Sandžak

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Location of the Sandžak in Serbia and Montenegro (broadest definition)
Landscape in Sandžak (between Sjenica and Tutin, Serbia)

The Sandžak or Sandschak ( Serbian - Cyrillic Санџак ; Albanian  Sanxhak / u ) is a cross-border geographical and historical region in southwestern Serbia and northeastern Montenegro . It borders on Bosnia and Herzegovina in the northwest and Kosovo in the southeast . The name is derived from the Sanjak Novi Pazar , which was an administrative unit of the Ottoman Empire until 1913 . The majority population of the Sandžak are Slavic Muslims who identify themselves either as Bosniaks or as “Muslims” (in the national sense).

The territory partially coincides with the territory of the old Serbian principality of Raszien (Serbian Raška ). Especially in Serbia, the Sandžak is therefore also referred to as the Raška region, although on the one hand this is not uniformly defined and on the other hand, depending on the definition, extends far beyond the actual Sandžak.

Administrative division

Serbian northern and Montenegrin southern part of the historical Sandžak region (broadest definition)

On the Serbian side, the Sandžak includes the large municipalities ( Opštine ) Novi Pazar and Tutin of the District ( Okrug ) Raška and Nova Varoš , Priboj , Prijepolje and Sjenica of the Zlatibor District .

On the Montenegrin side, there are the municipalities of Berane , Bijelo Polje and Pljevlja . According to a broader definition, Rožaje and Plav are also included, and sometimes Andrijevica .

Depending on the delimitation, the Sandžak has a total area of ​​7,100 or 8,687 km².

Name and story

Landscape in Sandžak between Nova Varoš and Sjenica

The name of the region goes back to the Ottoman Sanjak Novi Pazar. Sanjak ( Ottoman سنجاق Sancak , German 'flag, banner' ) was a generic name for a subdivision in the provincial administration in the Ottoman Empire. A sanjak with the capital Novi Pazar (Turkish Yeni Pazar ) was detached from the Eyâlet Bosnia . It formed a buffer area between the autonomous principalities of Serbia and Montenegro and a connection between the heartland of the Ottoman Empire and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

At the Berlin Congress of 1878 the Ottoman Empire had to recognize the sovereignty of Serbia and Montenegro and accept the occupation (final annexation in 1908) of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary; but it could keep the sanjak Novi Pazar. However, Austria-Hungary received a military mandate for the area in order to be able to prevent Serbian-Montenegrin unity efforts.

Only after the First Balkan War was the Sanjak of Novi Pazar divided between Serbia and Montenegro by the London Treaty of 1913.

In the last census before the Second World War in 1931, over 56% of the population of Sandžak were Orthodox Christians (Serbs and Montenegrins), 43% were Muslims (predominantly Bosniaks, with a small Albanian minority), and less than one percent were Catholics. During the war, Serbian nationalist Chetniks expelled Muslims from the western parts of Sandžak. As a result, there is still a clear majority of Serbs in the west of the region, while the Bosniaks are concentrated in the east.

During the liberation phase of the Second World War, the Sandžak had greater independence for a short time. In November 1943, Sandžak's own national assembly (ZAVNO) was formed in the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ), which was also represented at the second AVNOJ meeting in Jajce on November 29, 1943. Moša Pijade in his Deklaracija o narodnoj vlasti of April 1944 explicitly mentioned the Sandžak as a constitutive part of the future federal Yugoslavia. When the National Assembly of Montenegro claimed to represent the Sandžak in 1944, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPJ) clearly rejected this. However, it was unclear what form of autonomy the Sandžak should have. At times the status of an autonomous province within the republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was discussed. In February 1945, however, the AVNOJ presidium finally decided not to grant the Sandžak any autonomy. There is no “national basis” for an autonomous unit and could otherwise be a model for an “inappropriate and irrational crumbling” of Yugoslavia.

The Muslim population was urged to call themselves Serbs, Croats, Turks or "undefined". It was not until the constitution of 1974 recognized the “Muslims” (but not the Sandžakans ) as a separate national group. Between 1961 and 1991 the Muslim population in Sandžak doubled, while the Serbian and Montenegrin population decreased significantly.

After the break-up of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the question of identity arose again. A majority of the Muslims of the Sandžak decided to follow the Slav Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina and call themselves Bosniaks . However, the Serbian leadership refused and spoke of "Serbs of Islamic faith". In October 1991, according to the organizers of the “Muslim National Council”, a majority of the population of the Serbian Sandžak voted in a referendum for an autonomy of the region and the right to integrate into one of the “sovereign republics” - especially according to the opinion Bosniak Democratic Action Party (SDA) active in Sandžak would have meant a connection to Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, the Serbian government questioned the results and rejected the vote as "illegal, unnecessary and nonsensical". In January 1992 there was another referendum for a “special status”. A few months later, the Sandžak Muslims formed their own parliament. However, none of these initiatives was recognized by the Serbian leadership under Slobodan Milošević , who rejected any form of self-government. During the wars of Yugoslavia , there were " ethnic cleansing " in Priboj in Serbia and Pljevlja in Montenegro.

After Milošević's fall, the “Intellectual Circle Sandžak”, the “Human Rights Organization Sandžak” and the “Citizens' Forum” organized a conference in Novi Pazar in March 2001 under the title “Sandžak and Bosniaks between Serbia and Montenegro”. There they affirmed the use of the common name 'Bosniaks' and rejected the term 'Muslims' as an ethnic or national category. In her opinion, the identification of 'Bosniak' expresses that ethnic and cultural affiliation is not only defined by religion. A striving for separation from the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (and accession to Bosnia) did not go hand in hand with this. The Bosniaks of Sandžak also largely rejected the independence of Montenegro because it would separate families through the new state border.

population

Spread of Bosniaks and Slavic Muslims in Serbia and Montenegro (census of 2002/03): A strong concentration can be seen in the Sandžak.
Distribution of the ethnic majorities in the large communities belonging to the Sandžak: Bosniaks green, Serbs red, Montenegrins dark red, “Muslims” (in the national sense) light green. Stronger colors indicate an absolute, paler a relative majority of the respective group.

According to the censuses in Serbia and Montenegro in 2011, a total of 390,737 people lived in the twelve large municipalities that belong to the Sandžak area (according to the broadest definition). In the census in Serbia and Montenegro in 2002 and 2003, it was 426,044. About 60% of this came from Serbia and 40% from Montenegro. In the Serbian part the population was 238,787 (2002: 235,567), while in the Montenegrin part 151,950 (2003: 190,477) people lived.

ethnicities

The largest ethnic groups and their numbers are listed below. The identity of the Muslims in Sandžak is not uniform, so the Muslims can be registered as Bosniaks, Muslims (in the national sense) or partially as Serbs or Montenegrins. Today the Bosniaks make up a large part of the population, followed by Serbs and Montenegrins.

According to the population data of Serbia from 2011, there were in the six Serbian large municipalities that belong to the Sandžak, three with a Serbian and three with a Bosniak majority. On the Montenegrin side, according to the population statistics of the same year, there were two large municipalities with a Bosniak majority, two with a Serb majority and two with a mixed population, but in which there were more Serbs than Bosniaks.

Ethnic groups in Sandžak :

Ethnic groups in the Serbian part of the Sandžak :

Ethnic groups in the Montenegrin part of the Sandžak :

The large communities with the highest Bosniak / Muslim population are Tutin (93.51%), Rožaje (88.46%), Novi Pazar (81.21%) and Sjenica (78.55%).

The large municipalities with the highest Serbian population are Nova Varoš (89.55%), Priboj (75.86%), Andrijevica (61.86%, this only belongs to Sandžak in the broader sense).

The larger municipalities with the highest Montenegrin population share is Andrijevica (32.46%), the one with the highest Albanian Plav (18.88%).

languages

The following lists the mother tongues of the population of the large municipalities of Serbia and Montenegro, which are part of the Sandžak, according to data from the national statistical offices from 2011.

Mother tongues in Sandžak :

Mother tongues in the Serbian part of Sandžak :

Mother tongues in the Montenegrin part of Sandžak :

Highest proportion of Serbian speakers: Nova Varoš (96.17%), Priboj (85.65%), Andrijevica (76.97%). Highest proportion of Bosnian speakers: Tutin (89.83%), Novi Pazar (74.20%), Sjenica (72.97%). Highest proportion of Montenegrin speakers: Bijelo Polje (36.85%). Highest proportion of Albanian speakers: Plav (18.27%).

Religions

Religions in Sandžak

Religions in the Serbian part of the Sandžak

Religions in the Montenegrin part of the Sandžak

Highest proportion of Orthodox: Andrijevica (96.81%, only belongs to Sandžak in the broader sense), Nova Varoš (87.25%), Pljevlja (79.08%). Highest proportion of Muslims: Rožaje (94.95%), Tutin (93.79%), Novi Pazar (82.37%), Sjenica (79.21%).

politics

Coat of arms of the Bosniaks in Sandžak

With the Sandžak branch of the Bosniak Democratic Action Party (Stranka demokratske akcije, SDA), which has been led by Sulejman Ugljanin since 1990 , the Sandžak Democratic Party (Sandžačka demokratska partija, SDP), and the Bosniak Democratic Community (Bošnjačka demokratska zajednica BDZ), which is led by Muamer Zukorlić , there are essentially three parties that claim to politically represent the interests of the region and in particular the Muslim population.

Group of sanjak crows

Farm animals

A breed of chickens native to Sandžak, called Sandschak crows, is known . It belongs to the long crane breeds and is counted as a sub-breed of the second-named due to its great resemblance to the somewhat lighter Kosovo crow.

literature

  • Valeria Heuberger: The Sanjak of Novi Pazar. In: Serbia and Montenegro. Space and population, history, language and literature, culture, politics, society, economy, law. Lit Verlag, Vienna / Berlin 2006, pp. 823–830.
  • Kenneth Morrison, Elizabeth Roberts: The Sandžak. A history. Hurst & Company, London 2013.
  • Krzysztof Marcin Zalewski: The Sandschak - for the construction of a historical region. In: Oliver Jens Schmitt, Michael Metzeltin (Hrsg.): The Southeastern Europe of the Regions. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2015, pp. 177–199.

Web links

Commons : Sandžak  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Valeria Heuberger: The Sanjak of Novi Pazar. P. 824.
  2. ^ Matjaž Klemenčič, Mitja Žagar: The Former Yugoslavia's Diverse Peoples. A Reference Sourcebook. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara CA 2004, pp. 353-354
  3. ^ A b c d e Antonina Zhelyazkova: Ethnic minorities in Serbia and Montenegro. The Balkans' fear of separatism . In: Internationale Politik , No. 5, May 2002, pp. 7-14.
  4. ↑ a b c The origin of the Sanjak Novi Pazar . Le Monde Diplomatique (German edition), January 11, 2008
  5. ↑ Ivo Banac: With Stalin Against Tito. Cominformist splits in Yugoslav Communism. Cornell University Press, Ithaca NY 1988, p. 100.
  6. ^ Hilde Katrine Haug: Creating a Socialist Yugoslavia: Tito, Communist Leadership and the National Question. IB Tauris, London 2012.
  7. ↑ Ivo Banac: With Stalin Against Tito. Cominformist splits in Yugoslav Communism. Cornell University Press, Ithaca NY 1988, pp. 100-102.
  8. ^ Matjaž Klemenčič, Mitja Žagar: The Former Yugoslavia's Diverse Peoples. A Reference Sourcebook. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara CA 2004, pp. 354-355.
  9. ^ Milan Andrejevich: The Sandžak. A Perspective of Serb-Muslim Relations. In: Muslim Identity and the Balkan State. C. Hurst & Co., London 1997, p. 175.
  10. ^ Matjaž Klemenčič, Mitja Žagar: The Former Yugoslavia's Diverse Peoples. A Reference Sourcebook. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara CA 2004, p. 354.
  11. ↑ НАЦИОНАЛНА ПРИПАДНОСТ - Подаци по општинама и градовима / Ethnicity - Data by municipalities and cities . (PDF) In: Попис становништва, домаћинстава и станова 2011. у Републици Србији / 2011 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Serbia. Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade 2012.
  12. ↑ Stanovništvo Crne Gore prema polu, Tipu naselja, nacionalnoj, odnosno etničkoj pripadnosti, vjeroispovijesti i maternjem jeziku po opštinama u Crnoj Gori / population of Montenegro by sex, type of settlement, etnicity, religion and mother tongue, per municipalities . (PDF) In: Popis stanovništva, domaćinstava i stanova u Crnoj Gori 2011. godine / Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in Montenegro 2011. Statistical Office of Montenegro, Podgorica 2011.
  13. ↑ In the Montenegrin census data, a distinction is made between “Bosnian” (Bosanski) and “Bosniak” (Bošnjački) . Here both are added together.
  14. ↑ Daniel Bochsler: Regional party system in Serbia. In: Party Politics in the Western Balkans Routledge, Abingdon (Oxfordshire) / New York 2010, pp. 144–145.

Coordinates: 43 ° 9 ′  N , 19 ° 40 ′  E