalet controlling work of various departments, and somewhere took radical measures such as dissolving councils. During his stay in Bosnia a well-known wave of refugees from Užice appeared, and Dževdet-ef. even worked on finding accommodation for the refugees. All the time he was in contact with local population, craftsmen and merchants. He very picturesquely described a situation when he sat at the well-known Sarajevo merchant Mehaga Merhemić's shop and watched how he gave a villager some goods on credit, though with no written trace. Upon Dževdet-efendi's gesture indicating that he was doing it without any certificate, Mehaga only touched the face with the hand, which meant “face is the warranty”. Dževdet-ef. ended the story with words that “there are many such strange transactions in Bosnia”. He also wrote that only three murders happened in Bosnia over the whole year, but that the investigation proved that they were committed by uskoks (turncoats) from Montenegro and Serbia.

In his reports, he extensively described courting, surprisingly correctly understanding the true essence of the tradition. Stating that conservative ulama did not favor closeness, e.g. guys' standing under the window or talking while the girl poured water for a guy from a jug, Dževdet-ef. made a parallel with a large number of divorces in the East and behavior in some Istanbul areas, and underscored that acquainting through courting in Bosnia was a nice and decent custom, and that Bosnians themselves were “progressive people, with firm faith and pure hearts”, that they possessed “honesty and good upbringing”.

Dževdet-ef. recorded a long list of local anthropological features and behaviors, and thus explained that men in Srebrenica had protruding throats and that therefore those who did not were considered to have imperfect bodies. He expressed his surprise with the fact that the man was a “creature loyal to his customs” and that he “liked customs of his nation, however ugly they were, and saw his visible flaws as beauty, while considering others' beauties and virtues ugly”.

Dževdet-ef. also focused on education in Bosnia and worked on resolving some problems. We will single out the case when eighteen Christian children were taken for instruction to Mostar ruždija (middle school). However, the children did not even know how to read and write letters, and it was not appropriate to send them to a reformed maktab, since in these schools children were taught basics of Islam, Qur'an Ilmihal. Therefore, the inspector arranged finding a Muslim teacher who taught alphabet to the children for a salary of 150 groschen a month, in a house rented for a year for 500 groschen. More children joined the classes, and thus about thirty Catholic and Orthodox children were taught by a Muslim teacher in a Muslim school, which was later considered a branch of Mostar ruždija.

As an inspector, Dževdet-ef. was also bound to review the economy of Bosnian Eyalet. In his reports, he wrote an accurate list of kazas (administrative districts) by sanjaks, and then listed products which were subjects of imports and exports. In a short introduction, he particularly described plums and products made of plums, and underscored that plums in Serbia looked nicer, but that those in Bosnia were tastier. He also wrote about problems with unsold quantities which remained in Budapest warehouses due to interrupted connections with Trieste at the time. The existing stock of Bosnian plums in Trieste had previously been intended for exports to America, which was then busy with “big internal conflicts” and therefore the plums mostly ended in candies.   

According to the report, Bosnia exported wheat, rye, corn, barley, oats, grass, straw, walnuts, hazelnuts, wood for barrels and other materials, wax, cattle, sheep, game, bovine and sheep hides, animal offal, fur, colored tanned leather, wool, fringes, braids, iron tools, knives and other cutlery. The exports were intended for Austria, Albania, Montenegro, Budapest, Vienna, Hamburg, Serbia, Trieste, Istanbul, Wallachia, indirectly for America, etc. 

Bosnian Eyalet imported sugar, coffee, rice, oil, beverages, fresh and dried fruits, tobacco, soap, candles, cotton and cloth, different printed fabrics, baize, fezes, rugs of Ottoman make and other woolen products, silk and products made of silk, silver fringes and braids, rope, ready-made clothes, amber, coral and other jewelry, paper, implements made of copper, tin and lead, iron and aluminum wires and buckets, various tools, etc.

By their form and character, Dževdet-pasha's reports are far more accurate than disproportionately better-known materials by European travelers across Bosnia of the 19th century. For this reason, Ahmed Dževdet-pasha's name and reports should have a place in historical textbooks and readers, and particularly in the general knowledge of local people.