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The Sanjak of Novi Pazar (Bosnian and Serbian: Новопазарски санџак, Novopazarski sandžak; Turkish: Yeni Pazar sancağı; Albanian: Sanxhaku i Pazarit të Ri; English also Sanjak of Novipazar) was an Ottoman sanjak (second-level administrative unit) that existed until the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 in the territory of present day Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo.[a]
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It was part of the Bosnia Vilayet and later Kosovo Vilayet and included most of the present day Sandžak region (named after the Sanjak of Novi Pazar), as well as northern parts of Kosovo (area around Kosovska Mitrovica).
The administrative seat of the Sanjak of Novi Pazar was in the city of Novi Pazar. At the Congress of Berlin in 1878, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Andrássy, in addition to the occupation and administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina, also obtained the right to station garrisons in the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, which remained under Ottoman administration. The Sanjak preserved the separation of Serbia and Montenegro, and the Austro-Hungarian garrisons there would open the way for a dash to Salonika that "would bring the western half of the Balkans under permanent Austrian influence."[1] "High [Austro-Hungarian] military authorities desired [an ...] immediate major expedition with Salonika as its objective." [2]
On 28 September 1878 the Finance Minister, Koloman von Zell, threatened to resign if the army, behind which stood the Archduke Albert, were allowed to advance to Salonika. In the session of the Hungarian Parliament of 5 November 1878 the Opposition proposed that the Foreign Minister should be impeached for violating the constitution by his policy during the Near East Crisis and by the occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The motion was lost by 179 to 95. By the Opposition rank and file the gravest accusations were raised against Andrassy.[3]
On 10 October 1878 the French diplomat Melchior de Vogüé described the situation as follows:
Particularly in Hungary the dissatisfaction caused by this 'adventure' has reached the gravest proportions, prompted by that strong conservative instinct which animates the Magyar race and is the secret of its destinies. This vigorous and exclusive instinct explains the historical phenomenon of an isolated group, small in numbers yet dominating a country inhabited by a majority of peoples of different races and conflicting aspirations, and playing a role in European affairs out of all proportions to its numerical importance or intellectual culture. This instinct is to-day awakened and gives warning that it feels the occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina to be a menace which, by introducing fresh Slav elements into the Hungarian political organism and providing a wider field and further recruitment of the Croat opposition, would upset the unstable equilibrium in which the Magyar domination is poised.[4]
The Austro-Hungarian garrisons were withdrawn in 1908 following the Habsburg annexation of neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Following the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, the territory of the Sanjak was divided between Serbia and Montenegro.
The Sanjak of Novi Pazar was mainly populated by Serbs, Bosniaks, and Albanians.
Some important cities in the sanjak were:
Notes:
| a. | ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. The latter declared independence on 17 February 2008, while Serbia claims it as part of its own sovereign territory. Its independence is recognised by 86 UN member states. |
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