Balcanica 2015 Issue 46, Pages: 79-106
https://doi.org/10.2298/BALC1546079S
Full text ( 1268 KB)
Political developments and unrests in Stara Raška (Old Rascia) and old Herzegovina during Ottoman rule
Šćekić Radenko (Historical Institute of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro)
Leković Žarko (Historical Institute of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro)
Premović Marijan (Faculty of Philosophy, Nikšić, Montenegro)
During the centuries of Ottoman rule the Tara and Lim river valleys (or
Potarje and Polimlje respectively), the Pešter Plateau and Old Herzegovina
saw much turbulence, wars, rebellions, population migrations. This chaotic
situation was combined with the arbitrary and repressive conduct of local
Ottoman feudal lords. Migrations, interethnic contacts and mixing of
populations as well as an intensified Islamization process caused by a number
of factors greatly complicated the situation. Albanian northward penetration
along the Lim and into Pešter as well as the expansion of the Vasojevići
tribe into the Upper Lim valley added to the complexity of the ethnic and
demographic picture of the region. Perpetual rebellions against the Ottoman
occupation eventually led to the liberation of the Serbian Orthodox
population of these areas.
Keywords: Stara Raška (Old Rascia), Brda (Highlands), Old Herzegovina, Ottoman Empire, rebellions, migrations