MADE IN BOSNIA- Prologue

 PROLOGUE

 

What I am, is a product of a centuries old, restless, warring and controversial nation. Peace was always short lived and every century or so, there would be some kind of usurper. The constant conflicts, wars and turmoil, generation after generation, seemed to have forged us, into some weird kind of species.

As much as the anything tried to destroy us, we fed on this land and kept on being resilient, stubborn and unbeatable. It turned us into phoenixes, rising over and over again, at times, if nothing more than a speck of ashes left in the debris of what our lives were.

This land I was born in, has a history, almost old as civilisation itself. Bosnia was a compact geopolitical unit as far as 9^th century, while the middle age state of Bosnia got its independence around year 1200.

The first rulers of Bosnia were called “Ban”, a title that equated to lords and princes in Europe at a time.

The most famous Ban’s until this day, were Ban Kulin and Ban Tvrtko I Kotromanic, whose inauguration place remains, can be still found in a small, but ripe with history little town called Visoko.

Now days Visoko is famous for a discovery of the “pyramidal” structures, Pyramid of the Sun and the Moon, with huge network of underground tunnels, chambers and water accumulations.

Least to say, this “discovery” created debates and upheaval among experts. I mean, confirming it as actual pyramids, would meant rewriting the whole world history.  

As it is, my country is as blessed as it is cursed.

It is called European Jerusalem for a good reason. Ripe with a mixture of history and heritage, born throughout centuries of constant changes, influences of occupying cultures, those seemingly opposing differences created a magically intertwined, blended co-existence, that you will not see or experience anywhere else in the world.

In recent history only, after the end of the WW2, a federal unit was formed consisting of the now called, ex-Yugoslav countries under the ruling of Tito.

During this communist era, Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina were finally recognized as a constitutional nation. Unfortunately after Tito’s passing, aspiration of other nationalities in ex-Yugoslavia created deeper and deeper conflicts, resulting in one of the worst wars and atrocities against humanity after the WW2.

As it is, my country is as blessed as it is cursed. It can be hell and paradise, and it’s not meant for everyone to love.