The Lion Of Plevna In The Songs Of Bosniaks From Sandžak

197 THE LION OF PLEVNA IN THE SONGS OF BOSNIAKS FROM SAND Ž AK Naka NİKŠİĆ, PhD, Assistant Professor 1 Introduction During the centuries of the Ottoman Empire rule, the Bosniaks from the Sandžak of Novi Pazar (more commonly known only as Sandžak) 2 fought on various fronts as members of the Ottoman army. Among other things, they participated in the defense of Plevna in 1877, and witnessed, as the historical sources cite, one of the most challenging military battles of the 19th century. Many songs have been sung about this historical event, and about Gazi Osman Paşa, who led the Ottoman army in the battles to defend Plevna, throughout the territories occupied by the Ottoman Empire. Önal recorded as many as 29 songs on this topic on the territory of Bulgaria, Romania, the Ukraine, Turkey, Kazahstan and Iraq (Önal, 2007). In the music tradition of the Bosniaks from Sandžak, there are also songs about Gazi Osman Paşa. They are all lyrical and it is supposed that they emerged when the fighters “started returning home”, towards the end of 1878 or the beginning of 1879 (Bejtić, 1953: 391). Some of them can be found in ethnomusico- logical collections, but there are those which have not been recorded. Only one of them is known to the wider audience in Sandžak, where it is frequently sung. This was why I decided to find and within this paper present these songs. In order to understand why they “survived” in the music tradition of the Bosniaks from Sandžak 140 years after the battle for Plevna, we should take brief glance a the life of Gazi Osman Paşa, as well as his significance and the role he played in this historical event. Gazi Osman Paşa – his life and work An important military and political personality Osman Nuri, better known as Gazi Osman Paşa in Turkish, was born in 1833 in a place called Tokat. He began his military education in Istanbul in the Beşiktaş Askerî Rüşdiyesi, and then in 1844 he continued his education in the askerî idâdîyej Zildi 3 . He then enrolled in the Mekteb-i Harbiyye’ye and in 1853 graduated from 1 University of Belgrade, Teacher Education Faculty 2  The Sandžak of Novi Pazar was one of the 52 sandžaks which were a part of the Ottoman Empire. The territory it covered took various forms of organization within the Empire from the middle of the 15th century, up until 1912. Today it is divided between three countries – Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is mostly populated by a Bosniak population, which, irrespective of the state borders, shares the same cultural heritage, and thus share the same songs. 3  In the paper, the names of schools, ranks, functions and orders are given in the Turkish language, precisely because for most of them there are to suitable English translations.