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 a session held from 12 to 18 May 2009 the Commission adopted a

D E C I S I O N

I

The historic site of the Necropolis with stećak tombstones at Bistro, Municipality Novi Travnik, is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).

The National Monument consists of a necropolis with 23 stećak tombstones.

The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 268 (new survey), title deed no. 119, cadastral municipality Bistro, corresponding to c.p. 31/2 and 31/3 (old survey, Land Register entry no. 39 cadastral municipality Sebešić, Municipality Novi Travnik, 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 ensuring and providing the legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary for the protection, conservation and presentation of 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 on the area defined in Clause 1 para. 3 of this Decision, the following protection measures are hereby stipulated:

-          all works are prohibited other than research and conservation and restoration works, routine maintenance 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 Government of the Federation is required in particular to ensure that the following measures are carried out:

-          conducting a geodetic and general survey of the site;

-          drawing up and implementing a programme for the repair, restoration and conservation of the National Monument.

The repair, restoration and conservation project should include:

-          archaeological investigations;

-          cleaning the stećak tombstones to remove lichen and moss and making good any damage;

-          tidying the necropolis and removing self-sown vegetation;

-          drawing up and implementing a programme for the presentation of the National Monument.

IV

All movable artefacts found during the course of the archaeological survey shall be deposited in the nearest museum or in the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, processed, and suitably presented.   

The removal from Bosnia and Herzegovina of the movable archaeological artefacts referred to in the previous paragraph (hereinafter: the movable artefacts) is prohibited.

By way of exception to the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Clause, the temporary removal from Bosnia and Herzegovina of the movable artefacts shall be permitted if the leader of the investigations determines that the artefacts must be processed abroad, and provides evidence to that effect to the Commission, which may permit the temporary removal of the artefacts from the country subject to detailed conditions for their export.

Upon receipt of a report on the investigations conducted, the Commission shall identify which movable artefacts shall be subject to protection measures to be determined by the Commission.

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 of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the relevant security service, the customs authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the general public accordingly.

V

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.

VI

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.

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

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, Martin Cherry, Amra Hadžimuhamedović, Dubravko Lovrenović and Ljiljana Ševo.

No: 05.1-2-40/2009-24

13 May 2009

Sarajevo

Chair of the Commission

Amra Hadžimuhamedović

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.

On 25 July 2008 Preporod, the Bosniac Cultural Association, Novi Travnik branch, submitted a proposal to designate the historic site of the necropolis with stećak tombstones at Bistro, Municipality Novi Travnik, as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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.

Statement of significance

The mediaeval tombstones known as stećci (pl. of stećak) are unique to Bosnia and Herzegovina and its neighbours. They provide impressive evidence of the growing economic power of Bosnian feudal society in the 14th century, the opening of mines, increasing urbanization, and the wish of individuals to display their status and power through the appearance of their tombstones. They are of outstanding historic and artistic importance.

The Bistro necropolis, as is usual for such sites, is located on a major mediaeval route, which was used in its heyday by merchants from Dubrovnik as well as others.

The necropolis consists of 23 stećci, of which seven are gabled and nine are chest-shaped. Previous investigators of this site overlooked or inadvertently wrongly located them. Since the exact number of necropolises with stećci in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not known, it is of particular importance to register and designate this necropolis as a national monument. The document designating it provides detailed information on the number, type and size of the stećci, which are on a site that until now has been difficult of access, and includes a new plan of the tombstones. It also provides a brief account of the condition of the necropolis as a whole.

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:

-          Documentation on the location and current owner and user of the property (copy of cadastral plan and copy of land registry entry),

-          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.,

-          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 necropolis with stećci in Bistro is at an altitude of 416 m above sea level, latitude 44° 20.366' and longitude 17° 16.138'. It is about 15 km from Novi Travnik on the road to Gornji Vakuf, at the bottom of the village of Bistro, in a place called Brig.

The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 268 (new survey), title deed no. 119, cadastral municipality Bistro, corresponding to c.p. 31/2 and 31/3 (old survey, Land Register entry no. 39 cadastral municipality Sebešić, Municipality Novi Travnik, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Historical information

By the mid 10th century, when the “land of Bosna” first appears in recorded history, its territory already consisted of seven župas [counties]: Vrhbosna, Vidogošća (Vogošća), Lepenica, Bosna (a separately constituted area around Visoko), Trstivnica, Brod (around Zenica) and Lašva.(1) The mediaeval county of Lašva consisted of the present-day municipalities of Busovača, Vitez, Novi Travnik and Travnik. It was ruled by the bans [governors] of Bosnia, and later, from 1377, by the kings of Bosnia. Lašva was one of the largest and most fertile župas of inner Bosnia. It was probably quite densely populated, its people mainly working the land. More than fifty stećak necropolises dating from the 14th and 15th centuries have been recorded in the area(2), along with the mediaeval towns of Toričan, Travnik, Bosnić or Škaf and Vrbenac grad.(3)

Despite its size and importance, there are few historical documents relating to the mediaeval county of Lašva. The earliest reference is in a charter issued by King Bela IV in 1244, which has not been proven to be genuine, in which a place “by three churches” is referred to as a holding of the Bosnian bishopric.(4)

In 1373 ban Tvrtko gifted the village of Čukle to Stjepan Rajković.(5)

In 1380 King Tvrtko I promoted Hrvoje Vukčić to grand duke and gifted him two villages in Lašva, Trbeuša and Bila, which probably formed part of the Crown Lands.

In the late 14th century, tepčija Batalo Šantić possessed some properties around Turbe, in Lašva county. He appears as a witness to charters issued by Bosnian rulers, from Dabiša to Ostoja, at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries.

In the last decade of the 14th century – on 15 April 1392, when he first appears as a witness to charters issued by Bosnian rulers, until 9 December 1400, when we have the last reliable information on him – Batalo Šantić held a senior rank at court and was held in high repute in the Bosnian Kingdom. The first information concerning him is in a deed of gift by Dabiša to voyvoda Hrvoje Vukčić, issued in Kraljeva Sutjeska on 15 April 1392. Batalo features in every royal charter from April 1392 to December 1400.(6)

In February 1366, the nobility rebelled openly against ban Tvrtko who, for his own safety, took refuge with his mother at the court of the king of Hungary, with whose help in March that year he regained control of part of his territory. The revolt was led by Tvrtko’s brother Vuk. Tvrtko hoped to win the nobility back to his side by issuing deeds of gift. The Ban managed to regain control in the Lower Marches, Rama and Usora, while in Hum land, he had the loyalty of Sanko Miltenović. The uprising split the nobility into two camps: one joined forces with knez (prince) Vuk, the other remained loyal to ban Tvrtko. After the ban’s success against his brother Vuk and the nobility loyal to him, those who remained true to the ban later rose to powerful positions, as did their heirs, while Vuk’s lost influence. It would appear that the Lašva Šantić’s were among the former, since the first known Šantić, Dragoš by name, features as a witness to a document of Tvrtko’s from 1366. The fact that the heirs of the nobles featuring in this document were indeed the most influential people in the Bosnian state in the late 14th and 15th centuries, and that Batalo Šantić himself features alongside them as a powerful figure, strongly suggests that this is a well-founded supposition.

The standing of the nobility began to rise sharply during the reign of Queen Jelena, when voyvoda Hrvoje Vukčić, knez Pavle Radinović, voyvoda Sandalj Hranić and tepčija Batalo Šantić rose to prominence as the most powerful members of the Bosnian aristocracy.(7)

In the summer of 1415, a battle took place between the Hungarian and Ottoman armies in the Lašva area where Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić held some properties; the Hungarians were defeated.(8)

A document in the Dubrovnik archives dated 8 February 1421 refers to the castellan of Turica fort in Lašva(9)  It is not known where this was.

Radoslav Umiljenović, a merchant from Dubrovnik, was robbed on 16 July 1455 in the Lašva area.(10)  

The village of Bistro

Bistro is first referred to in Turkish censuses in 1568, which reveal that the village had 11 Muslim [households] with hereditaments and 5 bachelors.(11) In 1604, Bistro had two mahalas, Kovačić and Rogatović, and Bistro itself had 14 Muslim households. There are several references to Bistro in the sidžils(12) of Travnik. In 1245 AH (1829) an inventory of the estate of the deceased Lendo Alija, son of Murat, was entered in the records.(13) In 1852 Bistro is referred to in a list of villages required to provide food for the valija(14) and his retinue.(15) One Abdić Mušan of Bistro is mentioned in connection with a guarantee (ćefilema).

A road ran through Bistro in Ottoman times, and probably in mediaeval times too, running from Travnik to Opara, where it forked to Bugojno and Gornji Vakuf. This was said to be a kiridžija road(16), much travelled by caravans from Dubrovnik, bringing salt and returning with grain. In the whole of Novi Travnik Municipality, M. Kreševljaković heard mention of this fact concerning Dubrovnik traders only in the village of Bistro. From Bistro the road continued to Gradini (belonging to the village of Orašac), and then down to Opara. Part of the same route is still in use today.

During the War of National Liberation the village was held by the Partisans on several occasions. In September 1942 the Partisans liberated the village for the first time, remaining holed up there for five days. Lendo Ramo’s house housed a Partisan hospital in late 1942.

2. Description of the property

The stećci of central Bosnia are the most numerous and striking cultural monuments of mediaeval Bosnia, present everywhere, but in relatively greatest numbers around Ilijaš, Visoko, Kiseljak, Travnik and Gornji Vakuf.

The Bistro necropolis consists of 23 stećci, of which seven are definitely gabled and 9 chest-shaped. The others are either partly buried or of indeterminate shape.

They lie east-west, with a few deviating very slightly from true. They are mainly of good workmanship, though there are a few poorly worked specimens of indeterminate shape. Four gabled tombstones with plinths are decorated, with crescent moon and rosette motifs.

Description of the stećci

Stećak no. 1, gabled with plinth, cut from a single block of stone, size of plinth: 190 x 170 x 53 cm, size of body of tombstone: 132 x 75 x 95 cm, tilted, plinth overgrown with grass and scrub, decorated on all four sides, with rosettes at the east and west ends and with crescent moons on the north and south sides

Stećak no.2, a lowish gabled tombstone with plinth cut from a single block of stone, size of plinth: 180 x 1.20 x 32 cm, size of body of tombstone: 110 x 60 x 50 cm, tilted, plinth overgrown with grass and scrub, standing right next to no.1, undecorated

Stećak no. 3, measuring 150 x 90 x 30 cm, badly damaged, partly buried, of indeterminate shape

Stećak no. 4, measuring 60 x 125 cm, almost completely buried, overgrown with grass and covered with moss

Stećak no. 5, chest-shaped, measuring 120 x 70 x 44 cm, covered with moss and lichen

Stećak no. 6, gabled with plinth cut from a single block of stone, size of body of tombstone: 170 x 100 x 24 cm, size of plinth: 131 x 50 x 60 cm, damaged, covered with moss, decorated in haut-relief with a crescent moon on the north side

Stećak no. 7, badly damaged tall chest-shaped tombstone, ? with plinth, covered with moss, plinth overgrown with grass and scrub

Stećak no. 8, gabled with plinth cut from a single block of stone, size of plinth: 200 x 31 cm, size of body of tombstone: 160 x 54 x 56 cm, tilted, covered with moss and lichen, decorated with crescent moons (an interlinked line of three)

Stećci nos. 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, partly buried, overgrown with grass and scrub, stećak no. 11 probably chest-shaped

Stećak no. 14, tall gabled with plinth cut from a single block of stone, visible size of plinth: 185 x 46 cm (depth), size of body of tombstone: 130 x 61 x 100 cm, tilted, south side of plinth buried, covered with moss and lichen, decorated in relief with a crescent moon on the side

Stećak no. 15, chest-shaped with plinth, size of chest: 130 x 80 x 24 cm, tilted, covered with moss and lichen

Stećak no. 16, chest-shaped with plinth, measuring 130 x 65 x 68 cm, tilted, covered with moss and lichen, plinth barely visible

Stećak no. 17, chest-shaped with plinth, size of plinth: 165 x 20 cm, size of chest: 130 x 65 32 cm, covered with moss and lichen

Stećak no. 18, probably chest-shaped, 145 cm long, of indeterminate shape, partly buried, covered with moss and lichen and overgrown with scrub

Stećak no. 19, gabled, measuring 130 x 80 x 60 cm, partly buried, covered with moss and lichen and overgrown with scrub

Stećak no. 20, chest-shaped, measuring 160 x 100 x 45 cm, partly buried, covered with moss and lichen and overgrown with scrub

Stećak no. 21, low gabled tombstone with plinth, size of plinth: 160 x 20 x 26 cm, size of body of tombstone: 120 x 60 x 40 cm, covered with moss and lichen and overgrown with scrub, split, tilted

Stećak no. 22, chest-shaped, 130 cm long, covered with moss and lichen and overgrown with scrub, tilted

Stećak no. 23, chest-shaped, measuring 140 x 90 x 33 cm, almost completely covered with moss and lichen and overgrown with scrub

            The mediaeval tombstones of Bosnia and Hum known as stećci became the subject of scholarly interest in not entirely favourable circumstances, hundreds of years after they had become a relic of a historic age. At the turn of the 18th-19th century, the western world began to hear of the unusual art to be found on tombstones in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Dalmatia(17), initially from the accounts of travellers that were not well documented enough to give rise to any significant interest in the west, particularly since western scholarship was then occupied with the analysis of entirely different works of art; as a result, the realistic, and indeed clumsy scenes on the stećci neither appealed to scholars nor aroused their interest. In Ottoman Bosnia itself, there were no forces capable independently of studying and presenting these treasures of mediaeval art. In these circumstances, by the mid 19th century – when the process of modern national coalescence was in full swing and the question of whom Bosnia belonged to increasingly took on political and even apocalyptic significance – scholars were inclined to see the art of the stećci as having arisen from Bogomil teachings. Nor was there any lack of efforts to give the stećci a purely Serbian or Croatian national stamp. From the mid 20th century, the prevailing scholarly opinion was that the stećci could not be explained by either “bogomilization” or any exclusively national theory, but rather than they should be situated in their own authentic world, the world in which they came into being, evolved and then died out in the late 15th century, after the mediaeval Bosnian state had itself come to an end.(18)

3. Legal status to date

The Regional Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina to 2000 lists five sites of necropolises with stećci (a total of 188 stećci) as Category III monuments, without exact identification.

4. Research and conservation and restoration works

            The National Museum in Sarajevo began a systematic study of the necropolises with stećci in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1950s. The first study of necropolises in the Travnk area was limited to the Lašva valley from Lašva to Karaula, the river Bila valley to Brajkovići and Gučja Gora, the valley of the Komarska Lašva to Goleši, and the Grovnica valley, and was conducted by P. Korošec, who recorded 52 necropolises.(19) Under stećak no. 46, at Potoci Bistričke Luke, she gave a brief description, noting that there were a few surviving limestone tombstones on the site, all lying east-west.

M. Kreševljaković noted that the necropolis with stećci was in the lower part of the village of Bistro, above the left bank of the Grlonica, that it had 26 stećci (eight gabled with plinth, five chest-shaped with plinth, two slab-shaped and one gabled without plinth), and provided a plan of the necropolis.(20)

5. Current condition of the property

The findings of an on-site inspection conducted on 31 March 2009 are as follows:

-          Plant organisms, mainly lichen and moss, are present on most of the stećci and are damaging the structure of the stone

-          The condition of the necropolis, with partly or wholly buried tombstones and the presence of vegetation, made it impossible to measure all the stećci, to identify their exact numbers, and in some cases to determine their basic shape

-          In all, 23 visible stećci were found.

6. Specific risks

-          Long-term neglect of the site

-          Adverse effects of the elements

-          Self-sown vegetation.

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.iv.     composition

C.v.      value of details

G.         Authenticity

G.v.      location and setting

The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:

-          Copy of cadastral plan

-          Copy of land register entry

-          Photographs taken on site, 11 photographs

Bibliography

During the procedure to designate the monument as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:

1931.    Petrović, Jozo. S arheologom kroz Travnik (Through Travnik with an Archaeologist). Zagre: 1931.

1952.    Korošec, Paola. “Srednjevjekovne nekropole okoline Travnika” (Mediaeval Necropolises in the Travnik Area), Jnl of the National Museum, n.s, vol. VII. Sarajevo: 1952, 375-407.

1964.    Ćirković, Simo. Istorija srednjovjekovne bosanske države (History of the Mediaeval Bosnian State). Belgrade: 1964.

1967.    Bešlagić, Šefik. Stećci centralne Bosne, Srednjovjekovni nadgrobni spomenici Bosne i Hercegovine (Stećci of Central Bosnia, Mediaeval Tombstones of Bosnia and Herzegovina). Sarajevo: 1967, vol. IX

1957.    Vego, Marko. Naselja bosanske srednjovjekovne države (Settlements of the Mediaeval Bosnian State). Sarajevo: 1957.

1963.    Benac, Alojz. Stećci. Belgrade: Prosveta, 1963.

1971.    Bešlagić, Šefik. Stećci, kataloško-topografski pregled (Stećci, a Catalogue and Topographical Overview). Sarajevo: 1971.

1978.    Kovačević-Kojić, Desanka. Gradska naselja srednjovjekovne bosanske države (Urban Settlements of the Mediaeval Bosnian State). Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša, 1978.

1982.    Bešlagić, Šefik. Stećci - kultura i umjetnost (Stećci – Culture and Art). Sarajevo: 1982.

1984.    Anđelić, Pavao. “Doba srednjovjekovne bosanske države,” in Kulturna istorija Bosne i Hercegovine od najstarijih vremena do pada ovih zemalja pod osmansku vlast (The Mediaeval Bosnian State, in Cultural History of Bosnia and Herzegovina from Ancient Times to the Fall of these Lands to the Ottomans). Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša, 1984, 435-587.

1987.    Kreševljaković, Muhamed. Naselja opštine Pucarevo (Settlements of Pucarevo Municipality). Pucarevo: 1987.

1994.    Klaić, Nada. Srednjovjekovna Bosna, politički položaj bosanskih vladara do Tvrtkove krunidbe (1377. g.) (Mediaeval Bosnia, the Political Position of Bosnian Rulers to Tvrtko's Coronation [1377]

2009.    Lovrenović, Dubravko. Stećci. Sarajevo: Rabic, 2009.

(1) Pavao Anđelić, “Doba srednjovjekovne bosanske države,” in Kulturna istorija Bosne i Hercegovine od najstarijih vremena do pada ovih zemalja pod osmansku vlast, Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša, 1984, 9,10, 113.

(2) Šefik Bešlagić, Stećci, kataloško-topografski pregled, Sarajevo: 1971, 141, 145,154,156.

(3)  Jozo,Petrović, S arheologom kroz Travnik, Zagreb: 1931.

(4) Marko Vego, Naselja bosanske srednjovjekovne države, Sarajevo: 1957, 150 and Nada Klaić, Srednjovjekovna Bosna, politički položaj bosanskih vladara do Tvrtkove krunidbe (1377. g.), 1994, 112, 115.

(5) Pavao Anđelić

(6) Amir Kliko, master’s dissertation: “Tepčija Batalo i njegovo doba,” (Mentor: Prof. Dr. Pejo Ćošković)                                                        Sarajevo, November 2006.

(7) Amir Kliko, op.cit., Sarajevo 2006.

(8) Simo Ćirković, Istorija srednjovjekovne bosanske države, Belgrade: 1964, 242.

(9) Desanka, Kovačević-Kojić, Gradska naselja srednjovjekovne bosanske države, Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša, 1978, 252.

(10) Desanka, Kovačević-Kojić, op.cit., 1978, 314.

(11) Muhamed Kreševljaković, Naselja opštine Pucarevo, Pucarevo: 1987, 119.

(12) Sidžil m (Lat) court protocol, court record for the Turkish authorities, in which all verdicts and rulings, hearings, judicial separations and partitions and other court proceedings were entered. (A. Škaljić, Turcizmi u srpskohrvatskom jeziku, Sarajevo: Svjetlost, 1989, 563) [Translator's note: though Škaljić does indeed state that the word derives from the Latin in that the entry begins: “Sidžil (lat.)”, the derivation given at the end of the entry is from the Arabic via Turkish.]

(13)  “The deceased left a gun, and pistol and a quantity of livestock: 165 sheep, 50 goats, 120 horses and 160 head of cattle.” M. Kreševljaković, 1987, 119

(14) Valija m (Ar.), governor of a province (vilayet) in the former Turkish Empire (A. Škaljić, Turcizmi u srpskohrvatskom jeziku, Sarajevo: Svjetlost, 1989, 638)

(15)  Muhamed Kreševljaković, op.cit., 1987, 119.

(16) Kiridžija m (Ar.-Tur.), hired drover, person who transports goods on horseback or by cart for payment (A. Škaljić, Turcizmi u srpskohrvatskom jeziku, Sarajevo: Svjetlost, 1989, 409)

(17) Dubravko Lovrenović, Stećci, Sarajevo: Rabic, 2009, 19, 21, 23, 24.

(18) For more on stećci, see the Decision of the Commission designating the historic site of the Mramorje necropolis with stećci and old nišan tombstones in Lavšići, Municipality Olovo, as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina, no.02-02-228/07-95, of November 2008, and the Commission’s web site: www.aneks8komisija.com.ba

(19) Paola Korošec, “Srednjevjekovne nekropole okoline Travnika,” in Jnl of the National Museum, n.s, vol. VII, Sarajevo: 1952, 387,407.

(20) Muhamed Kreševljaković, op.cit., 1987,  119.