Zahumye

The name of the region, most historians attribute to Mount Hum, located in the area of ​​modern Blagaya ^[1] . An area called Zahumye was first mentioned in the essay “ On the management of the empire ”, written by Konstantin Bagryanorodny around 950. In it, the region is located on the Adriatic coast between the Neretva River in the north and modern Dubrovnik in the south, and includes cities such as Stagnon , Bunu (located in the vicinity of the city of - the center of the region), Chloem and others. At that time, the region was limited to the Neretva River Basin ^[2] . After the conquest of Bosnia by the Turks, the old name fell into disuse ^[3] . In the XII century, the Zakhumye region is called Khum or Khumsky land ^[4] .

Information about the first centuries of the existence of Slavic tribes in these lands is extremely scarce. Archaeological materials are scarce and difficult to date. Written sources are almost completely absent. For the first time, the name of the Serbs was mentioned in sources related to the revolt of Ludevit Posavsky ( IX century ), and the Byzantine emperor Konstantin Bagryanorodny tells in more detail about them in the middle of the X century. Bosnia since their appearance in the Byzantine possessions. But his data are sketchy, and sometimes contradictory ^[5] .

According to the Byzantine emperor Konstantin Bagryanorodny, Serbs appeared in the Balkans in the 1st half of the 7th century ^[6] . They occupied the territory of modern Serbia , Montenegro , Bosnia and Croatia ^[7] . After resettlement on the Balkan Peninsula, the first territorial associations of the Serbs, like most of the southern Slavs, had zhups . Zhupa usually occupied areas limited by the flow of rivers or mountains. Their centers were fortified settlements or cities. As the administrative territorial units of the упupa, they later became the solid foundation of the Serbian state ^[8] . However, the Byzantines called all of these lands "Slavonia." After the resettlement of the Slavs in the Balkans, in the Byzantine sources, information appears on the many clavinias from Thessaloniki to Constantinople, and later on the clavions located above the cities on the Dalmatian coast ^[9] .

Some time after the resettlement to the Balkans, the Serbs formed several large communities, which then became state entities. Between the rivers Cetina and Neretva there was the principality of Neretva, which the Byzantines called Pagania. She owned the islands of Brac, Hvar and Mljet. The area between Neretva and Dubrovnik was called Zahumle. The lands from Dubrovnik to the Boka Kotor Bay were occupied by Travunia and Konavle. Further south, to the Boyana River, was Duklja, which later became known as Zeta. Between the rivers Sava, Vrbas and Ibar there was Raska ^{[10] [11]} , and between the rivers Drina and Bosna - Bosnia ^[12] .

As in other parts of the Balkan Peninsula, in the Serbian lands the spread of Christianity among the Slavic tribes began shortly after their resettlement. The initiator of Christianization in these lands was Byzantium, which hoped in this way to expand its political influence on the Slavs. Emperor Konstantin Bagryanorodny reports that the baptism of the Serbs began under Emperor Heraclius (610–641), who sent priests from Rome to the Serbs ^[13] . According to some historians, the Byzantine attempts to spread Christianity in the Serbian lands had somewhat greater results than in Croatia. Christianity initially spread slowly, wide sections of the population with difficulty perceived it and often returned to paganism. However, part of the Slavic population remained committed to Christianity, especially in coastal areas bordering the Byzantine possessions ^[14] . Finally, a new religion was established in Serbian lands only in the second half of the 9th century under the emperor Vasily I, when the princely family was baptized in Raska. Presumably, this happened between 867 and 874 years ^{[15] [16]} . At the same time, some representatives of the Serbian nobility could be baptized earlier, while in some areas (especially in Pagania) and among the peasantry paganism also reigned in the 10th century ^[17] .

Soon after the resettlement of the Slavs on the Balkan Peninsula, political unions of neighboring zhups headed by princes or bani (in Bosnia) began to be created. The posts of zhupans, princes, and bans gradually became hereditary and assigned to certain wealthy and influential clans. The constant struggle and military clashes of these relatively small alliances led to the creation of more extensive territorial associations. All these political entities were under the supreme power of Byzantium. But their dependence on the empire was small and boiled down to paying tribute. Recognizing the supreme power of Byzantium, the Serbs were in fact politically independent ^[18] .

The Grand Duchy of Zahumye was founded in the 630s, when it was granted by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius to the Slavs, who were led by an unnamed leader (referred to in the literature as the Unknown Archon ), and who previously lived near Thessaloniki . In 869, the admiral of Emperor Vasily I Nikita Oorif was sent to Ragusa with the aim of uniting Slavic tribes against the Saracens , while Zakhumye is mentioned as one of the principalities that took part in the campaign.

At the end of the 9th century, the ruler of Rashka, Petar Goinikovich from the Vlastimirovich dynasty, began to expand his state at the expense of Zakhumya, motivating it with the fact that Zakhumye has historically been a vassal area in relation to Rashka. Prince Zahumya Mikhailo was forced to flee to the islands. Prince Petar then entered into negotiations with Byzantium about an alliance against the Bulgarians, and Prince Mikhailo announced the negotiations to Bulgarian Tsar Simeon I. Mikhailo continued to pursue pro-Bulgarian politics; So, in 912, he captured the son of the Venetian Doge and sent him to Bulgaria. In the end, the Bulgarians replaced Petar, and Mikhailo regained control of Zakhumye. In the future, he also achieved official recognition by Byzantium and received the title of patrician .

After the XII century, Zahumje was gradually incorporated into the Serbian feudal state , in 1322 - 1326 it moved to Bosnia , and when it collapsed, it became part of medieval Herzegovina . Together with the latter, it was conquered by the Ottomans in the 15th century.

• Paganiya

• Chronicles of the priest Duklyanin / Per. S.V. Alekseeva. - SPb .: Information Center "Petersburg Oriental Studies", 2015 - 288 p. - Series "Slavica Petropolitana".

• Chirkovich Sim. History of the Serbs. - M .: The whole world, 2009 .-- 448 p. - ISBN 978-5-7777-0431-3 .
• History of Yugoslavia. - M .: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR , 1963. - T. 1. - 736 p.
• Makova E.S. Serbian lands in the Middle Ages and Early New Time // History of the Southern and Western Slavs / Matveev G.F., Nenasheva Z.S. - M .: Publishing House of Moscow University , 2008. - T. 1. - 688 p. - ISBN 978-5-211-05388-5 .
• Leafing through the pages of Serbian history / E.Yu. Guskova. - M .: Indrik, 2014 .-- 368 p. - ISBN 978-5-91674-301-2 .
• Early feudal states in the Balkans of the 6th-12th centuries / Litavrin G.G. - M .: Nauka , 1985 .-- 363 p.
• Sedov V.V. Slavs: historical and archaeological research. - M .: Languages ​​of Slavic culture, 2002. - 624 p. - ISBN 5-94457-065-2 .
• The formation of early feudal Slavic peoples / Korolyuk V.D .. - M .: Nauka , 1981. - P. 289.
• Hum (Horv.) . Hrvatska enciklopedija .

• Srbi will change Byzantine, Khrvatsk and Bulgaria (Serb.) . Date of treatment July 14, 2014.
• Where did she climb Srbiјa od VII to the XII century (Serb.) . Date of treatment February 1, 2015.