ABSTRACT
Bosnia herself had been inflamed by the reforms first of Mahmud and then of Reschid Mustapha pasha. In Bosnia, most prejudiced and conservative of all, the very whisper of reform under Mahmud produced a violent reaction. History alone explains the unique sufferings that fell to the lot of Bosnia. The military service was a farce, for the Bosnian beys obtained the concession that they should not have to serve outside Bosnia. The Turkish governor of Bosnia actually found it unsafe to reside at the capital, Serajevo. The cardinal fact in Bosnia’s history is that about one-third of her sons were converts to Mohammedanism and that the Mussulman minority obtained all power. Herzegovina was the country of the future, but Bosnia was of the present. After the events of 1831 Bosnia was no longer independent, but she was capable of insurrection. In 1850 Bosnia exported silks, wax, wheat, cattle, wool, furs, potash and iron.
