The
zemlja is a political-territorial unit composed of an average of 10
župas, usually 7 to 12. In earlier times,
zemljas were tightly organized and regularly showed a degree of political independence. Over time, this independence declined, and
zemlja entered the ranks of larger political communities, while at the same time, feudalism dissolved their political organization, so that only geographical name and terminology remained. In addition to the most common form of hierarchical dependencies, the other forms of interrelationships were either complete political independence, or more often a parallelism, thus, for example,
zemljas, and same can be said for
župas, in certain historical conditions, existed as an independent part of the wider state union, or as a generally recognized geographical term. On the other hand, village-municipalities and manors, could only show parallelism at most, but also overlap in aspect of governorship among each other. At the head of
zemljas were hereditary rulers with the title of
knez,
vojvoda (
duke),
ban or
king, and in the case of foreign titles also
župan or
dominus. Historians, although cautiously, point out the parallelism between
zemljas and the so-called
sclavinias on the eastern coast of the
Adriatic Sea, but less cautiously to the fact that appearance of
sclavinias and early feudal
zemljas largely coincides with the administrative division of the
late Roman Empire. Looking through historical sources historians concluded how political organization of
zemljas disintegrated over time, and their strength eroded by the creation of larger state formations, and/or by the formation of new
feudalna oblasts ().
Zemlja Bosna Zemlja Bosna of all other
zemljas that were part of the Bosnian state, was only one clearly defined politically, geographically and temporally. It was organized as
zemlja (horion) in the 10th century, and it has always preserved a certain individuality within the later larger and more developed medieval Bosnian state.
Vrh Bosna and Drina as Pavlovića Zemlja Donji Kraji Donji Kraji (lit.
Lower Ends), in size and organization, correspond exactly to the physiognomy of an early feudal
zemlja. For the entire duration of the medieval Bosnian state, this area has its own political organization, which means that it is regularly in the title of rulers, the representatives of the
Donji Kraji are very active in the state noble council (stanak), and the whole area is governed by a knez, later a duke. The term
Donji Kraji (Lower Ends) itself seems to have been created out of necessity (in the absence of another better or older name). and that the organization of this area was developed only after the absorption into the Bosnian state.
Humska zemlja Humska zemlja or
Hum is a well-known land from the early Middle Ages as
Zahumlje, however, by the time most of Hum's territory belonged to Bosnia, the political organization of Zahumlje as a whole had already been destroyed. From early 14th century, the entire territory of Hum is part of the Bosnian state, the name appears in the ruling title (
Ban Stjepan II is even the formal
Knez of Hum), in the state council sit nobles "from Hum". Duke
Stjepan Vukčić wore the title "lord of the land of Hum", but that is something completely different in content. In the 14th century, the entire area between the
Neretva and the
Cetina was annexed to the Bosnian state, which represents the entire land part of the former "land" of the
Naretnines. The political organization of this area was already liquidated at the time when the Bosnian state expanded there, but it can be noticed that even in the 15th century the memory of the former political entity did not completely disappear. It is significant that the noble
Radivojević family tried to unite this area into a single feudal area in the second decade of the 15th century. In the second half of the 14th century, the entire area of the former "land" of
Travunija (
Trebinje) became part of Bosnia. However, the political organization of this
zemlja was already so fragmented at the time that it did not appear in the title of rulers or in any other form during the entire period of the Bosnian state nor later. There is only one geographical content left, and that is only in the understanding of the (surrounding) population of the nearest areas.
Usora Usora was another important
zemlja and
feudalna oblast ) of the
medieval Bosnian state. The administrative seat of this
zemlja was
Srebrenik, which also served as residence for its rulers for entire period of existence of the medieval Bosnian state. It took its name from the river
Usora. In the 14th century
zemlja Usora will absorb neighboring
zemlja Soli.
Usora have joined Bosnia as an already formed political-territorial unit of approximate
zemlja rank and entered the title of Bosnian rulers, and while it has always preserved a certain individuality, it also enlarged its volume within Bosnia on the expense of other regions, namely
Soli and Lower
Podrinje. its representatives constantly participated in the work of the
Stanak, and the unifying factor is the position of the
Usora duke.
Soli Soli or Só was a zemlja located in today's northern
Bosnia and Herzegovina, centered around the town of
Tuzla. Initially, a
Slavic župa, the County of Soli became an integral part of
Kulin's Bosnia and later both of
Banate of Bosnia and of the
Kingdom of Bosnia. The meaning of the name is "salts". With the arrival of the
Ottoman Empire around 1512, the names of the villages "Gornje Soli" and "Donje Soli" were translated to "Memlehai-bala" and "Memlehai-zir", literally meaning Upper and Lower Saltworks, resp.
Zemlja Soli will eventually be incorporated into
zemlja Usora in the 14th century. Before that happened,
Soli was specially organized in the early feudal period. As such, it entered the title of Bosnian rulers, but somewhere in the first half of the 14th century it completely merged with
Usora. Apart from the name and only the approximate territory, we know nothing about the organization of this
zemlja.
Other examples Podgorje is another area, which as a whole was part of the Bosnian state. It had, at least occasionally, a political organization and a size that corresponded to the physiognomy of a
zemlja. This is a mountainous area, located between
zemljas of
Bosna,
Hum,
Zeta and
Drina. Only a few scarce information from the
Chronicle of Pop Dukljanin speak of the special political organization of
Podgorje, but the former political individuality has left its mark on the ethnic and folklore characteristics of the population. In any case, at the time of its incorporation into the Bosnian state,
Podgorje, as an administrative-political entity, no longer existed. Formally, which means in terms of names and compactness of areas, some other regions of the Bosnian state were reminiscent of
zemlja. These were in actuality a transitional forms between early feudal
zemljas and "feudal areas", although by character and time they belong to developed feudalism. These are areas comprised 3-5
župas. They represented geographical and political entities and the existence of established names indicates a somewhat older age. Such were the areas of
Drina in the upper basin of the river
Drina,
Podrinje in the area of the river
Drinjača, and
Završje, which encompassed the
karst fields of today's southwestern Bosnia (
Duvno,
Livno,
Glamoč and perhaps
Grahovo). The Drina has been known since at least the 11th century, but it cannot be said when it was formed into a wider area of at least 4-5
župas. Herceg
Stjepan Vukčić bore a title the
Knez of Drina, and the ethnic term
Drinjak for the inhabitants of this area in the
Upper Drina is still in use (
Podrinjac for
middle and
lower course of the Drina), clearly separating inhabitants of that region from the
Bosnians or
Hercegovinians.
Podrinje also entered the title of Bosnian rulers, and in the feudal period, a specific feudal area of Trebotić-
Dinjičić-Kovačević noble family was organized in this area. == See also ==