BOSNIA 



its population in 1910 was 1,931,802. It is 

 therefore about twice the size of Vermont, and 

 has over five times as many people. About 

 out '-third of the population are Mohammedans, 

 for Bosnia belonged to Turkey from the begin- 

 ning of the fifteenth century until the Treaty 

 of Berlin at the close of the Ru r :>Turkish War 

 of 1877-1878 made it a protect< rate of Austria. 

 Because Austria had done much to advance 

 civilization in the province the powers of 

 Europe offered no objection to its being made a 

 part of the monarchy in 1908. When the 

 Austro-Hungarian Empire crumbled in Novem- 

 ber, 1918, and new independent states rose from 

 its ruins, Bosnia and Herzegovina became a 

 part of the new Jugo-Slavia (which see), to- 

 gether with other southwestern provinces. (For 

 industrial and geographic features, see AUSTRIA- 

 HUNGARY.) 



The People. The inhabitants of the region 

 are known as Bosniaks, but the religious dis- 

 tinctions are so sharply drawn that the people 

 themselves adopt no such general name. The 

 Mohammedans prefer to be called Turks; the 

 Roman Catholics, Latins; and the members 

 of the Greek Church, Serbs; but they all have 

 certain characteristics which show their kinship, 

 with the Serbs. They are a romantic people, 

 loving poetry, music and the heroic tales of 

 their ancestors, but they are not too proud to 

 work thriftily on their small farms. Women 

 as well as men are expected to work hard in 

 the fields, but on the whole they are not 

 unkindly treated, as in most countries where 

 Mohammedanism has gained a strong hold. 

 In dress the Bosniaks much resemble the Serbs 

 (see SERBIA), but the Oriental fez and turban 

 are very common, and the Moslem women who 

 flit about the streets are as mysteriously veiled 

 as are their sisters of the Orient. Indeed, some 

 of the "Turkish" women hide even their eyes 

 whenever they step beyond the boundaries of 

 their own homes. As education is not com- 

 pulsory, many people cannot write and read 

 the curious language with its special characters. 



The Capital City. The capital of Bosnia was 

 Sarajevo, or Bosnia-Serai, a particularly beauti- 

 ful city. Serajevo means the city of palaces, 

 and was applied in honor of the palace built 

 in the fifteenth century by one of its Moham- 

 medan rulers. Though in the last half century 

 the city has been to a certain extent modern- 

 ized, the old cypress groves, the curious wooden 

 houses, the scores of mosques with their glit- 

 tering minarets, and above all, the great bazaar, 

 make it still seem more Oriental than Euro- 



844 BOSPORUS 



pean. It is a busy trading center, and the dark, 

 twisting lanes of its bazaar are thronged with 

 merchants. Silks, metal filigree work, rugs and 

 embroideries are produced. It was in Serajevo 

 that Prince Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian 

 throne, and his wife were assassinated in June, 

 1914, a tragic event which speedily culminated 

 in war. Population in 1910, 51..919. A.MC c. 



BOSPORUS, bahs'porus, or BOSPHORUS, 

 a strongly-fortified strait connecting the Black 

 Sea with the Sea of Marmora. The name is 

 derived from Greek words meaning ox ford, 

 probably given because it is so narrow in parts 

 as to be easily crossed by an ox; according 





BOSPORUS 



to legend it was crossed by lo after she was 

 changed into a cow (see lo). It is nineteen 

 miles long and from one-half to two miles wide. 

 A strong current usually flows from the Black 

 Sea towards the Mediterranean. The strait 

 is an important commercial route and is fre- 

 quented by the vessels of all nations. Only 

 Turkish warships were to be seen there, how- 

 ever, during the late nineteenth and early 

 twentieth century, for a treaty among the 

 Great Powers, made in 1841 and confirmed in 

 1878, guaranteed that no war vessels of other 

 nations should pass either the Bosporus or the 

 Dardanelles without Turkey's consent. 



The strategical value of the Bosporus is 

 almost equal to that of the Dardanelles (which 

 see). During the War of the Nations the allied 

 fleets of Britain, France and Italy found in 

 the Dardanelles an impregnable barrier, keep- 

 ing them from Constantinople. On the east, 

 the Russian warships in the Black Sea could 

 not even attempt to force the passage of the 

 Bosporus. The greatly-coveted city of Con- 

 stantinople, on the Golden Horn, was practi- 

 cally safe from attack by water. 



Over the middle of the channel, in that place 

 about 3,000 feet wide, Darius constructed a 

 bridge of boats on his Scythian expedition. 



