Banat
For another use, see Ban (title) |
Location of Banat in Europe |
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Map of the Banat region with largest cities shown |
The
Banat (
Romanian:
Banat,
Serbian:
Банат or
Banat,
Hungarian:
Bánát or
Bánság,
German:
Banat,
Slovak:
Banát,
Banat Bulgarian:
Banát) is a geographical and historical region of
Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in
Romania (the counties of
Timiş,
Caraş-Severin,
Arad, and
Mehedinţi), the western part in
Serbia (the Serbian Banat, mostly included in the
Vojvodina region, except for a small part included in
Central Serbia), and a small northern part in
Hungary (
Csongrád county).
The Banat is a part of the
Pannonian plain bordered by the
River Danube to the south, the
River Tisza (Theiss, Tissa, Tisa) to the west, the
River Mureş to the north, and the Southern
Carpathian mountains to the east. Its historical capital was
Timişoara (Hungarian:
Temesvár, Serbian:
Temišvar), now in
Timiş county in
Romania.
The term
Banat designated a frontier province governed by a
ban. The -at suffix is either
Latinate (from Romanian, cf.
Voievod/Voievodat and
Cneaz/Cnezat or from
Medieval Latin -atus) or
Turkic like the
title itself (brought by the
Sarmatians -
cf. Sultan/
Sultanate,
Emir/
Emirate,
Caliph/
Caliphate, and
Khan/
Khanate).
There were several banats in the medieval
Kingdom of Hungary, such as the banats of
Dalmatia, of
Slavonia, of
Bosnia and of
Croatia; these disappeared during the course of the
Turkish Wars. But when the word is used without any other qualification, it indicates the
Timişoara Banat, which strangely acquired this title after the
Treaty of Passarowitz (
1718), though it was never governed by a ban.
Romanian Banat
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Map of Romania with Romanian Banat highlighted |
On
29 July 1929, the existing counties formed the Timiş Province: Timiş-Torontal, Caraş-Severin, Arad, and Hunedoara.
On
6 September 1950, the province was replaced by the Timişoara Region (formed by today's counties
Timiş and
Caraş-Severin).
In 1956, the southern half of the existing Arad Region was incorporated to the Timişoara Region.
In December
1960, the Timişoara Region was named the Banat Region.
Starting
17 February 1968, another new territorial division was made and today's
Timiş,
Caraş-Severin and
Arad counties were formed.
Since 1998, Romania has been split into eight development regions, which act as sort of territorial autonomy divisions. The
Vest development region is composed of four counties: Arad, Timiş, Hunedoara, and Caraş-Severin; thus it has almost same borders as the Timiş Province of 1929. The Vest development region is also a part of the
Danube-Kris-Mures-Tisa Euroregion.
The Romanian Banat is mountainous in the south and southeast, while in the north, west and south-west it is flat and in some places marshy. The climate, except in the marshy parts, is generally healthy.
Wheat,
barley,
oats,
rye,
maize,
flax,
hemp and
tobacco are grown in large quantities, and the products of the vineyards are of a good quality. Game is plentiful and the rivers swarm with fish. The mineral wealth is great, including
copper,
tin,
lead,
zinc,
iron and especially
coal. Amongst its numerous mineral springs, the most important are those of Mehadia, with sulphurous waters, which were already known in the Roman period as the Termae Herculis (
Băile Herculane). The present "Banat Region" of Romania includes some areas that are mountainous and were not part of the historical Banat or of the Pannonian plain.
Serbian Banat
The Serbian Banat (Western Banat) was part of
Serbian Vojvodina (
1848-
1849) and part of the
Voivodship of Serbia and Tamiš Banat (
1849-
1860). After 1860, the Serbian Banat was part of
Torontál and
Temes counties of
Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. The center of Torontál county was
Veliki Bečkerek (Hungarian:
Nagybecskerek, Romanian:
Becicherecul Mare), the current
Zrenjanin.
The region was a county of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes between
1918 and
1922, and in
1929 it was incorporated into the
Danube Banovina (Danubian Banat), a province of the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Between
1941 and
1944, the
Serbian Banat was occupied by the
Axis powers. Formally it was part of Serbia, but it actually was a virtually separate autonomous region ruled by its German minority. Since
1945 the Serbian Banat (together with
Bačka and
Syrmia), has been part of the
Serbian Autonomous Province of
Vojvodina.
In Serbia, the Banat is mostly plains.
Wheat,
barley,
oats,
rye,
maize,
hemp and
sunflower are grown, and mineral wealth consists of
oil and
natural gas. A popular tourist destination in the Banat is
Deliblatska Peščara. According to
2002 census, the population of Serbian Banat (excluding its part near Belgrade) was composed of
Serbs (70.69%),
Hungarians (10.21%),
Romanians,
Slovaks, and others.
The
districts of Serbia in Banat are:
*
North Banat okrug*
Central Banat okrug*
South Banat okrugSee also:
Geographical regions in SerbiaHungarian Banat
This consists of a small northern part of the region, which is part of the
Csongrád County of
Hungary. Here (e.g. in
Deszk,
Szőreg) live some Serbs besides Hungarians as well.
Before the
Roman Empire under
Trajan conquered the region of the Banat in
106, the land was inhabited by
Dacians. Roman rule was eventually overextended, however, and Emperor
Aurelian (
270-
275) withdrew Roman forces to south of the
Danube, leaving behind a Romanized population.
During the early medieval migrations,
Slavs settled today's Banat in the
6th century. The region was incorporated into the
First Bulgarian Empire at the beginning of the 9th century. The Hungarian historical chronicle
Gesta Hungarorum speaks of a duke called
Glad, a ruler of territory of Banat who came from
Vidin and was a vassal of Tsar
Simeon I of Bulgaria. His descendant was
Ahtum, the last ruler, who was opposed to the establishment of the Hungarian Kingdom. Ahtum was an
Orthodox Christian.
The region was incorporated into the feudal
Kingdom of Hungary in the early
11th century (around 1008 or 1028) by Stephen I forming the prime-Csanad county which was divided latter into the counties
Arad,
Keve,
Temes,
Krassó and
Csanád.
The Banat was incorporated into the
Ottoman Empire in
1552, and became an Ottoman
eyalet (province) named the
Eyalet of Temeşvar. Since the
16th century, the Banat was mainly populated by
Serbs (
Rascians) and
Romanians (
Vlachs); thus in some historical sources it was mentioned under name
Rascia and in some other as
Wallachia. In
1594 Serbs in Banat started a large uprising against Ottoman rule. The Romanians also participated in this uprising.
In the
17th century, parts of the Banat were incorporated into the
Habsburg Monarchy of
Austria. In
1716,
Prince Eugene of Savoy took the last parts of the Banat from the Ottomans. It received the title of the
Banat of Temeswar after the
Treaty of Passarowitz (
1718), and remained a separate province of Habsburg Monarchy under military administration until
1751, when Empress
Maria Theresa of Austria introduced a civil administration. The Banat of Temeswar province was abolished in
1778. The southern part of the Banat region remained within the
Military Frontier (
Banat Krajina) until the Frontier was abolished in
1871.
During the Ottoman rule, parts of Banat had a low population density after years of warfare, and much of the area was left almost desolate in marsh, heath, and forest. Count
Claudius Mercy (
1666-
1734), who was appointed governor of the Banat of Temeswar in
1720, took numerous measures for the regeneration of the Banat. The marshes near the
Danube and
Tisza rivers were cleared, roads and canals were built at great expense of labour, German artisans and other settlers were attracted to colonize the district, and agriculture and trade encouraged.
Maria Theresa also took a great interest in the Banat; she colonized the region with large numbers of
German peasants, encouraged the exploitation of the mineral wealth of the country, and generally developed the measures introduced by Mercy. German settlers arrived from
Swabia,
Alsace and
Bavaria, as well as people from
Austria. Many settlements in the eastern Banat thus were mostly German-inhabited. The ethnic Germans in the Banat region became known as the
Danube Swabians, or
Donauschwaben. Hungarians were not allowed to settle down in Banat after the colonization for a long time.
According to
1774 data, the population of the
Banat of Temeswar at that time was composed of:
*
Romanians = 220,000
*
Serbs and
Greeks = 100,000
*
Germans = 53,000
*
Hungarians and
Bulgarians = 2,400
*
Jews = 340
In
1779 the Banat region was incorporated into
Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary, and the three counties
Torontál,
Temes and
Krassó were created. In
1848, the western Banat became part of the
Serbian Vojvodina, a Serbian autonomous region within the Habsburg Monarchy. During the
1848/
1849 revolution, the Banat was respectively held by
Serbian and
Hungarian troops.
After the
Revolution of 1848-1849, the Banat (together with
Srem and
Bačka) was made into a separate
Austrian crownland known as the
Voivodship of Serbia and Tamiš Banat (German:
Woiwodschaft Serbien und Temescher Banat), but in
1860 this province was abolished and incorporated again into Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary.
After
1871, the former
Military Frontier located in southern parts of the Banat came under civil administration and was incorporated into the Banat counties.
Krassó and
Szörény were united into
Krassó-Szörény in
1881.
In
1918, the
Banat Republic was proclaimed in
Timişoara in October, and the government of Hungary recognized its independence. However, it was short-lived. After just two weeks,
Serbian troops entered into the Banat region, and that was the end of the Banat Republic.
In late
1918 (confirmed by the
Treaty of Trianon of
1920), most of the Banat became part of
Romania: (
Krassó-Szörény completely, 2/3 of
Temes, and a small part of
Torontál). The southwestern part (most of
Torontál, 1/3 of
Temes) became part of the newly formed
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (which became
Yugoslavia). A small area near
Szeged became part of newly independent
Hungary.
The territory of the Banat is presently in the
Romanian counties
Timiş,
Caraş-Severin,
Arad and
Mehedinţi, the
Serbian autonomous province of
Vojvodina and
Belgrade City District, and the Hungarian county
Csongrád.
According to the 1910 census, the population of the Banat region was 1,582,133 people, of which 592,049 (37.42%) were
Romanians, 387,545 (24.50%)
Germans, 284,329 (17.97%)
Serbs, and 242,152 (15.31%)
Hungarians, with smaller numbers of other ethnic groups such as the
Slovaks,
Croats,
Rusins,
Bulgarians, etc. The German population mostly fled or was expelled from the region after World War II, as a consequence of war time events.
The traditional heraldic symbol of the Banat is a
lion, which is nowadays present in both the
Coat of Arms of Romania and the
Coat of Arms of Vojvodina.
Some of the major cities in Banat include:
*
Romania:
**
Timişoara (317,651)
**
Reşiţa (83,985)
**
Lugoj (44,571)
**
Caransebeş (28,294)
*
Serbia:
**
Zrenjanin (79,545)
**
Pančevo (76,110)
**
Kikinda (41,825)
**
Vršac (36,001)
Image:Timisoara cathedral.jpg|Timişoara, Romania, the Orthodox CathedralImage:Timisoara fountain.jpg|Timişoara, Romania, a fountain in the city centreImage:HPIM3116.jpg|Zrenjanin, Serbia, City Hall and monument of king Petar I of SerbiaImage:Vrsac.gif|Vršac, SerbiaImage:Mica Orsova.jpg|Orşova, RomaniaImage:Centru.jpeg|Oţelu Roşu, Romania, Town centerImage:Nagykik1.JPG|Kikinda, SerbiaImage:Székelykeve tájkép.jpg|Skorenovac, Serbia#Miodrag Milin, Vekovima zajedno (Iz istorije srpsko-rumunskih odnosa), Temišvar, 1995.#Milan Tutorov, Mala Raška a u Banatu, istorika Zrenjanina i Banata, Zrenjanin, 1991.#Milan Tutorov, Banatska rapsodija, istorika Zrenjanina i Banata, Novi sad, 2001.#Dr. Branislav Bukurov, Bačka, Banat i Srem, Novi Sad, 1978.#Milojko Brusin, Naša razgraničenja sa susedima 1919-1920, Novi Sad, 1998.#Jovan M. Pejin, Iz prošlosti Kikinde, Kikinda, 2000.#Dušan Belča, Mala istorija Vršca, Vršac, 1997.
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