The Development of Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Boundaries in Bosnia and Herzegovina

This article surveys the historical and present-day boundaries of Bosnia and Herzegovina by focusing on two concepts: (1) The early history of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans between the fifteenth and the eighteenth centuries and (2) wars and treaties of the modern period. The Ottoman policies of administrating the Balkan lands were varied according to the necessities of the conquered lands and their ability to the pursue political and institutional policies on these regions. To divide the area into more controllable pieces, they established sancaks (military administrative units) and paşalıks (an administrative unit consist of several sancaks) to manage the control and to consolidate their power. The Ottoman stability in the region threatened with various wars with the Habsburg Empire. Accordingly, starting with the late seventeenth century the active political context of the region affected the limits of the Bosnian lands as well. The region had to experience a vast number of battles and ceasefires until the WWII to take its final shape.