Tomislavgrad

The area has been inhabited by Illyrian tribe of Dalmatae[2] and Delminium was a town established by them in nowadays Tomislav-Grad.[3] Delminium was situated on the location of today's Roman Catholic basilica, named after the first Croatian saint, Nikola Tavelić.

The area of Tomislav-Grad has been populated in 4000 BC – 2400 BC, even before Illyrians arrived, and from that time only polished stone axes remained as proof that someone was here.[4] Bronze Age (1800 BC – 800 BC) also left few marks in Tomislav-Grad. Archeological collection of monastery in Široki Brijeg had few items founded on area of Tomislavgrad from Bronze Age: 34 bronze sickles, 3 axes and 2 spears. Those items were found in Stipanjići and Lug near Tomislav-Grad. Those items were given to Archeological collection "fra Mijo Čuić and fra Stjepan Naletilić". Later, Fr Vojislav Mikulić found a bronze axe in Letka which he gave to those collections. Unfortunately, collection was destroyed in fire at the end of World War II. Only one sickle and axe survived the tragedy.[4] However, this collection says that population of Tomislav-Grad at the time worked in primary sector, they were cattlemen, farmers and warriors.[4]

Unlike their unnamed predecessors, Illyrians left material proofs from their time. On the slopes of the mountains which circle Tomislav-Grad, Illyrians built 36 fortifications. These forts served as watchtower or forts against the enemy. There are also many graves of Illyrians which means that they cared about their dead. Same as forts, graves are dating from Bronze and Iron Age to Roman conquest of Delminium (Tomislav-Grad). In the graves of dead Illyrians, jewellery and items which the dead used, were found.[4]

Another inhabitants, except Illyrians, were Celts. They brought higher culture, crafts and most importantly better arms.[5] But soon, Celts have been assimilated as Illyrians, since there was only small number of them.[5]

As Romans conquered territory of Illyrian tribe Ardiaei, and so, Delmataes and their tribal union were last bastion of Illyrian freedom. The Dalmatae attacked Roman wards near Neretva, Greek merchant towns and the Roman friendly Illyrian tribe Daors. The Illyrians upgraded their settlements into strong forts and surrounded their capital with wreath of smaller forts.[5] It is assumed that, during that time, 5,000 Dalmatae lived in Delminium.[5]

In 167 BC Illyrian forts could not stop Roman legions and Rome conquered the entire Adriatic coast south of Neretva; the state of the Ardieaei was also destroyed. The first conflict between the Dalmatae and Rome started in 156 BC. The consuls Gaius Marcius Figulus, then Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum conquered and destroyed Delminium; the latter received a triumph in Rome for this victory. Reports of writers during that time say that Delminium was a "large city", almost inaccessible and impregnable. Romans shot lighted arrows at wooden houses, which then burned the city.[5] After various rebellions led by Dalmatae and three wars with Rome, their land was lastly conquered for good in 9 AD.

After Roman conquest of Delminium, they started building roads and bridges. Roads that led to mainland of Balkans from Adriatic coast in Salona (Solin) and Narona (Vid near Metković) crossed in Delminium (Tomislavgrad). Remains of those and other Roman roads are still in existence.[4] Romans introduced their culture, language, legislation and religion. For next 400 years Tomislavgrad was in peace.

After the Romans defeated Dalmatae, Tomislavgrad was almost abandoned. There was also, for some period, a military crew of Romans stationed there to keep Illyrians under control.[4] Romans started to rebuild Delminium in 18 and 19 AD in time of emperor Tiberius.[4] During that time the center of the city was built, a Roman forum. This forum was built on possession of present-day Nikola Tavelić basilica.[4]

In 1896 Fra Anđeo Nuć discovered various sculptures of Roman pagan deities, fragments of pagan sarcophagi, and fragments of columns of medieval Christian church. From all those discoveries, most prominent are two votive monuments and altars dedicated to goddess Diana, one altar dedicated to native Illyrian god Armatus and one votive plate dedicated to goddess Libera. Later, relief of goddess Diana was also found and one relief of Diana and Silvanus together. Also, new pagan altars, fragments of sarcophagi, clay pottery, parts of columns, and various other findings from Roman and early medieval age were found. This led to conclusion that on place of present-day Catholic graveyard "Karaula" (which was previously an Ottoman military border post and guardhouse) was Roman and Illyrian pagan sanctuary and graveyard.[4]

Croats settled this area in the 7th century, and the area was renamed to Županjac. The area around Tomislavgrad was important in Croatian history in Croatian early Middle Ages. According to the Cronicle of Doclea priest the most important event from this period was the first assembly of Croatia in the year 753. The first Croatian court was made at the mountain Lib when Croats have arrived to Duvno area. In that court duke Budimir has hosted the deputy of Pope Stephen II and Byzantine Emperor Constantine V.

There were made the preparations for the Great assembly of kingdom and Church. At that assembly the country was divided on the three big regions, divided on more autonomous provinces, whose borders were taken from the Roman times. It has been determined the administration, taxes and justice system. It is a commonly accepted theory that coronation assembly of King Tomislav was placed in the 925 at that area.

The Duvno field with the city of Županjac was in the possession of Croatian kings till the 2nd half of the 13th century when it became the possession of noble family Šubić. At the end of 13th and beginning of the 14th century, the Šubić family, with approval from the Pope Boniface VIII, established three dioceses on the territory of the Archdiocese of Split, the Diocese of Šibenik, the Diocese of Makarska and the Diocese of Duvno. The motive for the establishment of those dioceses was to halt the spread of the Bosnian Church and strengthening of Šubićs' influence in the area. The seat of the Diocese of Duvno was the Church of Saint John the Baptist, located in the town of Rog, near the present-day Roško Polje. The bishops of Duvno served mostly as assistants to the archbishop of Split or were only titular bishops.

Until the 1320s, Duvno was part of the Kingdom of Croatia, when Stephen II, Ban of Bosnia took the land from Šubićs and incorporated it in the Banate of Bosnia. Duvno became a part of the Western Regions, a province of the Banate of Bosnia, together with Livno and Glamoč. However, the population of the Western Regions didn't identify with the Bosnian Kingdom. After King Tvrtko gave in the territory of Zachlumia westwards from the Neretva river to the Hungarian and Croatian King Louis I in 1357, Duvno became the southwesternmost part of his realm towards the Kingdom of Croatia.

A struggle broke out in the village of Kolo, in Duvno, in 1374, due to a division over loyalty between the Bosnian and Croatian-Hungarian King. For this reason, Tvrtko took over the village and gave it to the Semković family from Usora, and their ownership over the village was confirmed by King Dabiša in 1395. In 1404, King Ostoja gave Duvno and Glamoč to Duke Pavle Klešić. In 1444 or earlier, Duvno became a possession of Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, the duke of the Duchy of Saint Sava.

Džudža Džafer Mosque in Tomislavgrad

Duvno was conquered by the Ottomans in 1477, who established the Nahiyah of Duvno, and incorporated it to the Sanjak of Herzegovina. It became part of the Kadiluk of Foča. Somewhere before 1519, Duvno was incorporated to the Kadiluk of Mostar. For a short period between 1528 and 1537, Duvno was part of the Sanjak of Bosnia, and during the same period, it was part of the Kadiluk of Neretva. It was again incorporated into the Sanjak of Herzegovina and the Kadiluk of Mostar.

In the middle 16th century, the Ottomans founded a qasaba Županj-Potok. In 1576 Duvno became part of the Kadiluk of Imotski, and it became a kadiluk on its own before 1633. In the second half of the 17th century, Duvno became a part of the Sanjak of Klis, however, it was soon returned to the Herzegovinian Sanjak.

On 8 May 1711, Duvno became a captaincy. The seat of captaincy was Županj-Potok. The Captaincy of Duvno was located between the Captaincy of Livno at its north and the Captaincy of Ljubuški at its south; on its west was the Ottoman-Venetian border. Hasan Agha was named the first captain. In 1723, the Ottomans constructed a forth in Županj-Potok and named it Sedidžedid (the new wall), and named the captaincy after it.

The population of Duvno suffered heavily during the plagues of 1772, 1773, 1814 and 1815.

Hamdija Kreševljaković mentions a borough named Duvno at the end of the 17th century and also states that this borough became a kaza in the first years of the 18th century. In the middle of the 17th century Evliya Çelebi, a famous Turkish travel writer stated that Duvno "looks like a paradise garden, it is part of the Sanjak of Klis and has four hundred of houses and one imposing mosque, many masjids, one inn, one hamam, and ten shops." Duvno remained under Ottoman rule until 1878 when Austria-Hungary occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Berlin Congress.

During the Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tomislavgrad was known as Županjac. It was a seat of the Kotar of Županjac, which didn't include the region of Šujica, but it encompassed the villages of Vir, Zavelim and Zagorje in the present-day Municipality of Posušje.[6]

Nikola Tavelić basilica in the 1920s, when it was called Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius basilica

In 1929, Duvno was renamed Tomislavgrad for the first croatian king Tomislav of Croatia and for the prince of the kingdom of Yugoslavia Tomislav Karađorđević.

After the collapse of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the establishment of the German-Italian puppet the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) on 10 April 1941. The NDH was separated by the demarcation line, one zone controlled by the Italians and the other by the Germans. Tomislavgrad fell under the Italian demarcation zone.

The NDH was administratively divided into 22 grand counties. The Kotar of Tomislavgrad was part of the Grand County of Pliva-Rama. The Kotar of Tomislavgrad was further subdivided into several municipalities, including the urban centre – the Municipality of Tomislavgrad.

Šime Bančić from Split became the first district president. However, due to his opposition to the Ustaše government, he was quickly moved to Livno. Bančić was succeeded by Tomo Maleš from Sinj, who continued the policy of his predecessor. He was soon recalled to Zagreb and then sent to Sarajevo, where he was arrested and killed. In the summer of 1941, Tomislavgrad gained the third district president – Tripalo.

Alongside the civil authorities, the Ustaše established their own authority. The head of the Ustaše for the District of Tomislavgrad was logornik Jozo Brstilo, while the Ustaše organisation on the municipality level was headed by tabornik Bajro Tanović, originally from Gacko. The head of the police in Tomislavgrad was Josip Antić from Ključ. The Italian occupation government disallowed their presence in Tomislavgrad, until the signing of the Treaty of Rome on 18 May 1941, when they were allowed to take control over Tomislavgrad.

Immediately after the establishment of the NDH, the Ustaše in Tomislavgrad, led by Brstilo and Tanović, organised the persecution of local Serbs. The Communist Party of Yugoslavia's (KPJ) local committee in Livno was in charge of the District of Tomislavgrad, and organised the first Partisan units. Fearing of the spread of the rebellion, the Italians once again occupied Tomislavgrad in September 1941 and took control over the political and military affairs until June 1942. While the NDH civil authorities remained active, the Ustaše organisation was expelled from Tomislavgrad.

During the second Italian occupation, the communists managed to expand the number of partisans and their activities. The KPJ Livno was part of the Communist Party of Croatia's branch for the region of Dalmatia. Thus, the Partisans of Tomislavgrad were directly subordinated to the communist leadership from Croatia. The territory of the Kotar of Tomislavgrad was part of the Fourth Operational Zone of Croatia.

After the war, the Srez of Duvno became a part of the newly-established Federal Bosnia and Herzegovina and in 1945 became a part of the Okrug of Travnik.[7] The seat of the srez was in the town Duvno, and it included these local communities:[8]

• Mrkodol, included the villages of Mesihovina, Mrkodol and Bukovica
• Brišnik, included the villages of Brišnik, Cebara, Omerovići and Kovači
• Borčani, included the villages of Borčani, Kongora, Omolje, Seonica, and Crvenice
• Jošanica, included the villages of Stipanići, Jošanica, Podgaj, and Kolo
• Eminovo Selo, included the villages of Blažuj, Eminovo Selo, Mokronoge and Luk
• Letka, included the villages of Oplećani, Vedašić, Letka and Kuk
• Mandino Selo, included the villages of Lipa, Mandino Selo, Rašćani and Srđani
• Prisoje, included the villages of Prisoje and Vrilo
• Grabovica, included the villages of Grabovica, Dobrići, Korita, and Zidine
• Renići, included the villages of Bukova Gora, Kazaginac, Renići, Rašeljke, Liskovača and Prisika
• Zaljut, included the villages of Mijakovo Polje, Zaljut and Rošnjače
• Hambari, included the villages of Vojkovići, Radoši, Hambari and Roško Polje
• Zaljuće, included the villages of Vranjača, Kosnice, Krnjin, and Zaljuće
• Vinica, included the villages of Vinica and Pasić
• Gornje Ravno, included the villages of Gornje Ravno, Donje Ravno, Mušić and Zvirnjača.

In 1950, the Srez of Duvno became a part of the Okrug of Mostar.[9] In 1952, the okrugs were abolished, while the country was divided into 66 srezs, one of which was Duvno.[10]

In mid-1955, the country was divided into 15 srezs, while Duvno became a municipality within the Srez of Livno.[11] In 1962, the number of srezs was lowered to 6, and the Municipality of Duvno, with 61 settlements, became a part of the Srez of Mostar.[12] In 1966, the srezs were abolished.[13]