Settlements and population of Gokčanica in medieval and early modern times

Abstract

This paper discusses development of settlements and population dynamics of the Gokčanica region in the first centuries of Ottoman administration. By analyzing several unpublished Ottoman land registers and financial books, the authors are showing that this mining region was organized as a separate administrative unit during the reign of the Ottoman Empire, and how it covered a territory larger than the one presently understood as the area of Gokčanica. The amplitudes of mining and ferrous metallurgy, which were the dominant local industry, influenced the migrations of population and settlement models. The most populous villages were not established in places best fitted for living, but in those most convenient for operation of smelters, which also influenced other economic activities. Contrary to popular tradition, population of Gokčanica was entirely Serb and Eastern Orthodox, and isolated from the Islamization process. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177030: Od univerzalnih carstava do nacionalnih država. Društvo i političke promene u Srbiji i na Balkanu]

Keywords

• Gokčanica
• Kopaonik
• nahiye
• ferrous mining
• smelter
• migrations