Harman Patil (Editor)

White Serbia

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit

White Serbia (Serbian: Бела Србија/Bela Srbija), called Boiki (rendered in Serbian as Bojka), is the mythical homeland of the ancestors of the Serbs, the White Serbs (Beli Srbi). Boiki is mentioned in De Administrando Imperio, a 10th-century work by Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII (r. 913–959)

The area adjacent to White Serbia was known as White Croatia, where the Croats trace their origin. White Serbia and its ethnic designates, the White Serbs, could be interpreted through attributes such as "the unbaptized" or "pagan" (Pre-Christian), according to the DAI.

Location

Theories on the location of White Serbia has been disputed. It has been described by historians as:

  • Slovak historian P. J. Šafárik (1795–1865) classified the White Serbs as a Polabian Slavonic tribe.
  • Austro-Hungarian B. Kállay (1839–1903) noted that many historians assumed that White Serbia was identical to the Czech lands (Bohemia), or that the Czech lands were part of White Serbia, based on DAI's account and the name Bojka. He however believed that Šafařík's theory was more likely; that White Serbia was north of the Carpathians, stretching over western Russia and eastern Poland.
  • Yugoslav historian V. Ćorović (1885–1941) believed White Serbia included Galicia and the area around the sources of Dniester and Vistula.
  • Yugoslav human geographer B. Drobnjaković (1890–1961) noted that Bojka reminded of Bohemia.
  • Greek historian A. Stratos (1905–1981) believed it to be Bohemia.
  • Yugoslav Serbian historian S. Ćirković (1929–2009) believed it to be between the Elbe and Saale rivers.
  • Serbian historian L. Cerović (b. 1936) connected it to the land of the Boykos, Bojkovina, in the northern Carpathians.
  • Historian F. Conte (b. 1944) believed it to be in the area of Poland.
  • Serbian historian R. Novaković (1911–2003) connected the name to Bohemia (in turn derived from Celtic Boii) and located it in Polabia.
  • The area of Red Ruthenia (now western Ukraine) or the island of Rügen.
  • Lusatia, a triangle formed by parts of Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland.
  • J. Kovaćević noted the toponym Beloserbye in a 1393 document, situated in Poland between Czarnków and Żnin.
  • References

    White Serbia Wikipedia