O fenomenu kahve i mjestima gdje se pila u Bosni u 16. i 17. stoljeću

Abstract

ON THE PHENOMENON OF COFFEE AND PLACES WHERE IT WAS PREPARED IN BOSNIA IN THE 16TH AND 17TH CENTURIES The paper follows the chronology and the methods of spreading coffee in the Ottoman Empire, which relatively quickly reached from Yemen to the Hijaz, i.e., Egypt, then to Istanbul, and finally to other cities in the Eyalet of Bosnia. Considering the fact that this was a very important phenomenon, which relatively quickly became a very active and influential social factor, the paper also points out the role of different groups of people in the spread of this drink. Among them, the most important role was played by merchants, students, pilgrims, dervishes, and Ottoman dignitaries, who brought coffee to the places where they performed their duties. All this influenced the adoption of this practice by various classes of society at the time. The paper also discusses the cyclical attitude of the Ottoman ulema and Porte towards coffee, which ranged from disapproval and strict prohibition to acceptance and approval, which accompanied the massive expansion of the coffeehouses. In the 17th century, this attitude changed again, after the great fire broke out in Istanbul in 1633, which served as an excuse to re-ban coffee and demolish a large number of coffeehouses, but this situation did not last long.Special attention was paid to the first news about coffee and coffeehouses in several cities in Bosnia. Based on the analysis of the text from Pečewī’s History, where the first coffeehouse in Bosnia was mentioned, it was determined that he actually described a coffeehouse for meeting distinguished people of Ayalet that was within the Pasha’s court in Banja Luka, and not in Sarajevo as was previous-ly thought. In addition to the coffeehouses in Banja Luka, there were also similar places where coffee was prepared in cities like Sarajevo, Foča, and Mostar. The paper draws attention to the fact that the gathering places of people, where they hung out over coffee, were different – the courts of Ottoman dignitaries, houses of city dignitaries, bazaar and mahala cafes, the coffeehouses near fortresses, hammams, and places in the open air where the army drank coffee while resting during a military campaign.Also, a prominent fact came from the source of that time that coffee and coffee-houses were the reason for intellectual meetings, but also a place where stories from history and oral tradition were told, as well as a place for singing heroic songs with fiddle or traditional music instrument called saz similar to the lute. Keywords: Coffee, coffeehouse, social life, Bosnia, court, guesthouse, bazaar