Page 52 - NOVOPAZARSKI ZBORNIK 43

52 Д. Л. Стојковић, Хроничар Омер-ефендија Новили (Боснави)...

Dragana Lazić Stojković
University in Novi Sad,
Faculty of Philosophy, History Department

A CHRONICLER OMER-EFENDI NOVILI (BOSNAVI) OF THE
OTTOMAN-HABSBURG WAR IN BOSNIA TERRITORY

Abstract: The war Habsburg Monarchy started in 1737 had for its aim
conquering of the territory of Bosnia Vilayet and additional reduction of the Ottoman
territory in the Balkans. Although, in the beginning, it seemed for the conditions to
be ideal for a war, there was made a secret agreement of the Russian and Austrian
Ambassador in Istanbul, and the plague made for the Muslim Army to be weaker
in the area of Bosnia. However, the beginning luck during the siege of Ostrovica
Fortress left quickly the Habsburg Army. The following battles pointed onto Bosnia
still to be unconquerable for the Habsburgs. A magnificent defense of Bosnia Vilayet
by the local Muslim Army led by the Beylerbey Ali Pasha Hekimolu, became famous
in the entire Empire. For the glory of the Muslim Army and the great Beylerbey in
Bosnia not to be forgotten, a judge of the administration unit (kaza) of Novi (Bosanski
Novi) wrote down all events from the war, conflicts in the areas of Vilayet of Bosnia
and Rumelija (Smederevo Sanjak). Besides being an extremely useful source for the
Ottoman-Habsburg War today, the chronicle reminded contemporaries onto a great
victory of the local Muslim Army and a skilful leadership. To support this, there is a
fact that in the same century it was printed twice, for the first time it was printed at the
first printed house of Ibrahim Muteferike in the Ottoman language. The paper has
been written with the aim to explain how it has come for this chronicle to be written,
who had a benefit of its occurrence, in what way it says on the Ottoman-Habsburg
War and what is the importance of the chronicle reflected in as the historical source.

Key words: chronicle, Omer-Efendi Novili, Ali Pasha Hekimolu, the Ottoman-
Habsburg War 1736˗1739, Bosnia Vilayet.