Medieval Bosnians The earliest known record of the name
Bosnia as a
polity dates from the middle of the 10th century CE, in the
Greek form
Βόσονα, designating the region. By that time, the
Migration Period of the
Early Middle Ages was already over. During that turbulent period, from the beginning of the 6th and up to middle of the 7th century,
Early Slavs invaded the
Byzantine Empire and settled throughout
Southeastern Europe. In many regions, they encountered various groups of the previously
romanized population of the former Roman provinces of
Dalmatia,
Praevalitana,
Pannonia Secunda,
Pannonia Savia and others. The remaining romanized population retreated -mainly to mountainous regions - while South Slavic tribes settled in plains and valleys, gradually coalescing into early principalities. As these expanded, they came to include other surrounding territories, and later evolved into more centralized states. In the
Early Middle Ages, Fine Jr. and Malcolm believe that westernmost parts of modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina were part of
Duchy of Croatia, while the easternmost parts were part of
Principality of Serbia, although, the harsh and usually inaccessible elevated terrains of the country most likely never came under direct control of either of the two neighboring Slavic states, and instead always had its own distinct political governance. During the twelfth century, local rulers developed the
Banate of Bosnia, centered in the valley of the
river Bosna. There are several theories among linguists and other scholars regarding the origins of the names "Bosnia" and "Bosna" (for the region and the river respectively), and also regarding the relation between those two terms. It is speculated that the name "Bosnia" could come from an older regional term, itself originally derived from the name of the Bosna river, which flows through the heart of the land. From that root, the local
demonym derived in the
endonym form of
Bošnjani, designating the inhabitants of Bosnia. During the 13th and 14th century, the Banate of Bosnia gradually expanded, incorporating regions of
Soli,
Usora,
Donji Kraji and
Zahumlje. Inhabitants of all those regions also kept their regional individuality. By 1377, the
Kingdom of Bosnia had formed under the
Kotromanić dynasty. It included several territories of medieval Serbia and Croatia. As a consequence, many
Eastern Orthodox Christians and
Roman Catholics became subjects of Bosnian rulers, along with adherents of a native
Bosnian Church whose origins and nature are a subject of continued debate among scholars.
Bošnjani became so-called - as political subjects of Bosnian rulers- from the time of
Stephen II (). Those belonging to the so-called Bosnian Church simply called themselves
Krstjani ("Christians"). Many scholars classify these Bosnian
Krstjani as
Manichaean dualists related to the
Bogomils of Bulgaria, while others question this theory, citing lack of historical evidence. Both Catholic and Orthodox church authorities considered the Bosnian Church
heretical and launched vigorous proselytizing campaigns to stem its influence. As a result of these divisions, no coherent religious identity developed in medieval Bosnia, in contrast to the situations in Croatia and Serbia.
Ottoman era When the
Ottoman Empire conquered the Bosnian kingdom in 1463, a significant
Turkish community arrived in the region. The Turkish community grew steadily throughout the Ottoman rule of Bosnia; however, many Turks immigrated to
Turkey when Bosnia and Herzegovina came under Austro-Hungarian rule. Under Ottoman rule, a new and distinct Muslim community developed as a result of the
conversion to Islam among a large part of the Bosnian population. Adherents of Islam, Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism emerged as the three dominant religious groups that formed the core of Bosnia's society. As a result of the Ottoman conquest, some of
Bunjevci migrated to
Dalmatia, from there to
Lika and the
Croatian Littoral, and in the 17th century to
Bačka. In the later Ottoman period, Bosnia attracted Muslim refugees from lands that were reconquered by Christian powers (mainly
Croatia,
Hungary, western
Romania and
Slovenia).
Austro-Hungarian era occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1878 to 1918,
Benjamin Kallay, Joint Imperial Minister of Finance and Vienna-based administrator of Bosnia, promoted
Bošnjaštvo, a policy that aimed to inspire in Bosnia's people 'a feeling that they belong to a great and powerful nation'. The policy advocated the ideal of a pluralist and multi-confessional Bosnian
nation and viewed Bosnians as "speaking the
Bosnian language and divided into three religions with equal rights." The policy tried to isolate Bosnia and Herzegovina from its
irredentist neighbors (the
Eastern Orthodox in
Kingdom of Serbia,
Catholics in
Kingdom of Croatia, and the
Muslims of the
Ottoman Empire). The empire tried to discourage the concept of Croat or Serb nationhood, which had spread to Bosnia and Herzegovina's Catholic and Orthodox communities from neighboring Croatia and Serbia in the mid-19th century. Following the death of Kallay, the policy was abandoned. By the latter half of the 1910s, nationalism was an integral factor of Bosnian politics, with national political parties corresponding to the three groups dominating elections for the
Diet of Bosnia. Consequently, Bosnian Muslims, or anyone who claimed a Bosnian/Bosniak ethnicity, were classified in Yugoslav population statistics as under the category 'regional affiliation.' This classification was used in the last Yugoslav census taken in 1991 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The census classifications in former Yugoslavia were often subject to political manipulation because the counting of populations was critical to power of each group. In the constitutional amendments of 1947, Bosnian Muslims requested the option of 'Bosnian.' But, in the 1948 census, they were given only the choices to identify as 'ethnically undeclared Muslim', 'Serb-Muslim' or 'Croat-Muslim' (the vast majority chose the first option). Hence, as a compromise, the option of "
Muslims by nationality" was introduced as a category in the 1971 census. This was the official category for use by Bosniaks until the final Yugoslav census in 1991. This resulted in Bosniak and Muslim sometimes being used interchangeably in political contexts. In the centuries of the Ottoman Empire, distinctions among citizens (for taxation purposes, military service etc.) was made based primarily on the individual's religious identity, which was closely tied to ethnicity. The decision of a citizen to identify as Bosnian seems to depend on whether they relate their identity more with the Bosnian state or territory as opposed to their religious affiliation, particularly in the case of Bosniaks. The number of people who identified as Bosnians under the latest (2013) population census is not exactly known, however it is not above 2.73%, as this is the number of people who identified as "Others" and "Bosnians" are listed under this "Others" category. ==Religion==