Building of Boats Near Novi on the Sava River in the 16th Century

Abstract

This article deals with the economic questions of Bosnia in the 16^th century which have not been elucidated so far. Namely, nothing specific has been written about the question of the Turkish river fleet and river shipbuilding in the Balkans.

In the article are published mainly the Turkish sources concerning that question. Following a brief introduction offering a survey of these questions, in the first part of his work the author turns his attention to the former mediaeval fortress of Novi on the Sava River which belonged to the āḥiye of Bijeljina. Immediately upon their conquest the Turks founded there a regular shipyard. On the basis of a register from 1538/9 which is kept in Istanbul (Başbakanlik Arşivi) it can be seen that in that year 100 river boats were built in that shipyard. These boats were intended for the transportation of horses. The article presents that register in full in Serbo-Croatian translation and in facsimiles. The original register comprises 32 pages; it contains a list of assets and expenses of this work site, i. e., all the employed work force, all the artisans and their daily wages were analytically registered there. Also, an analysis of this register has been given.

The second part of the article presents another Turkish register concerning these questions, also in translation and with facsimiles. This is a register of the mobilized oarsmen on the territory of the kadiluk of Zvornik dating from 1551. The register comprises 5 pages and its translation has been offered in the form of a tatbular survey. It shows that all these oarsmen had to have proper guarantors and that in that year 70 oarsmen were mobilized in the area. Here also an analysis of the source has been provide at the end.

The third part presents several translated documents from the so-called Mühimme defterleri of the above-mentioned Archives which date from between 15·65 and 1573 and refer to the same question. They speak of the building of boats in the sangak of Zvornik. These boats were particularly intended for the transportation of cereals. The analysis accompanying these documents points to the efforts of the Ottoman state to organize the exports of cereals from Bosnia to the Venetian Republic and to. Dubrovnik.