Bosnia (early medieval polity)

Bosnia (/Bosona, ), in the Early Middle Ages to early High Middle Ages was territorially and politically defined entity, governed at first by knyaz and than by a ruler with the ban title, from at least 838 AD. situated, broadly, around the Bosna river, between its upper and the middle course, which is a wider area of central and eastern modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first mention of Bosnia as an entity is 838 AD, with a knyaz knyaz Ratimir as its ruler.

Geography
The early Bosnia, according to Vego and Mrgić, as well as Hadžijahić and Anđelić, was situated, broadly, around the Bosna river, between its upper and the middle course: in the south to north direction between the line formed by its source and the Prača river in the south, and the line formed by the Drinjača river and the Krivaja river (from Olovo, downstream to town of Maglaj), and Vlašić mountain in the north, later expanding in the west to east direction between the Rama-Vrbas line stretching from the Neretva to Pliva in the west, and the Drina in the east, which is a wider area of central and eastern modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Confirmation of its emergence comes from historiographical interpretation of Bar's Chronicle in modern and post-modern scholarship, which situate the mountainous entity around the Upper Bosna river and latter in the Upper Vrbas river, documenting it's expansion into Croatian Parishes Uskoplje, Pliva and Luka. These three small parishes will later become a quintessence for emergence of Donji Kraji county, before they were reclaimed as demesne, after 1416 and death of Hrvoje Vukčić.

History
The western Balkans had been reconquered from "barbarians" by Byzantine Emperor Justinian (r. 527–565). Sclaveni (Slavs) raided the western Balkans, including Bosnia, in the 6th century. The De Administrando Imperio (DAI; 949-960) mentions Bosnia (/Bosona) as a "small/little land" (or "small country", /horion Bosona), in the upper course of Bosna river, settled by Slavs with a ruler, who called himself Bosnian. Parts of modern western Bosnia and Krajina were incorporated into the Croatian kingdom such as župa Pleba and Pesenta, and Chlebiana and Emota in present Herzegovina. 

In the 7th century the majority of Bosnian territory was probably occupied by Croats, or - at least, by Slavs under Croat rule, but this tribal label had little meaning five centuries later. The Bosnians were generally closer to Croats in their religious and political history but it would be anachronistic to apply modern notion of Croat identity to medieval populus.

Also, Serbs settled in south, in Zahumlje and Travunija (south-east in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina); it was referred to only once, at the end of the 32nd chapter on the Serbs (a chapter overall drawn from older writings). This is the first mention of a Bosnian entity; at the time it was a geographic, not a national, entity. In the Early Middle Ages, Fine, Jr. believes that what is today western Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of Duchy of Croatia, while the east was Serbian, although, the harsh and usually inaccessible elevated terrains of Upper Bosnia was most likely never under direct control of either of the two Slavic states, but more under its own political rule. This claim is reinforced by the Byzantine writer Cinnamus, who wrote that the river Drina separates Bosnia from Serbia, that it isn't' subordinated to the Serb ruler, and that it's people have a different way of life and governance.

Historical and archaeological information on early medieval Bosnia is inadequate. Bosnia included two inhabited towns according to DAI, Katera and Desnik. Katera has been identified as Kotorac near Sarajevo, however, according to  archaeology refutes this; it may have been Kotor Varoš (the site of Bobac or Bobos), although it only includes late medieval findings to date. Desnik remains unidentified, but was thought to be near Dešanj. If DAI's kastra oikoumena does not designate inhabited towns, but ecclesiastical centres (as theorized by Tibor Živković), the towns might be Bistua (Zenica or Vitez) and Martar (probably Konjic). 

Expert historians have established that the medieval Bosnian polity stretched from the Sarajevo field in the south to the Zenica field in the north, the eastern boundary being the Prača valley towards the Drina, the western along the Lepenica and Lašva valleys. Nucleus where first state had developed is believed to be in Visoko valley. . 

After the death of Serbian ruler that conquered territories Časlav (r. ca. 927–960), land of Bosnia detached from the Serbian state, together with Raška, Travunija, Zahumlje and Paganija, became politically separated. Bulgaria under Samuel briefly subjugated Bosnia at the turn of the 10th century, after which followed period of Byzantine rule. After that came a Croat and then at the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century a short Dukljan one, and that again a Croatian one.  Bosnia by 1102 was a part of the Kingdom of Hungary, but as a distant region, it has emerged as independent entity in 1150s as Banate of Bosnia under its first ruler Ban Borić. After Ban Kulin, Bosnia in 1180s was by practical means an independent state, though Hungarians still claimed suzerainty over Bosnia.

See also

 Banate of Bosnia
 Kingdom of Bosnia
 Usora (region)
 Soli (region)
 Visoko during the Middle Ages

References

Sources 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Vego, Marko (1982), Postanak srednjovjekovne bosanske države (jezik: srpskohrvatski), Svjetlost
 Filipović, Milenko S. (2002), Visočka nahija (jezik: srpski), Mak
 

Category:Medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina
Category:Principality of Serbia (medieval)
Category:Former Slavic countries