Bushnak (Arabic: بشناق, meaning "Bosnian", also transliterated Bushnaq and Boshnak) is a surname common among the small minority of Palestinians who are of Bosnian origin.[1][2][3] Those sharing this surname are the descendants of Muslim soldiers who were brought to Palestine at the end of the nineteenth century by the Ottoman authorities to provide reinforcements for its army,[1] or who emigrated due to apprehensions about living under Christian rule after Bosnia's incorporation into the Habsburg empire.[3] These Bosnian emigrants ended up settling in various places in the country, among them Caesarea, Yanun, Nablus, and Tulkarem.[1][2][3] While not originally from one family, most Bosnian immigrants to Palestine adopted Bushnak as a common surname, attesting to their origins.[1]
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History
After the occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina by the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1878, Bosnian Muslims apprehensive of living under Christian rule emigrated to lands administered by the Ottoman Empire. Most emigrants during this time and the period directly after the annexation of Bosnia in 1908 settled in parts of what is now modern Turkey, while a smaller number settled in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine. Bosnian Muslim immigrants settled in Caesarea in 1878 where they built two mosques, joining other Muslim immigrants from Morocco, Algeria, Crimea, the Caucasus, and Turkestan. These Slavic speaking immigrants eventually assimilated into the
Other uses
Bushnak is also used colloquially among Palestinians to refer to someone who is fair-skinned and good looking.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d "It's the pits". Original in Haaretz, reprinted by Ta'ayush. 25 October 2002. http://www.taayush.org/new/yanun_haaretz_english.htm. Retrieved on 2008-11-12.
- ^ a b Ibrahim Al-Marashi. "The Arab Bosnians?: The Middle East and the Security of the Balkans" (PDF). p. 4. http://www.hks.harvard.edu/kokkalis/GSW3/Ibrahim_Al-Marashi.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-11-12.
- ^ a b c d Cohen and Riesman, 1996, p. 123.
- ^ Khalifeh, 2005, p. 254.
Bibliography
- Cohen, Philip J.; Riesman, David (1996), Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History, Texas A&M University Press, ISBN 0890967601, 9780890967607
- Khalifeh, Sahar; Bamia, Aida (2005), The Inheritance, American University in Cairo Press, ISBN 9774249399, 9789774249396
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