EARLY STAGE OF MAKING STEĆAK-LIKE NIŠANS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

It is well known that arrival of a new culture always brings about certain changes. Thus, arrival of Ottoman administration was accompanied with changes is daily life of local population. Appearance of nišans, as new tombstones in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is a direct consequence of the arrival of Islam. This arrival resulted in a contact between two cultures, i.e. an encounter between Ottoman Oriental and medieval Bosnian cultures. In this encounter between the East and the West, in a visible cultural intertwining, the first local form of stećak-like nišan emerged.

This kind of authentic nišan is characterized by simple making, with clearly noticeable tinge of medieval Bosnian stone-carving tradition which is found on stećaks (Bosnian medieval tombstones) as well. Unfortunately, public at large is not familiar with the fact that our first nišans were modeled after stećaks and that they adopted both their massiveness and many other features. It is for this reason that these nišans are very similar with medieval Bosnian stećaks. In one of his works, Milenko Filipović highlighted that one nišan from the early stage of Ottoman administration was made after the Muslim pattern and decorated according to old tradition, like stećaks. The very manner of making nišans in Bosnia and Herzegovina underwent several stages. In this text we will clarify a distinctive form of our sepulchral art and an indigenous kind of Bosnian nišans, which appeared in the early stage of making, associated with the period from the 15th to the mid-17th century.

Upon the arrival of Ottoman administration, the influence of medieval culture did not disappear in Bosnia, and it survived for a long time in various forms. One of these forms is found in making of the first nišans, and it is for this reason that we see, on them, the same stone-carving decorations as those on stećaks. These nišans were made by local masters, who belonged to the stone-carving school which had been making stećaks for centuries. Therefore, they made early nišans according to established patterns and decorated them in the same way. At times, the way of making and decorating nišans of the early stage went against some aspects of Islamic tradition. In one of his numerous works, Mehmed Handžić recorded the data that representatives of Ottoman authorities of the time were often astonished to see the way of making the first nišans in Bosnia. It is not surprising, since nišans from this period had many medieval decorations, including representations of living beings. On the nišans of this type we very often find carved circles, rosettes, crescent, floral motifs, spiral, twisted ribbon, representations of living beings such as the bird, the deer, the horse, the snake etc. On early nišans we can also find representations of parts of human body, such as the arm or the hand and, in some cases, even representations of the whole human figure.

Besides the decorations listed above, on these nišans we also find representations of the sword, military flags, the shield, bow and arrow, axe, though also of the so-called 'guttas' or apples, which is specific for decorating old shahid nišans. These decorations are directly associated with medieval knights' symbols, which was transferred from stećaks to nišans, a new kind of tombstones in Bosnia, under the influence of local stone-carving tradition. Carving these military and warrior symbols remained in practice even in a later period, which made Bosnian nišans authentic compared to those which are encountered in other parts of the Ottoman Empire.

Besides the distinctive shape, big dimensions and medieval decorations, nišans from the early stage are characterized by local medieval script Bosančica. Besides taking over the local decorative inventory in the form of medieval stone-carving works, Bosnian language as well as medieval script for the first local Islamic epigraphy was also transferred from stećaks to nišans. On the first nišans from the early period we find completely same inscriptions as on stećaks, which were inscribed in Bosančica script, which clearly shows the transfer of medieval epigraphy from Bosnian stećaks to our first nišans. It should be noted that it is nothing else but a very interesting cultural-anthropological phenomenon and junction of two cultures. It is interesting to point out that there were no Oriental inscriptions on our nišans for almost two centuries. Upon the end of the early stage of making nišans, our medieval script Bosančica was withdrawn from use and replaced by Arabic script. In the later stage, inscriptions on nišans were written in Latin alphabet as well, and thus the use of several scripts and languages in the past is another particularity of our nišans and of our rich cultural heritage.

Existence of the first forms of nišans with recognizable traditional medieval Bosnian carved decorations in the past was not accepted well in some centers of power, which were not benevolent toward Bosnian statehood, culture and tradition. Their influence on our regions was sometimes stronger and at other times weaker. Their activity is noticeable, starting from the legal prohibition of using terms Bosniak and Bosnian language during Austro-Hungarian rule, through completely phasing put any form of referring to Bosniaks or Bosnia in the name Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, to the decades-long nonexistence of the sixth torch on the coat of arms of socialist Yugoslavia. Our culture and tradition, which certainly include our nišans from the early stage, have been in no better position. Some works written at that time often referred to the first form of Bosnian nišan as a pillar, stele and obelisk, and thus completely avoid using the word nišan. In such an environment, trends emerged to include and drown as many of such nišans among stećaks. Some publications which are in use even today completely leave out the fact that in our country there are necropolises where stećaks and nišans from the early stage stand one next to each other. Such blurring of our past has not been accidental, since symbols on these nišans clearly indicated their link with medieval Bosnia and with stećaks, as well as an uninterrupted continuity of life in these regions. This kind of nišans clearly highlights the fact that local population smoothly continued to nourish their culture and tradition, which included making such grave marks. It is generally known, as well as scientifically proven, that stećaks are always found where Bosnian state was and within the borders and social organization where Bosnian cultural environment dominated. It is exactly for this reason that they have never been a feature and part of cultural-historical or ethnic heritage of our northern, eastern or western neighbors.

It should be noted that this kind of nišans can mostly be found next to necropolises of stećaks, which again indicates that the continuity of life proceeded without obstructions, that ancestors were buried under stećaks and their descendants right next to them, under the first forms of nišans. Thus, this perhaps unique phenomenon was discussed by Vladimir Ćorović in 1955, who wrote that nišans are often found in the immediate vicinity of medieval graveyards, and that it can be taken as evidence that they are continuation of medieval cemeteries. He explains it by saying that the awareness of members of a family that they have to be buried at the same spot did not die out. The preserved old nišans from the early stage also indicate a degree of very high tolerance, where it is visible that for hundreds of years there was no insistence on making nišans according to same patterns as in other parts of the Ottoman Empire. Nowhere in the field any trace of removing stone-carved work from the first nišans has been found, though it was largely contrary to the new religion of Bosniaks. Today, the preserved examples show that the first nišans in Bosnia were carved after the model of upright stećaks, which retained tinges of medieval Bosnian stone-carving tradition for a long time. The first nišans were mostly vaulted like stećaks, though in some cases the turban can be seen on them. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was only in the mid-17th century that the way of making nišans was aligned with the rest of the Ottoman Empire. Until that time, many interesting local solutions in making these tombstones could be seen.        

Regardless of different influences and much historical turmoil, we can see that in the past there were authors who clearly defined these nišans in their works and provided arguments for describing them as the first Muslim tombstones in our regions, as well as direct successors and relatives of stećaks. Thus, nišans from the early stage have been discussed by many authors, particularly by: Ćiro Truhelka, Vladislav Skarić, Milenko Filipović, Marko Vego, Vjesil Ćurčić, Alija Nametak, Mehmed Handžić, Mehmed Mujezinović, Šefik Bešlagić and Ibrahim Pašić. They have left a good trace, as well as a firm foundation for future research of this area.

Nišans from the early stage can be found at many spots in our country. They can be seen at many sites, from the river Drina to Glamoč. Most of such nišans are found in East Bosnia, since Ottoman influence was strongest there, even before the official arrival of Ottomans in Bosnia, but also due to the fact that this eastern region of our country, unlike other parts, was the first to fall under Ottoman rule.  

Everything described in the text above provides readers with an insight into one part of our past from the late Middle Ages which has, unfortunately, been insufficiently studied and fairly unknown to public at large, and which can still provide much valuable information. Though we cannot boast that we care about them, many scattered old nišans contain many important data which should be collected, scientifically processed and consolidated in various catalogues and publications. Besides, they have a lot to tell us about our past and our ancestors. It was said a long time ago that people who ignore their past cannot have a clear picture of their future. It is for this reason that this authentic type of old nišans deserves our greater attention, as well as our more careful and better attitude toward it and toward our past.