MILITARY NIŠANS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

The Ottoman Empire was distinctive in many things, among others by titles of dignitaries and officers and the way of their ranking. Besides the standard civil or military ones, honorary titles were also frequent, and were awarded to outstanding military or civil persons. Although tombstones were made in accordance with social status of the deceased, some very interesting examples of military nišans (Islamic tombstones) stand out in this broad spectrum. This type of nišans should be distinguished from martyrs' ones, since there are certain differences between them. First of all, military nišans were made after the natural death of a military commander, primarily because of his social or military status, unlike martyrs' nišans, which always mark graves of soldiers killed in combat missions. Military nišans belong to military commanders, from the lowest to the highest level of commanding chain. Due to the nature of military vocation, military commanders were also often killed in battles, and therefore on some military nišans one can also find marks of martyrs, such as carved sabers. It is this detail that links the two types of our nišans. The way of making military nišans is closely related to the representation of a military cap or a turban on the top, which marked the military status in some periods. It is for this reason that in Bosnia and Herzegovina we find nišans of pashas, aghas, janissary commanders, miralayas (colonels) and others. One of particularities of the Ottoman Empire is also the fact that some titles were both civil and military, and we will provide some notes about it further in the text.

Due to its position within the Ottoman Empire, Bosnia was situated at the western border for a long time, and thus remained wedged between the Republic of Venice, Hungary and Austria. In such centuries-long surroundings, Bosnia was strongly exposed to different influences of all geopolitical turmoil and calculations of the time. It was the reason for many war conflicts which happened around Bosnian borders, as well as within our territory during raids of various military expeditions. All these factors shaped the present borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which greatly differ from the previous ones, particularly in its southern part, at access to the sea. It is for this reason that there were military garrisons on our territory, as well as interesting military organization, conceived on the territorial principle of defense, where local spahis, on their territory, had available soldiers among local population, as well as horses and accompanying equipment, which could be rapidly mobilized and made operational if necessary. It is interesting to note that over a long period (of over two hundred years) Bosniaks defended the border independently. It was in this period that they gained the magnificent victory at the battle of Banja Luka in 1737, when they brought Austrian military formations to their knees. Our difficult past is best described by the fact that martyrs' nišans were made in our country from the 15th to the 20th century. Today, diverse forms of military nišans remind of the past military organization, as well as of different military hierarchies in the past.

Pasha nišans

 Pasha nišans have a turban in the form of pyramid, which is cut at the top. They have a tug, i.e. the degree of the pasha. Briefly, tug is a wisp of a horse's tail and is directly related to Mongolian cavalry tradition. Such a mark was carried on a special mast in front of the file and at the head of the military formation led by the commander of this rank. It should be noted that a pasha with one tug had the rank of a brigadier general in the army, and was a sanjak-bey (governor of a sanjak) in the civil hierarchy. A pasha with two tugs had a rank of a division general in the army, and the position of beylerbey (governor of a pashaluk/eyalet) in the civil administration. A pasha with three tugs corresponded to the rank of a marshal, while only sultan, as the supreme commander, carried four tugs.

Nišans of high-ranking janissary commanders

Like on other nišans from the Ottoman period, this type of nišans also had the representation of a cap which belonged to a given social class or military position. This type of nišans marked graves of commanders, as well as of holders of titles of turnaji-bashis and serturnajis. A turnaji-bashi is a janissary commander, while a serturnaji is an agha (commander) of Bosnian janissaries. Besides these nišans, janissary agha serturnajis had agha nišans on their cemeteries, which will be presented further in the text. Janissary nišans in Sarajevo from the courtyard of the Ferhad-pasha Mosque to the cemetery in Veliki Park indicate that it was in this area where members of the janissary ocak (corps) in Bosnia were buried. It is by no means accidental, since their main seat was situated at the site of today's cathedral. It is interesting to note that in the courtyard of the Ferhad-pasha Mosque in Sarajevo we find the grave of Čelebi-agha, Bosnian turnaji-bashi, i.e. the commander of janissary troops in Bosnia. According to available data, his janissary nišan was erected in 1159 Hijri year, i.e. in 1746/1747 A.D.

Agha nišans

Over several centuries, agha as a title was used for commanders of different military units. This title also underwent transformation, and thus in the 19th century the term agha also became the title for a well-educated or a renowned person who held an important position in the state administration. Agha nišans have an interesting cylindrical shape and it differs from the usual round shape of turban on nišans. In his book “Islamska epigrafika Bosne i Hercegovine” (Islamic Epigraphy of Bosnia and Herzegovina) about agha nišans, Mehmed Mujezinović claims that they were erected over graves of janissary commanders, that they are recognized by the fact that their turbans are slightly wider at the top, and at both longitudinal ends they are horizontally cut and have more longitudinal crowds. It is exactly such a shape that we can see on the enclosed photographs of agha nišans.

Besides representations of a given kind of cap, on military nišans we also find representations of čelenkas, i.e. decorations which were awarded for military merits and heroism shown in combat. In briefest terms, the čelenka is a precursor of today's military medals. It was made of precious metals, and was therefore worn as an ornament on the cap. Besides decorations deserved in combat, on some military nišans one can also see a mark of military rank. If the mark is not perceived at the first glance, the nišans will seem to us as any other male nišan with the turban. Such a mark is found on the side of the turban and has the shape of a leaf. A mark in the shape of a leaf on the turban represents the rank of miralay and in some cases of kaymakam. Miralay approximately corresponds to today's rank of colonel, while kaymakam is a representative of a vizier or a vali on a certain position or in an administrative unit in the Ottoman Empire. Kajmakam is still a title of governors of provincial administrations in Turkey.

After reading this text, I am certain that everybody can realize how much useful information the old nišans provide and how we can use them to study many interesting and useful details which we cannot find elsewhere. They provide a possibility to glance at the distant past for a moment and thus feel the echo of many events. By means of nišans we also learn about existence of some very deserving persons since, unfortunately, it is only a carved stone or two that bear witness of their existence. Nišans offer a universal story about our past and about our ancestors. At the same time, it is also a story about ourselves. Silently and unobtrusively, they provide a clear message and lesson, that anybody who knows nothing about their past becomes confused in the present time, and completely lost in the future.

References:

• Mujezinović, Mehmed (1988), Islamska epigrafika Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo: Sarajevo-Publishing.

• Klinčević, Nihad (2021), Nišani u Bosni i Hercegovini, Istanbul: TDBB.