Status of monument -> National monument
Published
in the “Official Gazette of BiH”, no. 13/10.
Pursuant
to Article V para. 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina
and Article 39 para. 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission to Preserve
National Monuments, at sessions held from 14 to 20 March 2006 and 8 to 11
September 2009 the Commission adopted a
D E C I S
I O N
I
The
architectural ensemble of the Pruščak (Hasan Kjafija) mosque in Prusac,
Municipality Donji Vakuf, is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia
and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National
Monument).
The
National Monument consists of the Pruščak mosque, medresa, courtroom and
mekteb, the turbe of Hasan Kjafija, the mosque harem, and movable heritage
consisting of:
a) a
levha carved in wood,
b) a
stone plaque with an inscription on the renovation of the Bajezid mosque.
The
National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 338,
339, 340, title sheet no. 328/07, cadastral municipality Prusac I, property of
the Islamic Religious Community in Prusac, Municipality Donji Vakuf, Federation
of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The
provisions relating to protection measures set forth by the Law on the
Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National
Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement
for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH
nos. 2/02, 27/02, 6/04 and 51/07) shall apply to the National Monument.
II
The
Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the
Government of the Federation) shall be responsible for providing the legal,
scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary for the
protection, conservation and presentation of the National Monument.
The
Government of the Federation shall be responsible for providing the resources
needed to draw up and implement the necessary executive regional planning
documentation for the National Monument.
The
Commission to Preserve National Monuments (hereinafter: the Commission) shall
determine the technical requirements and secure the funds for preparing and
setting up signboards with basic details of the monument and the Decision to
proclaim the property a National Monument.
III
To ensure
the on-going protection of the National Monument, the following protection
measures are hereby stipulated, which shall apply to the area defined in
Clause 1 para. 3 of this Decision.
-
all works are prohibited
other than investigative and conservation-restoration works, and works designed
to display the monument, with the approval of the Federal Ministry responsible
for regional planning and under the expert supervision of the heritage
protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
-
the Pruščak mosque shall
be dismantled and reconstructed after the appropriate project documentation has
been drawn up and remedial works carried out on the soil and foundations;
-
all elements of the
existing mosque building that are re-usable shall be incorporated into the
reconstructed building;
-
during the reconstruction
works, the original appearance of the parts of the mosque altered in later
interventions – the upper windows, the minaret, the mahfil and the mihrab –
shall be restored on the basis of documentation on their original form and
surviving original fragments;
-
the original use of the
buildings of the ensemble – mosque, medresa and turbe – shall be preserved;
-
the medresa may be used
for a new purpose, for cultural and educational purposes (possibly as a small
museum with suitable conditions for the safeguarding and presentation of
manuscripts, levhas, paintings, chronograms and fragments of the Pruščak
mosque;
-
the plumbing and
abdesthana shall be relocated from the mosque to the mekteb currently under
construction;
-
the access road to the
building under construction shall be filled in to restore the structure of the
wall around the mosque harem to the condition it was in prior to the latest
interventions, ensuring that the said building is a ground-floor structure
only, with a height not exceeding 3.50 m to the base of the roof frame; the
building must have a hipped roof with a pitch of a minimum of 30° and a
cladding of wooden shingles;
-
a maintenance programme
for the National Monument shall be drawn up.
The buffer
zone shall consist of cadastral plots 235, 236/1, 236/2, 250, 251, 252,
253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 300, 301,
307, 306, 308/1, 308/2, 309 (part), 310, 311, 312, 325, 326/1, 326/2, 327, 328,
329, 330, 334, 335, 337, 341 (part), 342, 344, 346, 347, 348/1 and 348/2. In
this buffer zone the following protection measures are hereby stipulated:
-
existing buildings shall
be preserved subject to restrictions to the number of storeys, size and
footprint dimensions of the buildings, and the use of materials closely
resembling the indigenous materials traditionally used within the protected
area;
-
new building may be
permitted on condition that newly-erected buildings are not detrimental in
dimensions, appearance or any other way to the value as monuments, natural
assets or townscape/landscape of the other areas;
-
the construction of
potential environmental polluters, major infrastructural and industrial
buildings and facilities is prohibited.
IV
All
executive and area development planning acts are hereby revoked to the extent
that they are not in accordance with the provisions of this Decision.
V
Everyone,
and in particular the competent authorities of the Federation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, the Canton, and urban and municipal authorities, shall refrain
from any action that might damage the National Monument or jeopardize the
preservation thereof.
VI
The
removal from Bosnia and
Herzegovina of the movable heritage items
referred to in Clause 1 para. 3 of this Decision (hereinafter: the movable
heritage) is prohibited.
By way of
exception to the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Clause, the temporary
removal from Bosnia and Herzegovina of the movable heritage for the purposes of
display or conservation shall be permitted if it is considered that
conservation works cannot be carried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina or can be
carried out to a higher standard and more quickly and cheaply abroad.
Permission
for temporary removal under the conditions stipulated in the preceding
paragraph shall be issued by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, if
it is determined beyond doubt that it will not jeopardize the movable heritage
in any way, and subject to the prior approval of the relevant bodies of the
Central Bank.
In
granting permission for the temporary removal of the movable heritage, the
Commission shall stipulate all the conditions under which the removal from
Bosnia and Herzegovina may take place, the date by which the items shall be
returned to the country, and the responsibility of individual authorities and
institutions for ensuring that these conditions are met, and shall notify the
Government of the Federation, the relevant security service, the customs
authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the general public accordingly.
VII
The
Government of the Federation, the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning,
the Federation heritage protection authority, and the Municipal Authorities in
charge of urban planning and land registry affairs, shall be notified of this
Decision in order to carry out the measures stipulated in Articles II to VI of
this Decision, and the Authorized Municipal Court shall be notified for the
purposes of registration in the Land Register.
VIII
The
elucidation and accompanying documentation form an integral part of this
Decision, which may be viewed by interested parties on the premises or by
accessing the website of the Commission (http://www.aneks8komisija.com.ba)
IX
Pursuant
to Art. V para 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
decisions of the Commission are final.
X
On the
date of adoption of this Decision, the National Monument shall be deleted from
the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official
Gazette of BiH no. 33/02, Official Gazette of Republika Srpska no. 79/02,
Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH no. 59/02, and Official Gazette of
Brčko District BiH no. 4/03), where it featured under serial nos: 203, 204, 205
and 208.
XI
This
Decision shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the
Official Gazette of BiH.
This
Decision has been adopted by the following members of the Commission: Zeynep
Ahunbay, Amra Hadžimuhamedović, Dubravko Lovrenović, Ljiljana Ševo and Tina
Wik.
No: 07.1-02-130/05-3
1 March 2006
Sarajevo
Chair of
the Commission
Dubravko
Lovrenović
E l u c i
d a t i o n
I – INTRODUCTION
Pursuant
to Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of
the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8
of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a
“National Monument” is an item of public property proclaimed by the Commission
to Preserve National Monuments to be a National Monument pursuant to Articles V
and VI of Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and
Herzegovina and property entered on the Provisional List of National Monuments
of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 33/02) until the
Commission reaches a final decision on its status, as to which there is no time
limit and regardless of whether a petition for the property in question has
been submitted or not.
The
Commission to Preserve National Monuments adopted a decision to add the
following properties to the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia
and Herzegovina: the Prušćak mosque, under serial no. 203, the
Medresa of Hasan Kjafija Prušćak, under serial no 204, the
Mekteb of Hasan Kjafija Prušćak, under serial no 205, and the
Turbe of Hasan Kjafija Prušćak, under serial no. 208.
Pursuant
to the provisions of the law, the Commission proceeded to carry out the
procedure for reaching a final decision to designate the Property as a National
Monument, pursuant to Article V of Annex 8 and Article 35 of the Rules of
Procedure of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments.
II – PRELIMINARY PROCEDURE
In the
procedure preceding the adoption of a final decision to proclaim the property a
national monument, the following documentation was inspected:
-
Data on the current
condition and use of the property, including a description and photographs,
data of war damage, data on restoration or other works on the property, etc.
-
Copy of land registry
entry and details of ownership.
-
Details of legal
protection of the property to date.
-
Historical, architectural
and other documentary material on the property, as set out in the bibliography
forming part of this Decision.
The
findings based on the review of the above documentation and the condition of
the site are as follows:
1. Details of the property
Location
The
mosque, medresa, mekteb and turbe of Hasan Kjafija Pruščak were built on a
natural elevation in Prusac, in the mahala of Srt, constituting the spatial
dominant in relation to that part of the town. The architectural ensemble is
located on a site designated as c.p. 338, 339, 340, Donji Vakuf
Municipality.
Historical information
The
mediaeval fortress of Prusac (Biograd, Akhisar) came under Ottoman control in
1463, remaining so until 1466. Since the fort was in an area where the borders
between the Ottoman and Hungarian empires were unstable, it was alternately
under the control of one or the other until the 1490s, when it finally came
under Ottoman rule.
From the
16th century on, Prusac was a fortified town with a garrison commanded by a dizdar
(fortress commander). The fort had its own outskirts and town. In the mid 16th
century Prusac had three mahalas with three mosques and a small čaršija – the
trades and crafts centre of the town. In 1583 Prusac became the headquarters of
a kadiluk – the area under the jurisdiction of a kadi or judge-administrator.
The major
credit for the continued development of Prusac, and its evolution into a
cultural centre, in the 17th century goes to the famous scholar and benefactor
Hasan Kjafija Pruščak, who erected several public buildings and facilities in
Prusac, his native town: a mosque, medresa, mekteb, han, water supply and so
on. It was thus that a new residential area developed in Prusac, in Srt mahala(1). In addition to the works
already referred to, Kjafija also repaired Ajvas-dedo's water supply, built a
turbe (mausoleum) over Ajvaz dedo's grave, and repaired the mosque of Sultan
Bayezit II in the Prusac fort, in 1010 AH (1601), setting a stone plaque with a
tarih (chronogram) over the door to the latter mosque to mark the occasion. After
this mosque was pulled down, the stone tarih was transferred to Kjafija's
turbe, where it is still kept(2).
Hasan
Kjafija Akhisari (Pruščak) was born in Prusac in the month of Ramadan 951 (late
November or early December 1544), the son of Turhan. Hasan Kjafija was a
striking figure of the 17th century in Bosnia. He was a lawyer,
philosopher and writer, and one of those who stood out, during the Ottoman
period, for his literary work in oriental languages. His scientific and
literary work was multifaceted and voluminous, for as Kjafija himself says in
his autobiography, by 1600 he had written eleven works, while later, as far as
can be ascertained, he wrote another seven. His works covered the fields of
philology, Islamic law, theology, logic, history and politics. Kjafija's work
on the ordering of state and society (Usul-ul-hikam fi ni-zamil-alam)
was translated into French in 1824 by the well-known French orientalist Garcin
de Tassy. Hasan Kjafija died on 16 Ramadan 1024 (1615/1616) and was buried
alongside the mosque he endowed, in a separate turbe(3).
There is
no precise information on the building of Kjafija's mosque, but judging from
the carved wooden levha dating from 1015 AH (1606/1607), which Kjafija himself
is presumed to have made, this is regarded as the year in which the mosque was
built. This levha measures 1m x 0.38 cm (with the text measuring 19 x 84 cm). This,
along with the date and Hasan Kjafija's name, is written in handsome naskh
calligraphy in two ellipsoid panels, and reads “La illaha illa'llah Muhammadur
rasulallah [There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his prophet]. Year 1015
[1606/1607]. Kadija Hasan Akhisari.”
There was
also a levha in the mihrab itself, with quotations from the Qur'an, which –
according to the inscription on the levha itself – was written by one Omer
Nijazi, imam of the Bosnian vizier Jalal ad-Din ‘Ali pasha in 1237 AH
(1821/1822). The levha was written on thick paper laid on board(4).
2. Description of the property
MOSQUE OF HASAN KJAFIJA PRUŠČAK
According
to the inscription on the levha, the Pruščak mosque was built in 1015 AH
(1606/1607).
The
mosque belongs to the type of single space mosque with wooden minaret rising
from the mosque roof. The exterior dimensions of the mosque including the
portico are 15.30 x 8.80 m. The walls of the mosque are stone-built, plastered
and painted white on the outside. The walls are approx. 60 cm thick.
The entrance
portico, which is 2.80 m deep, was enclosed on all three sides prior to the
latest rehabilitation works on the mosque. Currently, four wooden pillars
support the wooden ceiling and roof structure. The central area of the enclosed
portico serves as an entrance area leading to the portal, outside which is a
raised platform. These are the sofas, with wooden floors, used as additional
prayer space. The entire portico of the mosque is walled in at the sides, while
the front, consisting of wooden pillars and railings, is enclosed by a row of
wooden grills the central section of which serves as double entrance doors.
The
simple stone portal, with no mouldings or painted decoration, dominates the
central sofa area. The opening is 120 cm wide and 190 cm high. The double
wooden entrance doors are framed by stone jambs and a stone segmental arched
lintel.
The
portico leads into the rectangular prayer space, elongated towards the mihrab.
The main interior space of the mosque measures 7.40 x 10.74 m, with a height of
5.06 m to the wooden ceiling. The interior contains a stone mihrab and a wooden
mimber and mahfil.
Light
enters the mosque through 15 windows arranged in two rows, four each on
the side walls (the south-west and the mihrab walls), five on the north-west
side wall and two in the lower row on the entrance wall. It is only on the
north-west wall that a third window features in the upper row. All the windows
on the lower row are quite large, with rectangular stone frames, and are set
about 60 cm above ground level. These windows also have iron bars on the
outside, forming a grid with 4 x 5 panels. The two windows of the lower row in
the portico of the mosque, on the prayer-space side, are set to the left and
right of the entrance. The left-hand window has been walled up and turned into
a kind of wall cupboard for books on the inside. The windows of the upper row
are rectangular in shape, and smaller in size, terminating in pointed arches
and enclosed by wooden mušebak lattice.
The old
original mihrab, which was in place until the latest interventions on
the rehabilitation of the mosque in 1997-1999, was of stone, with elongated
stalactite ornaments, and painted in polychrome colours with floral motifs
typical of early 17th century painted decoration. The paint was applied direct
to the stone, which is a type of sandstone known locally as muljika(5). The remains of this original
mihrab can now be seen in the dolafs (wall cupboards) of the Hasan Kjafija
tekke, which stands very close to the mosque. The newly-installed stone mihrab
is of simple workmanship, with no painted decoration of any kind, with a
rectangular stone frame projecting out from the wall face by 15 cm. The stone
frame is simply moulded, and the seven-sided niche is 55 cm deep. The overall
width of the mihrab is 1.80 m, and the width of the niche opening is 1.02 m. The
niche opening terminates in stepped stalactite decorations in seven rows,
narrowing towards the top so as to enclose the hollow of the niche. The upper
part of the mihrab, or crown, consists of a stone plaque the top and corners of
which are decorated with a motif of bold stylized buds.
The
wooden mimber of the mosque is simple in form, and of the natural colour
of the wood, with no emphatic decorations. It is 2.90 m long and 3.60 m high.
The sides are enclosed by boards.
The
wooden mahfil, also of the natural colour of the wood, is set along the
entrance wall, opposite the mihrab. It is 2.96 m deep, with a projection for
the muezzin at the centre of the mahfil: this is 70 cm deep and 2.53 m wide. The
basic structure of the mahfil consists of four wooden pillars with a
cross-section of 16 x 16 cm and a height of 1.90 m, with scored edges and
lacking both base and capital, and of a wooden beam forming a gallery with a
wooden railing. The load of the mahfil is transferred from the wooden beam to
the wooden pillars via simple, undecorated corbels. The wooden railing consists
of wooden spindles and newel posts with moulded tops. The railing is 57 cm
high. The mahfil is reached via a wooden staircase to the right of the
entrance, in the prayer space. The staircase is a single-flight forming a right
angle, set against the mosque wall. The entrance to the minaret and attic space
of the mosque is through a wooden hatch in the ceiling of the mosque, via a
wooden ladder.
The
ceiling of the mosque is composed of wooden boards about 20 cm wide, laid
across the wooden ceiling joists. The joints of the boards are covered by
slats, creating an impression of lines running lengthwise articulating the
ceiling. There is a moulded edging board against the walls.
The
octagonal wooden minaret of the mosque is set in the roof to the right
of the entrance to the mosque. The minaret is simple in form, with no
decoration. The frame of the minaret is supported by the ceiling joists, on
which the structure of the minaret is set, consisting of a central wooden mast
and outer uprights forming the octagonal form. The wooden frame widens out into
a covered balcony, the šerefe. A wooden staircase leading to this balcony
spirals around the central mast. The entire frame of the minaret is clad with
boards. The wooden steps link the mast with the outer uprights, thus acquiring
a spacious wooden structure that appears compact. The minaret is fixed to the
roof structure where it emerges. This minaret is covered, with small openings.
The balcony is at a height of 180-190 cm, with an extension of a mere 7-10 cm. The
openings on the balcony are small and rounded at the top. They are approx. 20n
cm wide and 25-30 cm high. The minaret gives the impression of being enclosed
and squat. It has a shallow conical roof above the balcony, with an alem
(finial).
Outside
the mosque, to the right and left of the portico, are two stone pillar bases,
the purpose of which is unknown, as is the place from which they were brought
here.
Right
beside the mosque is a sizeable harem with nišan tombstones. All the
older tombstones were made of tufa, a perishable type of stone, which has
resulted in damage caused by weathering. There are also a number of nišan
tombstones of more recent date, of rather better workmanship, and in better
condition. All belong to local Prusac families.
The harem
also includes the turbe of the Murtezan family. According to local
people, the person buried in this turbe is the grandson of Hasan Kjafija,
although there is no available written record to this effect. During the Kingdom of Yugoslavia(6), a turbe was erected over this grave, which was pulled down
before World War II. After World War II an initiative was launched to renovate
it, but at some point this was abandoned. The turbe thus has the appearance of
an unfinished building of reinforced concrete – four reinforced concrete
columns, circular in section, linked by reinforced concrete segmental arches.
MEDRESA AND TEKKE OF HASANA
KJAFIJA PRUŠČAK
The
medresa (secondary and high school providing an education in religion and
shariah law and a knowledge of oriental languages) of Hasan Kjafija was built
in 1612, and is very close to the same vakif's (legator's) mosque. It belongs
to the type of medresa-dershana – a separate medresa consisting only of a
classroom (dershana). Such medresas were intended only for pupils living in the
same town. As far as is known, there were only two such medresas in Bosnia and Herzegovina
– that of Hasan Kjafija in Prusac, and the Dershana in Stolac(7). The medresa in Stolac has been
demolished, so that the only surviving such medresa is this one in Prusac.
According
to Evliya Çelebi, who visited Prusac in the mid 17th century, at that time
there were three tekkes in Prusac, of which that of “his Eminence Shaykh
Kafija” was particularly notable. It belonged to the Khalwatiyyah order
(tariqa)(8).
The
medresa and tekke were located in a single building. There was a
horizontally-laid stone outside the entrance to the building, serving as a
mejtaš (stone on which the deceased were laid so funeral prayers could be said
for them).
The
entire building consists of four rooms, each of which formed a distinct
establishment. To the north, the ground floor has a large, somewhat elongated
room with two windows to the left and one to the right, through which little
light penetrates. The interior dimensions of this room are 6.85 x 3.05 m. Three
of the walls (the side walls and the wall facing the entrance) have four
built-in wall cupboards. There is a fireplace in the right-hand wall of the
room. This room is the former tekke. A wooden staircase leads from the
left-hand corner, by the entrance, to a spacious divanhana (open landing) on
the first floor, open on three sides. This in turn leads to a separate, square
room measuring 3.05 x 3.05 on the inside, with a height of 3.80 m, with wall
cupboards and narrow windows arrayed around. Here too there is a fireplace in
the right-hand wall. The entire room is covered by a stone dome set on
pendentives. This was once the classroom (dershana). To the south side of the
building, under the same roof, is an open turbe, with nišan tombstones and a
sarcophagus. During repairs in 1936, the medresa and turbe were given a common
roof, so that they now constitute a single entity.
The
building, of elongated rectangular form, is built of roughly dressed stone,
with the dome of the dershana made of tufa. The building is clad with wooden
shingles.
The basic
formal values of this building are expressed in the harmonious relationship
between its enclosed and open sections. The masonry parts of the building, with
their narrow windows, give the impression of a monolithic surface, surrounded
by an airy, open space with wooden pillars.
TURBE OF HASAN KJAFIJA PRUŠČAK
This
turbe, abutting onto the Kjafija medresa, belongs to the mausolea of open type.
The sarcophagus, made of precisely cut stone slabs, is set on a paved stone
podium 0.50m high, 4.70 m long and 4.63 m wide. Above the sarcophagus are two
octagonal nišan tombstones without turbans, both identical and with no epitaph.
The tombstones are 1 m in height, and the sarcophagus is 80 cm high and 1.03 m
long. The entire thing is made of limestone and is of fine stonemasonry and
artisan's work. Kjafija's coffin is below this, in a separate barrel-vaulted
chamber(9). The
turbe is surrounded by a wooden railing (slats).
There is
an oral tradition concerning the existence of Kjafija Pruščak's grave, but
there are doubts as to its veracity. In November 1936, the Banate
Administration in Banja Luka
carried out repairs to Kjafija's medresa and turbe. When levelling the ground
in the turbe before laying concrete, the workmen removed a stone and a hollow
space was revealed. This opening provided a view of the grave itself, which was
dug into the ground, walled on all four sides, and domed. Two skeletons side by
side could be seen in the grave. One skeleton belonged to Kjafija effendi, and
the other to his wife(10).
MEKTEB BY THE MOSQUE OF HASAN
KJAFIJA
The
free-standing mekteb building is to the north-west of and very close to the
mosque entrance. There is no known record of the date when it was built, but
according to local people, the original building was destroyed in 1940. After
World War II the locals built a new mekteb building on the same site and of the
same size. This too was pulled down at some later date – according to local
residents, by the late 1980s the building was no longer in use, and was in poor
structural condition as a result of neglect; the effects of the 1992-1995 led
to its total collapse and devastation. Works are currently under way on the
site to build an entirely new building measuring 8 x 9 m, which according to
the cadastral plan can be positioned on the site of the older, demolished
building, and is of the same size. Since the original, demolished building was
used as a mekteb, the present appearance and intention of the owner to make a
garage in the ground floor is inappropriate to the site and to the religious
purpose of the site as a whole. In addition, by building a garage and access to
it, the spatial integrity of the ensemble, located on a natural elevation, is
undermined. It is thus necessary to fill in the access area, and give up the
proposed purpose of the basement area – a garage with two parking spaces. The
abdesthana in the portico of the mosque should be transferred to this building,
and the remainder of the building should retain the use it had prior to its
most recent demolition – a mekteb.
MOVABLE HERITAGE
Hasan Kafija mosque
Inside
the Hasan Kafija mosque is a levha carved in wood by Hasan Kafija himself. The
plaque, which measures 113 x 37 cm, bears an inscription measuring83.5 x 19 cm,
in thuluth Arabic script, in two separate panels between which is the
author's signature and the date.
لا اله الا
الله محمد رسول الله
القاضي حسن
الاقحصاري سنة خمس عشر و الف
There is
no god but God, Muhammad is the Messenger of God
Kadi
Hasan Akhisari in the year one thousand and fifteen (1606/07).
Inscription on the renovation of
the Sultan Bayezit mosque
Hasan
Kafija's turbe contains a stone plaque measuring 130 x 44 x 11 cm, bearing a
chronogram recording the renovation of the Sultan Bayezit mosque, which was in
the Prusac fort. The chronogram bears the following text in thuluth Arabic
script:
بامر
السلطان بايزيد خان طاب ثراه وضع اسكندر باشا المرحوم سنة 892 تجديد
القاضي حسن الاقحصاري سنة
1010
The late
Skender-pasha built (the mosque) in 892 (1487) to the orders of Sultan Bayezit
Khan. Kadi Hasan Akhisari restored (the mosque) in 1010
(1601/02).
Levha and two tarihs
[chronograms] of the Handanija mosque
Above the
entrance gateway to the harem of the Handanija mosque is a chronogram in
Turkish, in thuluth Arabic script, carved on a stone plaque measuring 72 x 32
cm.
قلدي خندان
اغا بو جامعي لله بني كورنه ايشدنه اولدي اكا فرض دعا
حسن طرزي
حرم محترم ثانيدر ير يوزنده بوليوري بويله بر خوشجه بنا
حق تعالي
انك اجريني مضاعف قلسون جونكه يحيا باشا ايتدي بو اسلوب احيا
جون تمام
اولدي بناسي و كمال ايتدي ثنا اولدي تاريخ لطيفي بايد بيت خدا
سنة 1026
Handan-aga
built this mosque in the name of God,
It is the
duty of whoever sees it or hears about it to pray (for the benefactor).
A
beautifully built (mosque) is another holy harem,
And can
another such fine building be found on earth.
May God
Almighty reward (the benefactor) generously,
For he
followed Jahja-pasha in the way it was built,
When the
building was complete Kemal praised it
By
expressing this chronogram: “May the house of God be pleasant.”
Year 1026 (1617)
The tarih
over the entrance door to the mosque, carved on a stone plaque measuring 70 x
33 cm, is in Turkish, in the ta’liq script, in ten panels:
حمد لله كه
بو اطرافه نظر قلدي خدا ايلدي بر در درياي سخاي اعطا
ماه برج
شرق اخلاق مكارم بر تر يعني خندان بك او مهر فلك جود و سخا
اولدي اول
محرز حسني و سعادت اخترا من يعمرده كي موعوده اولوب شمدي سزي
يابدي بر
جامع بر نور بهشت اسا كم رشك ايدر اهل زمين اكا و املاك سما
ديدي عدني
جون اكا بدا نظرده تاريخ جنت عدنه مشابه بو بناء بالا
سنة 1026
Thanks be
to God who has looked upon us
And given
us a gem from the sea of generosity,
A moon of
noble constellations, the glow of nobility and fine qualities,
That is
Handan-bey, beloved of the generous,
Who has
become a talisman of beauty and a constellation of fortune,
And is
worthy of the promised happiness “Whoever builds,”
He built a
light-filled mosque resembling heaven,
For which
the people and the universe envy him,
As soon
as Adni saw it, he expressed this chronostich:
“This
tall building is like the Garden of Eden.”
Year 1026 (1617)
(Probably as the result of an
error in the printing, in Mujezinović’s work this tarih and the preceding have
been interchanged.)
The
tripartite levha on the mihrab wall of the mosque, which measures 113 x 37 cm,
is in coloured ceramic.
The
central section of the levha is a drawing of the Kaba in Mecca, inscribed with the 96th and part of
the 97th ayat of Sura Ali ‘Imran:
ان اول بيت
وضع للناس للذي ببكة مباركا و هدي للعالمين فيه ايات بينات مقام ابراهيم و من دخله
كان امنا و لله علي الناس حج البيت من اساطاع اليه سبيلا
The first
house established for the people was that at Bekka, a place holy, and a
guidance to all beings. Therein are clear signs – the station of Abraham, and
whosever enters it is in security. It is the duty of all men towards God to
come to this House a pilgrim, if he is able to make his way there.
The
right-hand section of the levha is a drawing of the Prophet’s mosque in Medina, above which is
the 40th ayat of Sura Ahzab:
ما كان
محمد ابا احد من رجالكم و لكن ريول الله و خاتم النبيين و كان الله بكل شيء عليما
Muhammad
is not the father of any one of you men, but the Messenger of God, and the Seal
of the Prophets; God has knowledge of everything.
The
left-hand section of the levha bears the following text in thuluth
Arabic script:
الله محمد
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم لا اله الا الله محمد ريول الله
Allah,
Muhammad. In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. There is no god
but God, Muhammad is the Messenger of God.
Manuscript Qur'an in the Malkoč
Alajbey mosque
This
manuscript of the Qur’an, housed in the mosque, in very fine naskh
Arabic script, measures 31 x 19.5 cm, with a thickness of 5.5 cm. The leather
binding is damaged and needs restoration.
The
manuscript itself, in black ink on white paper, is in quite good condition. The
text extends almost to the edges of the paper, and is surrounded by a gold and
a red line. The ayat markings are in gold, or here and there in red. Some of
the pages of the manuscript are damaged in places as a result of the almost
non-existent margins, and should be reconstituted.
The
titles of the suras are in gold, red or green, and are set in rectangular
panels surrounded by a gold line. The damaged pages of the manuscript have
already undergone some repairs, which should be removed and the pages expertly
repaired.
The front
pages of the manuscript are simply decorated in gold. They are the most badly
damaged pages of the manuscript.
The back
page of the manuscript, which is stuck down to the covers, bears the signature
of the transcriber.
كتبه
الفقير الحقير محمد زاده الضعيف ... الراجي الي رحمة ربه اللطيف حسن بن علي بن حسن
النيذروي الشهيربسرايدارزاده عفر الله لهم و لوالديهم اللهم اغفر لكاتبه و لقارئه
و اسامعه و لمن نطر اليه و لجميع المسلمين و المسلمات و المؤمنين و المؤمنات
الاحياء منهم و الاموات برحمتك يا ارحم الراحمين و صلي الله علي سيدنا محمد و اله
و صحبه اجمعبن
وقع
الابتداء في اواخر شهر ربيع الاول سنة 1034
وقع
الاتقام في اواسط شهر شعبان المعظم سنة 1034
Written
by the poor and humble descendant of Muhammad, weak and needing the mercy of
the Noble Lord Hasan, son of ‘Ali, son of Hasan an-Nayzarawi known as
Saraydarzade, may God forgive him. O Lord forgive the transcriber, reader,
listener and observer of this Qur’an, all Muslim men and Muslim women,
believing men and believing women, whether dead or living, in Your mercy O
Merciful, Compassionate. God bless our leader Muhammad, his family and his
companions.
Transcription
began at the end of the month of Rabi’ al-Awwal 1034 (January
1625)
Transcription
completed in the middle of the month of Sha’ban 1034 (end of
May 1625).
Manuscript Qur'an owned by the
Sijamija family
The
Sijamija family in Prusac own a transcription of the Holy Qur’an measuring 19 x
13 x 6.5 cm. The manuscript is in rather poor condition. The leather binding is
damaged and has been repaired.
The
Qur’an has been transcribed in naskh script, with a red line border
around the text. The first two pages are missing, as is the page that might
have borne the transcriber’s signature and the date. A page has been added at
the beginning of the Qur’an, with a note that Mulla Mustafa Sijamija was still
reciting from it in the early 19th century, and that it came to Prusac in the
18th century.
Manuscripts owned by Prof. Husejn
Čepalo
1.
Commentary on “Kafija”
Commentary
by Ibrahim bin Yagrush on a well-known work of Arabic syntax, Al-kafiyyatu
fi al Nahw by Jalal ad-Din bin ‘Uthman ibn al Hajib. The manuscript, which
measures 20 x 12.5 cm, is in nasta’liq Arabic script and was transcribed
by Ahmad, son of Muhammad. The year of transcription is not given. The work is
in Arabic.
2. Codex
measuring 15.5 x 11 cm, consisting of two works. The first part is missing its
first pages, so that the title and author are unknown. The work is in Arabic,
and was transcribed in nasta’liq script by an anonymous scribe in Constantinople in the month of Jumada-l-akhira 957
(June-July 1550). It deals with speculative theology and apologetics (‘ilm al
kalam).
The
second work is entitled Imadu li kitabi l-Mas’ud – the pillar of Masud’s
book. This is all that is known about the title and author of the book, neither
of which are mentioned in the text. The language, style of script, subject
matter and year of transcription are identical to those of the first work in
this codex, except that this one was transcribed in the month of Rajab
(July-August).
3. A work
measuring 20 x 14.5 cm in Arabic in naskh script, written by Ahmad, son
of Muhammad, son of Said al-Ghaznawi. The title is not known. The work deals
with ‘ibadat – acts of worship or ritual. The scribe and date are unknown.
4.
Manuscript measuring 18 x 13.5 cm in Arabic, transcribed in nasta’liq
script. The beginning is missing, and with it any details of the author or
title of the work. The scribe and date are also unknown.
5. Manuscript
measuring 19 x 14 cm missing both beginning and end. The manuscript is in
Turkish, and was transcribed in naskh Arabic script. It deals with fiqh
(Islamic jurisprudence).
6.
Manuscript measuring 16.5 x 11 cm in Arabic, transcribed in nasta’liq script.
The manuscript is intact, but I have been unable to find the title or author of
the work. It was transcribed by Abdullah, son of Mustafa, in the month of Rabi’
al-akhira 1184 (July-August 1770).
3. Legal status to date
By Ruling
of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the People's
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina no. 02-748-3 dated 18 April 1962, the
Kjafija tekke, medresa and turbe in Prusac, by Ruling no. 1459/50 dated 28
October 1950, were entered on the register of immovable cultural monuments,
under no. 217.
By Ruling
of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
the Hasan Kjafija mosque in Prusac and the burial ground around the mosque, no.
02-UPI-4-1/70, dated 27 March 1970, was placed under state protection.
The Regional
Plan for Bosnia and
Herzegovina to 2002 lists the mosque of
Hasan Kjafija Pruščak in Prusac as a Category I monument.
The
Regional Plan for Bosnia and
Herzegovina to 2002 lists the turbe of Hasan
K. Akhisarli (Pruščanin) in Prusac as a Category I monument.
The
Regional Plan for Bosnia and
Herzegovina to 2002 lists the medresa of
Hasan Kjafija in Prusac as a Category II monument.
The
properties are on the Provisional List of National Monuments of the Commission
to Preserve National Monuments, as follows: the Prušćak mosque, under
serial no. 203, the Medresa of Hasan Kjafija Prušćak, under
serial no 204, the Mekteb of Hasan Kjafija Prušćak, under serial no
205, and the Turbe of Hasan Kjafija Prušćak, under serial no. 208
4. Research and conservation and
restoration works
-
In November 1936 the
Banate Administration in Banja Luka
carried out repairs to Kjafija's mosque, medresa and turbe (record card for the
building from the Institute for the Protection of Monuments, 1950)
-
In 1988, drainage
was laid around the medresa as a result of the appearance of large amounts of
damp in the walls; at this time the floor of the ground floor of the medresa
was replaced (cement mortar was poured over the existing stone paving slabs, with
wooden boards laid over it)
-
The architectural
ensemble, and in particular the mosque itself, was damaged by shelling during
the 1992-1995 war, as a result of which work began on the repair or
rehabilitation of the building in 1997-1999. Neither the blueprints nor
any technical details of these works are available. The extent of interventions
on the building can be inferred only from a direct on-site inspection and from
information available from local people who took part in the actual works. The
following works were carried out:
-
the windows on the sides
of the portico were walled up; water was led to the right-hand corner of the
portico and a fountain for abdest (ritual ablution) was installed; the front of
the mosque portico was pulled down and a new structure of wooden pillars
supporting the portico roof was built, with a wooden railing like that of the
mahfil between the pillars. The front of the portico is enclosed by grills;
-
the interior of the mosque
has been altered: a new mihrab has been installed (parts of the original mihrab
with decorations, consisting of parts of the crown, have been placed in wall
cupboards in the medresa), a new mimber and mahfil have also feel installed
(the projection for the muezzin has been enlarged by comparison with the
previous one); the entrance to the wooden minaret was formerly via wooden steps
from the mahfil, but there is now merely a hatch in the ceiling of the mosque
and a ladder is used to climb into the minaret;
-
a new roof structure and
ceiling joists have been installed;
-
the roof cladding has been
replaced, with the previous tiles replaced by wooden shingles;
-
the entire roof has been
set at a higher level (presumably because of the introduction of a reinforced
concrete ring beam), the form of the roof has been altered (the length of the
ridge has been reduced and the point at which it begins has been shifted
towards the interior of the building in relation to the mosque entrance);
-
a new wooden minaret has
been built, which has certain alterations in stylistic treatment (the shape,
height and pitch of the roof have been altered, a wooden projection-ring has
been added to the shaft of the minaret in imitation of stone minarets);
-
a reinforced concrete ring
has been laid around the building at the top of the walls to brace the
structure;
-
the frames on all the
lower windows of the mosque have been altered and new bars installed, which are
not in line with the old ones (they lack the prominent iron joints between the
bars);
-
there have been changes to
the shape of the upper windows, with the previous rectangular ones replaced by
windows terminating in a pointed arch and enclosed with wooden lattice
(presumably this was because of the installation of the reinforced concrete
ring beam);
-
the old floor has been
lifted and a new floor structure laid with hydro insulation, concrete, thermo
insulation and a wooden floor structure. The finish is of wooden boards;
-
the foundations of the
mosque have been made good;
-
the roof structure and
cladding of the medresa and turbe have been replaced.
5. Current condition of the
property
An
on-site inspection in February 2006 ascertained as follows:
-
the architectural ensemble
is at risk from the construction works begun on a building very close to the
mosque and the inappropriate intended use of the basement area, and the construction
of an access drive to the garage;
-
there are traces of damp
to be seen on the walls of the mosque and medresa.
Following
the damage to the Prušćak mosque, the findings of an on-site inspection
conducted by representatives of the Islamic Community of Donji Vakuf, the
Commission and Prof. Dr. Muhammad Zlatar PhD Sci and Muhamed Madžarević MSc in May
2009 are as follows (excerpt from report/opinion on the serious damage to
the Hasan Kjafija Prušćak mosque in Prusac, drawn up by the Faculty of Civil
Engineering in Sarajevo – Prof. Dr. Muhammad Zlatar PhD Sci and Muhamed
Madžarević MSc):
-
The bearing structure of
the mosque consists of walls of tufa and rubble stone about 70 cm thick. Some
accounts (which it was not possible to corroborate in situ) state that
the walls have shallow continuous dry-stone footings. These same accounts state
that there are wooden piles below the continuous footings. During the most
recent reconstruction, a reinforced concrete ring beam the width of the walls
and 30 cm in height was laid on top of the walls, with the wooden loft
structure and roof timbers resting on the ring beam. The roof is clad with
wooden shingles.
-
The construction of the
mosque is so badly damaged that it is completely unfit for use. The front and
two side walls of the mosque have shifted outwards and downwards from the
foundations by 30 to 50 cm in both directions. This serious deformation has
caused large vertical cracks to open, particularly marked at the front corners
of the mosque. There are also large horizontal cracks in all the walls. Some of
the windows have fallen out and the window lintels have broken. There is no visible
damage to the roof trusses, though they and the newly-laid ring beam echo the
deformation of the wall, suggesting that it is the ring beam that is preventing
the building from collapsing altogether. Generally, the damage is so bad that
there is a risk the building will collapse.
-
It is hard at this time,
without further investigations, to identify the cause of the damage, but one
possibility is that after the drainage channel was laid along the mosque walls
on the outside, the damp was sucked out of the main, already dilapidated wooden
piles, which were thus no longer fit for purpose, resulting in extensive
movements of the foundation construction and walls. This should of course be
regarded as a hypothesis needing confirmation or otherwise following detailed
investigations of the foundations.
-
The building is so badly
damaged that it is beyond remedial works, which are neither technically
justified nor feasible. In our opinion, the solution for this fine,
highly-ranked cultural heritage monument is to dismantle it entirely, with
care, and to reconstruct the entire building. All these works should be
preceded by drawing up the appropriate project documentation.
-
It should be noted that
the scaffolding erected outside the building after the damage had arisen is
completely inadequate, given the deformation vectors of the walls, which are in
an outward direction at footings level, causing the walls to lean inwards.
-
Given the state of the
mosque building, it is essential that no unauthorized persons be permitted
access either to the building or its environs.
6. Specific risks
-
evidence of rising damp
and damp caused by the elements in the walls of the medresa,
-
construction of an
underground garage under the building, currently under construction,
detrimental to the spatial integrity of the ensemble of the Pruščak mosque
located on a natural elevation dominating the Prusac čaršija.
III – CONCLUSION
Applying
the Criteria for the adoption of a decision on proclaiming an item of property
a national monument (Official Gazette of BiH nos. 33/02 and 15/03), the
Commission has enacted the Decision cited above.
The
Decision was based on the following criteria:
A. Time frame
B. Historical value
C. Artistic and aesthetic value
C.iii. proportions
C.iv. composition
D. Clarity
D.iv. evidence of a particular type, style or
regional manner
D.v. evidence of a typical way of life at a
specific period
E. Symbolic value
E.i. ontological value
E.ii. religious value
E.iii. traditional value
E.iv. relation to rituals or ceremonies
E.v. significance for the identity of a group of
people
F. Townscape/ Landscape value
F.i. Relation to other elements of the site
G. Authenticity
G.ii. material and content
G.iii. use and function
G.v. location and setting
G.vi. spirit and feeling
H. Rarity and representativity
H.i. unique or rare example of a certain type
or style
I. Completeness
I.i. physical coherence
I.ii. homogeneity
I.iii. completeness
The
following documents form an integral part of this Decision:
-
Copy of cadastral plan
-
Copy of land register
entry and proof of title
-
Photodocumentation
-
Drawings
Bibliography
During
the procedure to designate the monument as a national monument of Bosnia
and Herzegovina the following works were
consulted:
1974. Bećirbegović Madžida. Prosvjetni objekti islamske arhitekture
u Bosni i Hercegovini (Educational buildings of Islamic architecture in
BiH). Sarajevo:
Offprint from Contributions to Oriental Philology XX-XXI, 1974.
1980. Regional Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina; Stage «B» -
valorization of natural, cultural and historical monuments. Sarajevo: Institute for architecture, town planning and
regional planning of the Faculty of Architecture in Sarajevo, 1980.
1996. Čelebi, Evlija. Putopis – odlomci o jugoslovenskim zemljama
(Travelogue – excerpts on Yugoslav lands). Sarajevo:
Sarajevo
Publishing, 1996.
1998. Mujezinović, Mehmed. Islamska epigrafika Bosne i Hercegovine
(Islamic epigraphics of BiH ), bk II. Sarajevo:
Sarajevo-Publishing, 1998.
1999. Bećirbegović, Madžida. Džamije sa drvenom munarom u Bosni i
Hercegovini (Mosques with wooden minarets in BiH). Sarajevo: Sarajevo-Publishing, 1999.
2001. Čepalo, Husein. Kulturno historijski spomenici općine Donji
Vakuf (Cultural and historical monuments of Donji Vakuf municipality).
Donji Vakuf: Preporod Bosniac Cultural Society, 2001.
Hamidović,
Džemal. Prusac i njegove znamenitosti (Prusac and its sights). Sarajevo: Nova tiskara
Vrček & Co.
(1) Mujezinović,
Mehmed, Islamska epigrafika Bosne i Hercegovine, vol. II, Sarajevo: Sarajevo-Publishing, 1998, 293
(2) Hamidović,
Džemal, Prusac i njegove znamenitosti, Sarajevo: «Nova tiskara» Vrček & co., 21
(3)
Mujezinović, Mehmed, op.cit., 297
(4) Ibid,
295
(5) Translator’s
note: the word pješčar, meaning sandstone, is in fact used to denote
various conglomerates composed of small white grains; muljika is a soft
white stone.
(6) The Kingdom of Serbs,
Croats and Slovenes (later the Kingdom
of Yugoslavia) is the name of the
monarchy that included Slovenia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro
and Macedonia.
It was created on 1 December 1918, and ceased to exist with the establishment
of the Democratic Federation of Yugoslavia. The king was banned from returning
to the country on 29 November 1943, and the state was declared a republic on 29
November 1945.
(http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraljevina_Jugoslavija)
(for fuller details see the English Wikipedia site,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Yugoslavia
(7)
Bećirbegović, Madžida, Prosvjetni objekti islamske arhitekture u Bosni i
Hercegovini, Sarajevo:
offprint from Prilozi za orijentalnu filologiju XX-XXI, 1974, 320
(8) Čelebi,
Evlija, Putopis – odlomci o jugoslovenskim zemljama, Sarajevo: Sarajevo Publishing, 1996, 133
(9) The claim
that the chamber contains Kjafija’s coffin has not been scientifically
confirmed, since no expert analysis has ever been conducted, but is a claim
made by Mehmed Mujezinović in his Islamska epigrafika Bosne i Hercegovine,
Vol. II, Sarajevo: Sarajevo-Publishing,
1998, 297
(10) This claim
has not been scientifically confirmed either, since no expert analysis has ever
been conducted, but is made by Džemal Hamidović in his Prusac i njegove
znamenitosti, Sarajevo:
«Nova tiskara» Vrček & Co., 21
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