Povijesni prilozi, Vol. 45 No. 70, 2026.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.22586/pp.v45i70.fe85tn06
Mobility across the Drava and Mura Rivers in the Context of Ottoman Expansion (15th – 17th Centuries)
Anđelko Vlašić
orcid.org/0000-0001-8058-9115
Abstract
The paper examines mobility across the Drava and Mura Rivers between the 15th and 17th centuries in the context of Ottoman incursions and expansion in Slavonia and Hungary. First, it analyzes the intensified mobility across the mentioned rivers due to akıncı incursions into Slavonia in the 14th and 15th centuries, which influenced the migration of civilians across the Drava into Hungary in order to escape the dangers of Ottoman expansion. Second, it examines the decline in mobility across the Mura after 1600, when it became a border river between the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires. This decline resulted from efforts by the Zrinski/Zrínyi noble family to protect their land between the Drava and Mura with the construction of watchtowers along the right bank of the Mura and constant guarding of this riverine border. The paper seeks to determine the extent to which this defense system was able to prevent mobility, as sources point to the conclusion that Ottoman raiders, and especially Tatar cavalry, successfully crossed the Mura numerous times during the 17th century.
Keywords
mobility; Drava; Mura; Međimurje; Habsburg-Ottoman frontier; Evliya Çelebi
Hrčak ID:
349445
URI
Publication date:
15.7.2026.
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