Political Developments and Unrests in Stara Raška (Old Rascia) and Old Herzegovina during Ottoman Rule

Abstract

During the centuries of Ottoman rule the Tara and Lim river valleys (or Potarje and Polimlje respectively), the Pešter Plateau and Old Herzegovina saw much turbulence, wars, rebellions, population migrations. This chaotic situation was combined with the arbitrary and repressive conduct of local Ottoman feudal lords. Migrations, interethnic contacts and mixing of populations as well as an intensified Islamization process caused by a number of factors greatly complicated the situation. Albanian northward penetration along the Lim and into Pešter as well as the expansion of the Vasojevići tribe into the Upper Lim valley added to the complexity of the ethnic and demographic picture of the region. Perpetual rebellions against the Ottoman occupation eventually led to the liberation of the Serbian Orthodox population of these areas.