НАСЕЉАВАЊЕ ПОТИСКИХ И ПОМОРИШКИХ ГРАНИЧАРА У БАНАТ (1751–1753)
RESETTLEMENT OF FRONTIERSMEN FROM THE RIVERS TISA AND MORIŠ TO BANAT (1751–1753)

Summary/Abstract: One of the most massive and organized migrations of the Serbs in the 18th century happened in 1751 and 1752. In this period, more then 12,000 people had been resettled from the territory along the right banks of the rivers Tisa and Moriš to the left banks of these rivers, which means from Bačka and southern Hungary to Banat. This resettlement was the consequence of demilitarization of the Military Frontier on the Tisa and Moriš (the so-called Potisje and Pomorišje sections of the Military Frontier), which occured in 1751. Both sections were established in 1702, but they lost their military role as soon as 1718, when southern areas of Banat, Serbia and Little Walachia were acquired. The demilitarization of the Potisje and Pomorišje sections of the Military Frontier had been a disputable question for a few decades before it eventually happened. After Potisje and Pomorišje sections of the Military Frontier were abolished in 1751, their frontiersmen were resettled in 15, mostly newly founded, settlements in Banat. These settlements were organized as the Banat Land Militia within 6 companies (so-called Upper Companies): Velika and Mala Kikinda, Melenci and Taraš, Mokrin, Jozefova (later Obilićevo) and Krstur, Idvor and Leopoldova (Čenta), Botoš, Marinovo Selo (Tomaševac) and Sige (Perlez), Vranjevo, Karlovo (Novo Miloševo) and Kumane. All of these settlements were located in deserted and marshland areas of western Banat, which were, until that moment, administratively submitted to the Districts of Bečkerek and Čanad. Depopulation of western Banat was caused by various reasons, such as plague epidemics (1730, 1738–1739), fiscal burden, war and presence of domestic army (1737–1739). According to the survey from the late 1739 and early 1740, plague epidemic caused a disappearance of 36% of adult male population (Contribuenten) in the District of Bečkerek, 33.61% in the District of Vršac, 27.21% in the District of Čakova and 42.31% in the District of Pančevo. Beside that, in the war period, the population of Banat escaped because of the conduct of domestic army, which burdened the inhabitants of settlements along their route on the rivers Tisa and Danube. By the year 1740 the devastation of some settlements in the District of Bečkerek on the river Tisa, such as Bečej and Čenta, committed by domestic army on its way towards Pančevo and Oršava was complete. According to military survey conducted in the end of 1753, in newly founded settlements of the Banat Land Militia there were 1,769 householders, as well as 1,044 married members of households (brothers and sons) and 273 married poor and homeless persons. Accordingly, only adult and physically capable men were registered. This means that in 15 settlements there were 3,113 married individuals as well as families, but the number of households was smaller (2,076), because the households were economic units consisting of 1–5 married male members. In about 40% of all households there were registered other married members (i.e. brothers and sons) beside the head of a household. In 196 households there were even 2–5 such members, so 9.44% of all households could be considered as zadruga (joint family). The number of potential zadruga households in the group of officers’ households was even biger (27%). Based on surveyed number of adult men in settlements of the Banat Land Militia in 1753, the estimated minimum of the total number of people settled there was 12,000 persons. In the area of 1 km² of these settlements there could be found 8.92 persons or one household in the area of 0.79 km². These data confirm the conclusion that the most important consequence of the demilitarization of Potisje and Pomorišje sections of the Military Frontier was the resettlement of their inhabitants in Banat, and not, as it was previously stated in literature, in Russia.

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