[THE FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF THE BOSNIAN FRONTIER WARS OF 1736-1739 BETWEEN OTTOMAN - AUSTRIAN AND RUSSIAN EMPIRES] Ahvâl-i gazavât der diyâr-i Bosna (Tarih-i Bosna der zaman-i Hekimzâde Ali Pasa).

ÖMER BOSNAVÎ, (Bosnian-Ottoman judge, active between 1736-1740)

Süleyman Sakib Efendi Matbaasi., Istanbul, AH 1293 = [1876].

Decorative black contemporary cloth and flowers tooled on boards. Cr. 8vo. (20 x 12 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 94 p. Ownership stamp on colophon. Otherwise, a very good copy. A decorative head title surrounded by flowers. Traditional framed text.

Lithograph. Scarce early edition of this chronicle of the Ottoman-Russo-Austrian Wars between the years of 1736-1739, provides a very detailed eyewitness account of the major incidents that took place at the Bosnian frontier, specifically the wars between the Austrian commander-in-chief Prince Hildburghausen and the governor of Bosnia, Hekimoglu Ali Pasha (1869-1758). 

The author describes the clash between the Ottoman and Austrian forces around the fortresses of Ostroviçe-i Atik, Banja Luka, Çetin, Bujin, Uzice, Novibazar, Sokol, and Rudnik at the Bosnian frontier. Bosnavi does not concentrate only on the wars, but also on the efforts of the Bosnians to defend their territories in detail, which are difficult to find in the archival materials. 

Bosnavi's work is one of the most important sources on those wars besides Zinkeisen, Hammer, and Iorga's works. Ömer Bosnavi was a judge in Bosnia, and he had already completed his work before it was published in 1741 first by Ibrahim Müteferrika. The basic source for the study related to the Bosnian frontier is Bosnavi's 'Ahvâl', however, we have very limited information about the author. In his own work, he remarked that he is from the town of Novi in Bosnia. He was a member of the religious (ilmiyye) class and served as a judge in the district of Salta.

(Source: The Bosnian frontier at wars of 1736-1739 Ottoman-Russo-Austro: A case study on Ömer Bosnavi's work: Ahvâl... by Rüçhan Budak).

Özege 286 / 2.; TBTK 2671.