Predstavka grupe gračaničkih trgovaca Zemaljskoj vladi iz 1904. godine da ukine robni vašar u Gračanici
Petition of a group of Gračanica merchants to the Provincial Government in 1904 to abolish the goods fair in Gračanica

Summary/Abstract: The document that is published here in the transcript (without any corrections) is titled: “Petition – Mahmtaga Hiffzieffendić et al. – for the purpose of abolishing the annual goods fair”, official signature 63036/1904 dated April 21 1904 (Archive of BiH, ZVS 63036/1904). In fact, this a request made by the Gračanica traders to the Provincial Government in Sarajevo to abolish the trade fair in Gračanica, which is still traditionally held from November the 8th to the 11th (The Mitrovdan fair). The document is interesting for several reasons. First, it sheds more light on certain socio-economic processes that affected the traditional Bosnian economy, primarily the trade that was threatened (and even collapsed) under the pressure and competition of the modern capitalist economy (both the production and trade) coming from the wider Austro-Hungarian monarchy. These pressures intensified in Gračanica after the railway to Karanovac was opened for traffic and connected to the railway network of the powerful empire in 1900. Large quantities of industrial products arrived from the outside by the railroad and increasingly suffocated the traditional economy (local artisans and merchants), which began to decline. This was the basis for the request of the local traders that the Government should abolish the Gračanica Mitrovdan goods fair in Gračanica, leaving only the livestock market. In addition to this aspect, the document provides interesting information on the local conditions from the beginning of the 20th century, and raises the question of the foundation of the Gračanica fair, which is considered one of the oldest goods fairs in this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina and dates back to the Ottoman period. An overview of all annual and weekly fairs in BiH was published in the “Bosniak” calendar for 1883. It is stated that the weekly goods fair was held on Fridays in Gračanica, while there is no information on the annual fair. The Austrian administration at that time probably didn’t recognize and register traditional folk fairs, such as the one in Gračanica.

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