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The Banat Region |
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The Banat Region
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In
South-western Romania, the Banat region is shared with Hungary and Serbia,
resulting in Banat's decidedly western flavour and beautiful Habsburg
Empire buildings and culture.
This is where the revolution to oust the mad dictator Ceausescu started
and it's Capitol, Timişoara, has had a long history
of being the regional centre through Roman, Ottoman, and Habsburg empires,
with strong influences from German Swabian migrations.
Today's Banat inherits its name from the Banat of Timisoara (then Temeşvar).
An Ottoman ruling official called a "ban" (meaning master in
Persian) ruled each frontier province called a Banat. Read more in
the History Section below
The Historical Region
The Banat is a geographical and historical region currently divided
between Romania, Hungary and Serbia.
The main central and eastern part is
in Romania, comprising mostly of the counties Timiş, Caraş-Severin (and
more historically, parts of what is now Arad, and Mehedinţi).
The western part of Banat now in Serbia is in Vojvodina county there,
with a small northern part of historical Banat being in Hungary as
Csongrád county.
The historical Banat region 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 (in Crişana on the
map to the right), and the Southern Carpathian mountains to the east.
Its historical capital was Timişoara, now in Timiş county.
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Banat Stamps, 1940s
During German Occupation of Banat
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 Great Activities
As always with a region of Romania gifted with some stunning alpine
peaks, hiking, mountain climbing and trekking are all popular throughout
the south-eastern mountains of Banat.
A favourite retreat for the Habsburgs, you'll find hunting, horse
riding and fishing along the many river basins.
Topography, Climate and Agriculture
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).
Note that 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.
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The Dacians
Before the Roman Empire under Trajan conquered the region of the Banat
in 106, the land was inhabited by Dacians. As the Greek
historian Herodotus observed (Book IV), the area that was later to become
the Banat was toward the end of the sixth century BC inhabited by the
Agathyrsi, probably an Illyrian or Thracian tribal people.
The Romans
Around 400 BC the Celts moved east into the region and by the first
century BC, the Romans. By 107 AD they had incorporated the region into
the empire as the province of Dacia. The Emperor Trajan created in 106 the
town of Tibiscum as a Roman stronghold which became the present-day
Temeschburg.
The Vandals, Huns, Avars, and Slavs
Roman rule was eventually
overextended, however, and Emperor Aurelian (270-275) withdrew Roman
forces to south of the Danube. The remaining Romanized population
was then overrun by various tribes of Iazyges, Vandals, Heruli, Gepids und
Ostrogoths.
Toward the end of the fourth century, the region was again overrun,
this time by the Huns. After their defeat by combined Roman and German
forces, the Gepids inhabited the area until the seventh and eighth
centuries which saw the arrival of the Avars and Slavs.
Bulgarian and Hungarian Banat
When the power of the Avars was broken by Charlemagne, the region
passed under the control of the Bulgars. Banat was incorporated into the First Bulgarian
Empire at the beginning of the 9th century.
The region was conquered by the Kingdom of Hungary in the 11th century
and was divided into the counties Torontál, Temes, Krassó and Szörény. 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.
Eyalet of Temeşvar, an Ottoman province
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The Ottomans
Before the end of the ninth century, the Magyars or Hungarians arrived
out of the east to conquer the region and hold it until the Turkish
conquest in 1552.
The Banat was captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1552, and became a
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.
From the Rest Romania Website at
Prior to 1526, when the Ottoman Empire defeated Hungary at the battle
of Mohacs, there were several Banats (Hungarian Bánát). These were
districts ruled by an official known as a Ban (a term that has its origin
in a Persian word meaning lord or master which was introduced into Europe
by the Avars; "Banat" came to mean a frontier province or a district under
military governorship) The most common use of the term, though, is The
Banat of Temesvar, which, oddly enough, was never administered by a Ban.
Ruled by the Ottomans from 1552 until 1716, it was then conquered by the
Habsburg armies led by Prince Eugene of Savoy, and officially transferred
to Austria by the Treaty of Passarowitz/Pozarevac in 1718.
During the years of Ottoman rule, the area was largely depopulated and
had a large proportion of marshland. Count Mercy was appointed governor in
1720 and started the process of turning the Banat into a settled
agricultural region. In 1779 the Banat was transferred to Hungarian rule.
From 1848 to 1860 the Banat and the Batschka were ruled directly by the
crown. From 1860 until 1919 the Banat was formally a part of Hungary.
The Banat of Temeşwar
In the 17th century, parts of the Banat were captured by 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. In 1779 the Banat region was incorporated into Habsburg Hungary, and
the three counties Torontál, Temes and Krassó were recreated. The southern part
of the Banat region remained within the Military Frontier (Banat Krajina)
until the Frontier was abolished in 1871.
Banat of Temeswar
Province of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1739
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Timişoara
Historical Capital of Banat
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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.
From the Rest Romania Website at
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.
Between 1722 and 1787, many skilled settlers were recruited from
Habsburg domains in the Holy Roman Empire to populate the newly-gained
lands. The first settlers came primarily from Swabia, hence the term
Donauschwaben.
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.
Immigration occurred sporadically after that time and was known as the
"Schwabenzug" or "Swabian Migration". The original Swabian Migration also
included French-, Italian-, and Spanish-speaking immigrants. The first two
migrations were restricted to Roman Catholics, but the third was also open
to Protestants. Emperor Josef II had granted freedom of religion in the
Habsburg Empire by that time.
The early immigrants were recruited and given travel stipends and loans
for seeds, implements, and tools, and were apportioned houses in
master-planned villages. Fields were allotted in farmlands surrounding the
villages. Freedom from serfdom, initial exemption from taxes, uncrowded
land, startup help, and association with the Habsburgs were the lures for
immigration to a frontier region which was beset by border wars,
marshland, and illness. To put things in perspective, the Banat was still
a frontier region in Europe at the time of the American Revolution.
The immigration of the "Swabians", along with the settlement of the
Military Frontier by Serbs recruited for settlement and military service,
populated a border region recently won from a perennial foe.
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
From the Rest Romania Website at
The 1848 Revolution
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.
Vojvodina of Serbia and Tami Banat in 1849
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Counties in Banat, Bačka and Srem after 1881, the five counties, which
were formed in the territory of former Vojvodina of Serbia and Tami
Banat.
After the Revolution of 1848-1849, the Banat (together with Srem and
Bačka) was made into a separate Austrian crown land known as the Vojvodina
of Serbia and Tami Banat , but in 1860 this province was abolished and incorporated again
into Habsburg 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.
The Banat Republic
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.
Banat in 1918 and Today
The former Banat counties in Hungary, Romania and
Serbia today with the 1918 Banat Republic border shown
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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.
From the Rest Romania Website at
Forming Banat of Today
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), and in 1956, the
southern half of the existing Arad Region was incorporated to the
Timişoara Region.
In December 1960, the Banat name was once again made official as the
Timişoara Region was renamed to Banat.
The split into today's counties came in February of 1968, when another
new territorial division was made and today's Timiş, Caraş-Severin and
Arad counties.
For more information on German Swabians in The Banat, see
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Romanians in Serbian Banat
Right: The Northern Province of Voijvodina in Serbia
Romanians are a recognised national minority in Serbia, numbering 34,576
according to a 2002 census. They are mostly concentrated in the
autonomous province of
Vojvodina, where their number is 30,419, while remaining 4,157 are
concentrated in Central Serbia, mainly in Belgrade.
Romanians in Hungarian Banat
The Tisa river region of the southern
Csongrád county (comitatus or megye) in
southern Hungary was part of Banat, now on the border with Serbia and Romania.
Today's county lies on the both sides of the river Tisa, and it shares
borders with the Hungarian counties Bács-Kiskun, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok and
Békés. The capital of Csongrád county is Szeged. The county is also part
of the Danube-Kris-Mures-Tisa euroregion.
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