engleski

Islands in a sea of forests: interrelation between towns, villages and forests of Ottoman Slavonia (1526-1690)

During Ottoman rule in the region of Slavonia (1526-1690), it was divided into several administrative provinces: its eastern section was part of the Sancak of Srijem (Sirem), its central section was part of the Sancak of Požega (Pojega) and its southwestern section was part of the Sancak of Pakrac (Pakraç, Bakriç, Zaçasna). Ottoman tax registers reveal that Slavonia was primarily a rural region with vast forests. Larger numbers of inhabitants lived only in market towns of Eastern Slavonia and their number reached only 25% of the total population in these eastern areas. Only 10% of the population of the area around the town of Požega and 30% of the population around the town of Osijek (Ösek) lived in urban settlements. The forests surrounding towns and villages influenced the work of town craftsmen, who needed a lot of wood for the production of charcoal and lime. Furthermore, numerous town structures were wooden because timber was extensively used as building material. Almost all Slavonian mosques were wooden in the beginning ; there were also numerous wooden bridges across Slavonian rivers, for example, the famous Sultan Suleiman Bridge in Osijek. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the inhabitants of Ottoman Slavonia affected the size of forests around their settlements through forest clearing for their livelihood and that the forests had an impact on the amount of wooden constructions in Slavonian towns and villages and, consequently, on the overall appearance of these settlements.

Ottoman Empire; Slavonia; forests; towns; villages; deforestation

nije evidentirano