Cartographer: Matrakci Nasuh

2019-07-23T12:15:48+02:00

Nasuh bin Karagöz bin Abdullah el-Visokavi el-Bosnavî, or Nasuh el-Matrakči ibn Karađoz ibn Abdullah el-Visokavi el-Bosnevi, commonly known as Matrakçı Nasuh for his competence in the game of Matrak, invented by himself, (also known as Nasuh el-Silâhî, Nasuh the Swordsman, because of his talent with weapons; 1480 – c. 1564) was a 16th-century Bosniak statesman of the Ottoman Empire, polymath, mathematician, teacher, historian, geographer, cartographer, swordmaster, navigator, inventor, painter, farmer, and miniaturist. He was brought to Istanbul after being recruited by the Ottoman scouts in Rumelia, educated, served several Ottoman sultans, and became a teacher at Enderun School.

Aleppo

Matrakçı Nasuh (bin Abdullah; son of Abdullah), born in the Bosnian town of Visoko, was a gifted Janissary who went through both the Infantry and devşirme system, a gifted swordsman, and sharpshooter well known for his intellect; he spoke five languages and was recruited into the Ottoman Navy.

Baghdad

Although born to Bosnian Muslim parentage, Nasuh was drafted into the devşirme system, otherwise reserved for the Christian populace of the empire. Exceptionally, however, in Bosnia, the devşirme was also extended to local Muslim families.

Dinever

After a long period of studies on mathematics and geometry, he wrote his works Cemâlü'l-Küttâb and Kemalü'l- Hisâb and submitted them to the Ottoman sultan Selim I. He wrote also the two books named Mecmaü't-Tevârih and Süleymannâme. They deal with the history of the period of 1520–43. He also wrote a historical piece on the Persian campaign of Suleiman I titled Fetihname-i Karabuğdan. A recent study of his book Umdet-ul Hisab revealed an unknown fact that Matrakçı had invented some genuine multiplication methods. One of the significant results displayed in this book was that the lattice method had been widely used in the Enderun School nearly 50 years before John Napier reintroduced it to Europe.

Eskisehir

Besides his works on mathematics and history, he is famous because of his miniatures. He created a naturalist style which focuses on panoramic views of landscapes and cities painted with the greatest detail (his most famous work, the Istanbul landscape picture, shows almost every street and building of the city). In Ottoman miniature art, this was later known as the "Matrakçı style". The most important of his four historic volumes of miniatures is the one dealing with Suleiman I's Safavid war, upon which he had written his historical work Fetihname-i Karabuğdan. Besides illustrating the march of the Ottoman army from Istanbul to Baghdad and then Tabriz and its return via Halab and Eskisehir, Nasuh also includes all the cities met by the army along the way. The Library of Istanbul University hosts the only copy of this work.

Hereke

Nasuh was also a soldier and a master bladesmith. He worked as a weapons teacher at Enderun School. He and his students demonstrated their skills in a show which was part of the circumcision celebrations of Suleiman I's sons. Because of his success in this demonstration, Nasuh received the honorary title of Ustad ("master") and Reis ("chief") from the Sultan. He also wrote a book about usage of various weapons and techniques of cavalry and infantry fight, called Tuhfet-ül Guzât.

Tabriz

Zanjan

Erzincan

Istanbul

Sultaniye

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Source: Wikipedia

The insider's cultural guide to Banja Luka: where life is lived in cafes

2015-06-09T10:43:00+02:00

Bosnia's second city punches above its weight culturally, from a street-food-led backlash that kicked out McDonald's to the fateful night Lenny Kravitz and Kosheen came to town.

Banja Luka culture in five words

Sipping coffee by the Vrbas.

Sound of the city

This is a call to prayer from a mosque, mixed with the sound of bells from the Orthodox Christian church nearby. Like much of Bosnia, Banja Luka was well known for being multicultural, but the 1992-1995 war changed this dramatically: almost every mosque in the city was destroyed. Things are slowly changing, however. Reconstruction of the Ferhadija, a 16th-century mosque in the city centre, has opened a new possibility for cross-cultural dialogue.

Everyone's tuning into...

Regional music TV show AdriaXFactor is hugely popular. Countries from former Yugoslavia, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, are tiny, so most participants and jury members are from other countries in the region. This year, Milica Lojic, an 18-year-old from Banja Luka, is competing and making her hometown proud.

Best current venue

KOD BRKE ('AT MOUSTACHE'). PHOTO: NIKOLA GRULL

Banja Luka is a city where life is lived in cafes. There are more than 1,000 cafes and bars for only 200,000 inhabitants – yet even in the middle of the day it is hard to find a free seat. Banja Lukans love the allure of brand-new places, and if it brings a new concept, all the better. For now, they are flocking to Kod Brke ("At Moustache"), a bar-restaurant that hosts live music in the evenings.

Who's top of the playlist?

Sopot is Banja Luka's band. Formed in 2006, they fuse Balkan art with modern technology. The five players call their style a "modern musical hybrid" – a mix of electro rock with drum'n'bass, reggae, dub and traditional Balkan motifs.

Favourite local artist

Artist Salma Selman's new performance is called I Am a Lady. Photograph: Salma Selman

Selma Selman is a 24-year-old visual artist who grew up in a Roma ghetto. Having constantly struggled against prejudice and poverty, her work is made up of confessional pieces that narrate the intimate story of her life as a Roma woman. Her artwork spans from films to painting to Marina Abramović-style performances, which can sometimes leave audiences perplexed. Recently, she took to the centre of Banja Luka to shout "You know nothing!" at passersby – a reference to ignorance of her people's heritage and struggles.

The look on the street

BANJA LUKA STREET STYLE. Photograph: DASHA GAJIC

The urban legend in Banja Luka is that there is only one man for every seven women. Even if this is far from the truth, the women of this city take the competition very seriously. There is no standard street style, ranging from high heels to Converse, from leopard patterns to gothic style. But the casual look is not recommended if you want to mingle with the locals on the main pedestrian street, Gospodska, which literally translates to Gentlemen's Street.

Best cultural Instagram account

Aleksandar Trifunovic is the editor-in-chief of Buka, one of the most popular web magazines in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His Instagram account is a visual exploration of everyday life in Bosnia's second city, from its corners to its fortress and its road leading off to Sarajevo.

What's the big talking point?

A new law that treats social networks as a public place. The law has been adopted recently by the National Assembly of the Srpska Republic, one of the three Bosnian entities and of which Banja Luka is the capital. Basically, it means you can get in trouble for the views and opinions you express on social networks. No cases has been reported so far but Twitter users have been openly mocking it.

What Banja Luka does better than anywhere else...

fAVORITE LOCAL FOOD - ĆEVAPI. PHOTOGRAPHY: GARRETT ZIEGLER

Ćevapi! Every city is famed for having its own way of making this national dish: rolls of minced meat, grilled on coals, served in a round bread called lepinja with a side of raw onions. Local fast food is a big thing all over Bosnia and Herzegovina – it's a form of art. In fact, when Banja Luka hosted the country's first ever McDonald's, which opened in 2011, citizens loyal to ćevapi soon pushed it out, even holding a "farewell to McDonald's" performance in front of the soon-to-be-closed restaurant.

Comedy gold

Alija Sirotanović refers to itself as "anti-cultural theatre". The satirical comedy trio perform sketches laced with humour about corruption, poverty, ethnic divisions and other problems in Bosnian society. Their breakthrough was Road, a song mocking local politicians and their never-ending, costly construction projects.

Big cultural moment

On the night of 23 July 2009, the British band Kosheen performed at the open-air music festival Demofest. At the same time, on the other side of town, Lenny Kravitz was playing at the City Stadium. Two big music events on the same night was a nightmare for Banja Lukans. People were obliged to make a tough decision: Kosheen or Kravitz? Rumours started that if you ran fast enough, you could make it to the beginning of one, and to the end of the other.

Best piece of street art

Lonac and Atrez's mural, Find Your Way to Fly. Photograph: Lonac

During the international graffiti festival Flaster last November, Banja Luka got its very first large mural, called Find Your Way to Fly. The mural represents objects that with the help of balloons are taking off from the wall. Created by Croatian and Serbian artists Lonac and Atrez, its vibrant colouring and hyper-realism expands over a five-floor building in residential Borik.

From me

Slađana Perković is a Franco-Bosnian journalist and photographer. You can find her blog here and her tumblr here.

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The article originally published on The Guardian.

The Oldest Man in Yugoslavia

2021-04-02T06:27:00+02:00

Arena Magazine's "We are looking for the oldest Yugoslav" action seems to have found its hero. This is 130-year-old Meho Hadžić from Oraš-Planje, one of the most remote villages in the municipality of Tešanj, who was a hired worker for most of his really long life.

The municipality of Tešanj is located in the northeastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina and covers an area of 223 square kilometers. There are about 40 settlements in the area, with about 38,000 inhabitants. The area is extremely overcrowded. There is an average of about 170 inhabitants per square kilometer. The town itself is located on the slopes of hills and partly in the valley of the river Tešanjka, a right tributary of the Usora. It has about 6,000 inhabitants. Nearby is the village of Oraš-Planje, about ten kilometers away from Tešanj. We went to visit it because Meho Hadžić lives here - probably the oldest resident in our country. He is one hundred and thirty years old!

Meho never smoked or drank alcohol. He fed exclusively on milk, cheese and cream, and when he was with the goats on the pastures, he often sucked their milk, instead of water, which he very rarely drank.

The road that led us down the gentle hills, along the stream that flows through the village, was muddy and uneven. The day was chilly. All that could be heard was the murmur of the stream and the occasional barking of dogs. The wind brought the smell of dried plums. Then came the merry children's voices coming from the dilapidated shacks and small squat houses. In one hut sat an old man with deep wrinkles on his forehead. He had a hat on his head. As we approached, we saw his gaze. His eyes twitched. He wanted to say something. He then took his cane and rose to his skinny legs. He looked for the shoes that stood by the hearth. He got dressed, put on a leather vest and came out to meet us. He sat on a bench, looked around… And then he started talking: “I remember when there were only six houses in this village. Interestingly, there was only one in Teslić at that time. I was more than 30 years old when I was invited to build the Usora-Pribinić railway. It was 1884. A mill was blocking the section of the railway that went towards Teslić. It needed to be torn down. I asked them not to do that. "But, people, you're not going to tear down that mill which brings us bread," I said. We will be hungry. Where are we going to grind our grain ?”

He spoke in a raised voice. He is hard of hearing. And we found out: Meho Hadžić was born in 1848 in the village of Oraš-Planje. He had five brothers: Mahmut, Muja, Ahma, Fehra and Rexha and a sister Fatima. They all died a long time ago. Ahmet's brother is survived by his son Flamo, who is now 68 years old and who also lives in Oraš-Planje. Meho Hadzic's father's name was Arif, and his mother's name was Cura. He has already forgotten them. His wife Ajka died 70 years ago. She was 50 years old. He had a son, Muharrem, with her. Unfortunately, he drowned in the Usora River, at the age of 12. Meho Hadžić was a hired worker for more than a hundred years. He worked on farms, cut wood, and spent most of his time tending goats.

We also talked to Osman Ćorić, who is close to seventy and is a living witness that Meho Hadžić kept goats with his father Meho, who died in 1937. "Meho was about eighty years old when he wandered the hills like a young man and looked after the goats," said Osman. "I remember that he would not return from the pastures for days. He ate goat's milk and cheese there… ”

He got his third teeth 30 years ago.

Meho Hadžić did not serve in the army. He has a congenital defect, a shorter left leg. That is why he still carries a stick today. Meho never smoked or drank alcohol. He fed exclusively on milk, cheese and cream, and when he was with the goats on the pastures, he often sucked their milk, instead of water, which he very rarely drank. He got his third teeth 30 years ago. Interestingly, they are all still good. To prove his strength, he used to be able to lift a kid weighing between 30 and 40 kilograms with his teeth. He always defied the burden of years. He lost the last one of his family members 40 years ago. He was adopted by Mehmed and Rukija Ćorić. They built him a house, and recently installed electricity in it. They feed him, clothe him, buy him firewood. When it is very cold, Mehmed and Rukija get up at night and light a fire for him. They take care of Meho's health.

Until 34 years ago, Meho Hadžić never sought medical help. He was always cheerful and strong. He remains so today. When the weather is fine, he goes out in front of his house, gazing at the clearings and paths he had walked a thousand times. He looks nostalgic. For, time and paths have changed, but his heart has remained the same. Still ticking merrily. He looks as if he would like to get up again, and start roaming around with the goats, as he used to do.

Arena Magazine, Yugoslavia, 1978

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