Stećak to nišan transition

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The stećak to nišan transition is a period in Bosnia and Herzegovina history marked by the end of the stećak tombstones usage and the transition to the first nišan tombstones. It is a cultural phenomenon on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina temporally framed by the period between the second half of the 15th and the first half of the 16th century, a few decades before and several decades after the Ottoman occupation ending a period of the medieval Bosnian state. The tombstones of this form appear in many localities, such as around Sarajevo, Trnovo, Kalinovik, Rogatica, Olovo, Sokolac, Nevesinje, Prozor, Travnik and Glamoč. As Bosnia and Herzegovina's heritage, these tombstones are protected by KONS, whether they are found alone or in groups as part of necropolis.

Main article: Stećak Of the total number of stećak tombstones, the erection of which began in the 11th century, majority of 95.5% are horizontal slabs, boxes and gables. The rest are upright stećci. According to the time of their construction, upright stećak tombstones belong to the late period and the end of the stećak tombstones usage. The territory and time of their origin, as well as some other properties, confirm that they were created under the influence of Muslim tombstones. In a large number of cases, the necropolises with stećak tombstones have old Muslim cemeteries with nišan tombstones, which are in many ways similar to upright stećak tombstones.

Territorial closeness and other similarities refer to the period of the second half of the 15th and the first half of the 16th century. This was the time when the medieval Bosnian state lost its independence and came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

The forms of stećak tombstones of oriental origin meant their final chapter. The new forms, along with the sign of the cross, became a permanent grave sign. Slight penetration of nišan tombstones into the eastern areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 15th century, which can be traced by numerous inscriptions on nišan tombstones, culminated in the tombstones of various proportions, most interesting in the case of those in Donji Bakići near Olovo, whose harmonious decoration carved for this purpose, perhaps for the last time.

Nišans are tombstones erected for members of the Islamic faith. The name is taken from the Persian via Ottoman Turkish language and means sign, target, mark.

The Arabs, as the first bearers of Islam, did not know tombstones in the form of nišan. The Seljuk Turks carved their tombstones in the form of steles of various shapes. The shape of the stele could have been taken by the Seljuks from various sides, since this form of tombstone is widespread. It was taken from the peoples of the Caucasus, Georgians and Armenians. The relief repertoire of the Seljuk stele was taken from the older Islamic Central Asian homeland (Persia). In other words, the Seljuk stele is a combination of an Armenian-Georgian tombstone associated with Central Asian and Persian-Islamic cultural heritage.

The second type of nišan - one with a turban - is basically an original Seljuk type of tombstone that was further developed later in the Ottoman period.

Main article: Stećak Of the total number of stećak tombstones, the erection of which began in the 11th century, majority of 95.5% are horizontal slabs, boxes and gables. The rest are upright stećci. According to the time of their construction, upright stećak tombstones belong to the late period and the end of the stećak tombstones usage. The territory and time of their origin, as well as some other properties, confirm that they were created under the influence of Muslim tombstones. In a large number of cases, the necropolises with stećak tombstones have old Muslim cemeteries with nišan tombstones, which are in many ways similar to upright stećak tombstones.

Territorial closeness and other similarities refer to the period of the second half of the 15th and the first half of the 16th century. This was the time when the medieval Bosnian state lost its independence and came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

The forms of stećak tombstones of oriental origin meant their final chapter. The new forms, along with the sign of the cross, became a permanent grave sign. Slight penetration of nišan tombstones into the eastern areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 15th century, which can be traced by numerous inscriptions on nišan tombstones, culminated in the tombstones of various proportions, most interesting in the case of those in Donji Bakići near Olovo, whose harmonious decoration carved for this purpose, perhaps for the last time.

s are tombstones erected for members of the Islamic faith. The name is taken from the Persian via Ottoman Turkish language and means sign, target, mark.

The Arabs, as the first bearers of Islam, did not know tombstones in the form of nišan. The Seljuk Turks carved their tombstones in the form of steles of various shapes. The shape of the stele could have been taken by the Seljuks from various sides, since this form of tombstone is widespread. It was taken from the peoples of the Caucasus, Georgians and Armenians. The relief repertoire of the Seljuk stele was taken from the older Islamic Central Asian homeland (Persia). In other words, the Seljuk stele is a combination of an Armenian-Georgian tombstone associated with Central Asian and Persian-Islamic cultural heritage.

The second type of nišan - one with a turban - is basically an original Seljuk type of tombstone that was further developed later in the Ottoman period.

See also: Stećak forms With the arrival of the Ottomans and the emergence of Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina, nišan became a new type of tombstone, and by their characteristics they represent an interesting and important cultural and artistic phenomenon in the country.

Both types of nišan, stele and nišan with a turban, were brought by the Ottomans, first to North Macedonia and Serbia, and later to Bosnia and Herzegovina. These nišan s had ornaments on them (symbols, figural motifs), so this liberal Seljuk view of representations of living beings contributed to the creation of a favorable climate for nišan s, although objects of Islamic art, to accept figural representations found on stećak s, especially as an expression of the rooted stećak stonemasonry tradition. In that first period, the unity of stećak and nišan becomes clear, when the former basically served as a template for decorative motifs. The stonemasons of the Muslim nišan s themselves were Christians, and only in a later period did the Muslims themselves make nišan s of completely different shapes and decorations.

The oldest nišan s on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina belong to the period of the second half of the 15th and the entire 16th century. The general characteristics of those early nišan s are:

- relief motifs that were directly transferred from stećak

- absence of epitaphs in oriental languages

- inscriptions in Bosnian Cyrillic (Bosančica)

- they are regularly located together with stećci or in the immediate vicinity. Because of these features, they are significantly different from nišan s of the later period, 17th centuries onward.