The Turk and his lost provinces

by William Eleroy Curtis

Sarajevo is a partly modernized Turkish town, and in its architecture and arrangement a curious combination of the old and the new, the Orient and the Occident. It is half Turkish and half Austrian, and so many of the inhabitants cling tenaciously to their native customs that they add to the picturesqueness of the place. I was told that the city contains a larger variety of types of the oriental races than even Constantinople, and that in the bazaar may be seen daily a sample of every native costume worn from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Red Sea. It requires much local experience and sartorial knowledge to distinguish a Dalmatian from a Serb, a Magyar from an Albanian, or a Greek from a Jew, but whatever their ancestry or religion may be—Slav, Semite, Moslem, Egyptian, Greek, Slavonian, Latin, Swiss, Saxon, Teuton, Frank, Magyar, Turk, Russian, Swede, Spaniard, Moor or Nubian—they live in peace and harmony, each recognizing the scruples of the other concerning the creed and the customs of his faith, and under the firm and kindly rule of the Austrians they dwell together in unity. Many of the women also adhere to their native costumes, except the wives and daughters of the middle class. When you see a veiled woman you may know that she is a Moslem, but those who wear their faces uncovered are either Christians or Jews.

Austrian officers in uniform seem to be numerous and popular, and all classes of the people are grateful for their deliverance from the unspeakable Turk. The fathers and mothers still find it difficult to overcome their suspicions and distrust of their rulers, which have been bred into their bones through long centuries of deception, cruelty and corruption.

The capital of Bosnia occupies a sightly place in a wide valley surrounded by picturesque mountains, and is divided into two nearly equal parts by the Miljacka, a rapid, foaming stream which tumbles over a rocky bed. Nine or ten artistic bridges, some of them incrusted with the lichens of centuries, are approached by wide, well-shaded streets which slope up the mountain sides with a comfortable grade and give excellent drainage. Observed from the distant hills, Sarajevo looks as if it were built in terraces, and the trees in the streets make parallel lines of green alternating with lines of red, which are the roofs of the houses. In many places are luxuriant gardens reached through wide archways under the houses in the oriental style, but they are generally secluded. There is an abundance of pure water supplied from the mountains for domestic purposes and for the many fountains which decorate the interior patios of the houses and gardens. While the residential portion of the town is irregular and only partially built up, Sarajevo compares well in architecture and in every other respect with any city of its size in Europe or America, and some time will be a beautiful place, for it is much favored by nature, and the inhabitants are rapidly accumulating wealth.

Sarajevo has been frequently compared with Jerusalem and Damascus. It is often called “the Damascus of the North,” and perhaps the old part may bear some resemblance to those venerable cities, but the new part is more like a German or an Italian town. There are several mosques with minarets and domes and spires. Churches of every religion, fine office-buildings, apartment-houses, government buildings and public institutions. The Rathaus, or city hall, is a beautiful modern structure of the oriental school of architecture, and might have been transplanted from Constantinople or Algiers, while the Scheriatschule, a law college, is also imposing. The citadel or castle, which formerly was the residence of the Turkish governor, is an irregular inclosure defended by a high wall with a collection of buildings representing several ages and schools of architecture. It is now garrisoned by a battalion of Austrian troops, whose gay uniforms delight the eyes of the people.

In Budapest I saw a regiment of troops from Bosnia parading the streets. They were fine-looking young fellows, full of military ardor, and seemed to take great pride in their appearance. I was told that there are 7,000 Bosnian soldiers in Austria and Hungary, and an equal number of Austrian soldiers in Bosnia, which, by the way, is a very good scheme, if you will stop to think of the effect. According to law every able-bodied man in Bosnia, upon reaching the age of eighteen, is required to enter the army for a period of five years, two years being spent in active service and three years as a member of the reserve. Those in active service are sent to Austria and Hungary, where they learn something of life and civilization, become familiar with the German language and the customs and habits of the people, and make many friends, often marrying Austrian girls and taking them back to Bosnia. The government encourages such marriages, and offers tempting inducements in the way of relief from certain duty and additional pay. Married soldiers are allowed to live in barracks with their wives, who are employed as cooks, laundresses and in other capacities. Thus, after a term of two years spent in the army in Austria, the young Bosnian goes home thoroughly naturalized and imbued with Austrian ideas, while those who take wives with them have an even greater attachment to the empire. Thus the scheme works well. On the other hand, the Austrian soldiers who are stationed in Bosnia make friends with the people, and often marry and settle down there. They are encouraged to do so by the government’s offering inducements similar to those I have described.

Police duty is performed by a force of about 2,500 gendarmes, selected from the best material in the Bosnian and Austrian reserves. They are well paid and pensioned, and the pay and privileges are sufficient to secure men of education, judgment and good habits. This is absolutely necessary for the success of Austrian government in Bosnia, because the experience of the people with the Turkish soldiers was so terrible that a military uniform is still hateful to them. The Bosnian police are divided in squads of eight or ten men under the command of a sergeant, and are scattered throughout the country in every community. They are called upon to perform unusual duties. They not only patrol their districts to keep the peace, investigate complaints, make arrests and do ordinary police duty, but also serve as sanitary officers, veterinarians, legal advisers and instructors in agriculture and the industrial arts. They are, in fact, fathers to the people, or as one of them described it, “maids of all work.” The idea is to furnish the people advisers in all occupations and stations in life, who carry the authority and the protection of the government with them and bring it not only into the households, but into the stables and the gardens of the entire population.

Thus a peasant when he is out of work applies to the policeman, who knows everybody and everything in the district, and can generally find him a job. When an old woman wants seed to plant in her garden, the policeman sends to the agricultural department for a supply. When he hears that anyone is sick he fetches medicine from the police dispensary; when an accident occurs he exercises his ingenuity to aid in making repairs; when a cow or a horse has the distemper he gives advice to the owner and instructs him how to administer the proper remedy. When a cabin is to be built or a marriage performed or a funeral is held on his beat, he is the master of ceremonies, no matter whether the persons involved are Turks, Roman Catholics, Protestants or members of the Greek Church. In this way the policemen become identified with the interests of the people, and obtain their confidence. And this form of paternalism has been very effective in winning the Bosnians to the support of the Austrian authorities. The contrast with the conduct of the Turkish soldiers in the past is so radical that the system is all the more effective in accomplishing its purpose; for, in Turkish times, the man most feared by the community was the policeman, for he was always a robber and often a fiend.

In order to avoid scandals and protect the police from temptation each gendarme is accompanied at all times by a deputy or assistant who is both a student studying the business with the expectation of promotion to the first place, when his turn comes, and a check or restraint upon his superior, who, by the wholesome regulations, is required to teach him and set him a good example. There have been cases where dishonest and vicious men obtain positions in the police corps and oppress people, but the penalty for malfeasance is very heavy, and whenever a case occurs it is utilized as an opportunity to furnish an example. The testimony is almost unanimous that the Bosnian gendarmes are a model force; that they have acquired the respect and the confidence of the people, and that to this system is largely due the remarkable success of the Austrian administration in Bosnia.

The old part of Sarajevo, called Carsija, consists of crooked and narrow streets running at right angles with shops and bazaars opening upon the sidewalks as is customary in all oriental towns. The merchants and mechanics squat on their haunches or sit cross-legged as they make and sell their wares. Although nearly everything is oriental in appearance, and sold as souvenirs of the country to tourists, the greater part of the gay colored silks and cottons were woven in the factories of Germany and France; the gold and silver embroideries in arabesque designs were imported from Austria, and much of the jewelry, the ornamental pipes and velvet slippers, from Paris. The only goods that can be depended upon as of native workmanship are those that are manufactured before your eyes. The busy artisans keep at it from daybreak till bedtime, seldom knocking off except to say their prayers at the nearest mosque or drink a cup of coffee and smoke a cigarette at the nearest café. That is the Bosnian idea of rest and pleasure. He will smoke and drink coffee all day long if he has the leisure to do so. They tell of men whose daily allowance is a hundred cups of coffee and a hundred cigarettes.

Contrary to the French and Italian habit the Bosnians never urge people to purchase their goods. They manifest no eagerness, but offer them with dignified courtesy and apparent indifference. They never raise their voices or gesticulate, but imitate their Turkish neighbors, who are trained from the cradle to observe the command of the prophet who said: “Be moderate in thy pace and lower thy voice.” Nor do you ever see a Mohammedan beggar. He never complains. One of the most admirable characteristics of the race is the composure with which disappointment and misfortune are accepted. “If you have food, eat,” is his doctrine. “If you have no food, die.” In his shop as well as in his place of worship, the Mohammedan practices his religion and preserves the same proud and uncomplaining calm.