Serbian lands of Bosnia and Herzegovina

08/04/2019

Cause for this article can be found in claim, made by authors of the luxurious touristic monograph for Ravno municipality (2018), that small cross-shaped tombstone located near the entrance of the church in Zaplanik, damaged in the previous civil war, became object of falsification by Serbs from Trebinje forest through addition of foreign fragment with incised letters of Serbian Cyrillic. Without that claim, this article wouldn’t exist.

"PLEMENITO – digitalna arhiva" projekat je Udruženja studenata istorije "Dr Milan Vasić" Banja Luka.

02/04/2019

In this documentary about Republika Srpska, RTD provides rare pictures of Bosnia’s Serb enclave and lets Bosnian Serbs give their version of events surroundi...

23/01/2019

Symbols of grapevine and grape on medieval tombstone monuments – stećci, under which our ancestors from medieval period were buried in areas of Zachlumia, Bosnia, Rascia, Dalmatia and Montenegro are some of the most often decorative motifs on these monuments.

With several exemptions, symbol of grape is most often depicted as leaving volute (lat. volutum-spiral) of a double spiral. Volute are used in architecture during antique period – Greek pillars, Middle Age – in religious and secular architecture, and is used still today. On the right side of Nišava river, where late antique necropolis in Jagodin-mali is situated, in 1953 an early-byzantine tomb was found with walls depicting symbols of heaven – grapevine, birds and grapes. It is presumed that tomb originates from a period between middle IV and middle V century.

"PLEMENITO – digitalna arhiva" projekat je Udruženja studenata istorije "Dr Milan Vasić" Banja Luka.

02/12/2018

14/10/2018

Smiling sublieutenant Nikola Dragić, member of the Chetnik Trebinje Corps, seen through the lense of the lower SS company leader, Karl Schaeffer from 2nd regiment of the "Prinz Eugene" division. Dragić was one of the first participants of the uprising in his area (Ljubinje). Leftist before the war, he initially joined the partisans (as company commander). After two resistance movements diverged, he became dissapointed with violent actions of the local partisan leaders and joined chetniks where he became commander of the 1st battalion of the Ljubinje brigade.

Source: http://bandenkampf.blogspot.com/2016/04/bk0153.html

12/10/2018

"To the representatives of Serbia: With this we declare, in name of the Serbian people of Bosnia, to the representatives of the brotherly Principality of Serbia and entirety of its people, our most heartfelt gratitude for material aid and armed protection which Serbia, with such sacrifice, has been engaged in and still is...At the same time, we ask representatives of Serbia to do their best so a peace could be reached with Turkey, so that we might become integral part of the Serbian state, or, in case that this everlasting wish of ours can not come to pass, we are made into independent and separate state...If some occupation must occur...then we wish for occupation by army of the Principality of Serbia, being most suitable for us given that all inhabitants of Bosnia speak Serbian language..."

Request sent by the Serbian rebels to the government of Serbia in 1878.

24/09/2018

“In the summer of six thousand and

Eight hundred and thirty fifth

In days of king Uroš

Month of May, on the eight day and Day of Ascension

On Spasovdan, servant of God,

Monk Nikola passed away, mundanely known

As čelnik Vlkdrag, ktetor of this holy place.

This stone places

Servant of God Ana, mundanely known as

Madam Vladislava. To our God,

Glory eternal. Amin.”

"PLEMENITO – digitalna arhiva" projekat je Udruženja studenata istorije "Dr Milan Vasić" Banja Luka.

18/09/2018

Shepard "kolo" beneath Ozren (1940)

FOLKLORE DANCES

Like song, dance is inseparable part of people lives in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In distant past, people would dance only while singing, but in time, that kind of dance completely vanished, to be replaced with dances followed with different kind of musical instruments.
Kolo is a basic form of every folklore dance. Ethnography records mention that people could start dancing within kolo in three different ways: by grasping dancers closes to you for hands, by grasping them by the belts or grasping them by the shoulders. Folklore kolo in this area is very dynamic, alive and fleeting with rich and various specter of movements and leaps. Here, as well, there are often attempts to outmatch others within kolo which is always rewarded with enthusiasm and sympathy of those who would watch kolo from sides. Before, the most beautiful and liveliest kolo were those danced by the shepherds, but due to the "progress" of the civilization, the number of the shepherds decreased and with their ever diminishing number, there was less and less of the beautiful folklore dances they used to perform.
Nevertheless, the kolo survived, and is now danced in somewhat different ambiance, mainly in national festivals, weddings and various church festivals, and it is still, as in some of the Ozren villages, danced during folk gatherings and dances. The most famous folk kolo are: čobansko, potrkuša, sitnica, osmerac, trojanjak and in recent decades kolo types from Serbia such as, užičko, moravac and čačak became popular as well.

Text and photograph prepared by Горан Легеновић

10/09/2018

In the beginning of the Father, in the fulfillment of Son and Holy Spirit. In the summer 1333rd since the birth of Christ, first indiction, on the 15th day of the month of February. We, lord Stefan, by grace of God ban of Bosnia, Usora, Soli and lord of the Zachlumian land, in manner in which we love our friends and servants and give unto them our grace with love and benefits, as it is dignified to treat everyone, may all know it on this day and all days which will come afterwards, Amin.

"PLEMENITO – digitalna arhiva" projekat je Udruženja studenata istorije "Dr Milan Vasić" Banja Luka.

04/08/2018

On 21st November 1918, Banja Luka was liberated by the Serbian Army.

The thirteenth infantry regiment, after breakthrough of the Thessaloniki front, having crossed almost all of Serbia, was sent to Bosnian Krajina through Vojvodina.

The second company, under the command of Captain First Class Todor Ilić, in the presence of the Commander of the Regiment, Major Dragomir Bajalović, arrived in Banja Luka on November 21, 1918. The soldiers were welcomed by representatives of the People's Council and a large mass of people at the railway station. Welcoming speech was held by one of the former Serbian champions, Hadži Mahmutbeg Džinić.

The long-desired liberation and the fact that for the first time in the history of Banja Luka, Serbian soldiers marched through its streets, brought almost all citizens out. The houses were decorated by flags, and a formal reception of liberators was held in Kastel. In the evening, at the Hotel Balkan, a rich cultural and artistic program was organized, which ended with the performance of the play "Jazavac pred sudom" by Petar Kočić.

In the picture: Gospodska Street in Banja Luka, forties of the 20th century.