Quote: (04-17-2019 06:35 AM)sterling_archer Wrote:
^Yes, but what is most interesting is why did they become muslims in the first place. Ottoman occupation is not the main reason, as Serbia was occupied vassal state decades earlier and didn't accept Islam, which Ottomans didn't hold against them and just decided to tax them more (jizya).
The main reason is that Church of Bosnia and various Gnostic teachings were extremely weak in producing cultural and moral cohesiveness of Bosnian people and Bosnians saw opportunity in new religion, Islam, to get their cohesiveness, which they did, even though we could easily argue modern Bosnians are not "true" muslims and would likely be considered heretic by various Islamic sects.
Wrong. This is what Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) want you to believe, because nobody wants to admit that their ancestors were Croats/Serbs, who converted to Islam in order to get better treatment. Can't blame them for that.
First and foremost, your thesis that their ancestors were Gnostics (which was proposed by Franjo Rački, if I am not mistaken, back in the 19th century) was proven incorrect even during the time of old Yugoslavia - there weren't any artifacts, and proof that Gnostics were present in Bosnia. Also, the Ottoman records did not mention them at all - and they were meticulous when they conducted their population censuses.
Instead, the Gnostics you mentioned were only present in Bulgaria, where they were called Bogumili ("favored by God" in most South Slavic languages). In Bosnia, they were never present - the Bosnian Church was, and they had nothing in common with the Gnostics in Bulgaria.
The Bosnian Church was a heretical church, primarily because Bosnia (and parts of Croatia) were, during that time, relatively isolated from the rest of the world because of very rough terrain (if you have ever been to Bosnia and Dalmatian hinterlands you would see why). That isolation caused the local Catholics (Bosnian Church was a Catholic heresy) to develop some unique characteristics. It's adherents were called "krstjani" (Christians). Eventually, Rome sent priests (Franciscans) to straighten things up. They succeeded in that task, and, by the time the Ottomans invaded, they were all but extinct. Again, if you don't believe me, refer to the Ottoman population census.
If your thesis was true, Bosnia would be majority Muslim 20 years after the Ottomans took over (because of mass conversions of Gnostics to Islam). Instead, Bosnia became majority Muslim in 18th century, due to mass population shifts that occurred in that century (Treaty of Karlovitz/Sremski Karlovci of 1699).