Thread by @Criter10n

🧵 The Bosniaks in the Levant

Bushnak Arabic: بشناق, meaning "Bosniak", is a surname common among Levantines of Bosniak origin.

Those sharing this surname are the descendants of Bosniaks apprehensive of living under Christian rule after the 🇦🇹🇭🇺 occupation of Bosnia in 1878, who immigrated to Ottoman #Syria.

While not originally from one family, most Bosniaks who immigrated to the Levant adopted Bushnak as a common surname, attesting to their origins. Bushnak is also used colloquially among Palestinians to refer to someone who is fair-skinned.

Some Bosniak immigrantion to Palestine occurred when Bosniak soldiers were brought to Palestine in the late 1800s to provide reinforcements for the Ottoman army.

The more substantial movement occurred after 1878, when the Austro-Hungarian empire occupied Bosnia. Bosniak Hijra continued through this period, escalating after the 🇦🇹🇭🇺 1908 annexation of Bosnia.

Many made Hijra to parts of what is now modern Turkey, while a smaller number settled in Ottoman Syria (modern Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan).

Bosniak immigrants settled predominantly in villages in the parts of the present day West Bank and Palestine: #Qaysaria, #Yânûn, #Nablus and #Ṭūlkarm. Their descendants still live in these villages, their Bosnian heritage reflected in the Arab surname of Bushnak.

The Bosniak mosque in Qaysaria, occupied Palestine.