The Banat of Temeswar (German: Temeswarer Banat, Romanian: Banatul Timişoarei, Serbian: Tamiški Banat or Тамишки Банат, Hungarian: Temesi Bánság) was a Habsburg province that existed between 1718 and 1778. It was located in the present day region of Banat, which was named after this province. The province was abolished in 1778 and administratively incorporated into the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. ^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Population 3 Governors of the Banat of Temeswar 4 Notes 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

Although Before the treaty of Karlowitz most parts of Banat were already controlled by the forces of Prince Eugene of Savoy, the treaty finally recognized the Ottoman rule above the region with the fort of Temeswar. Spanish Succession War and the Rákóczi's War for Independence in Hungary caused the Habsburgs to turn their attention elsewhere, so until the 1710s there were no Habsburg attempts to gain any territories from the Ottomans.

In the Austro-Turkish War of 1716-18, Prince Eugene of Savoy conquered Banat from the Ottoman Empire. It received the title of the Banat of Temeswar after the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718), and remained a separate province of the Habsburg Monarchy under military administration until 1751, when Empress Maria Theresa of Austria introduced a civil administration. The capital of the province was Temeswar.

The Banat of Temeswar was abolished in 1778, and in 1779 it was incorporated into Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary, while its former territory was divided into three counties: Torontál, Temes and Krassó-Szörény. The southern part of the Banat region, which was part of the Banat of Temeswar until 1751, remained part of the Military Frontier (Banat Krajina) until it was abolished in 1871.

[edit] Population

The province had to be repopulated after the conquest because due to previous wars it has low population density. The population density was among the lowest in Europe, some researchers suggest that it was around 1 person / square kilometres.^{[citation needed]} According to the first census conducted by the Habsburg military authorities, population of Banat numbered about 20,000 inhabitants, mostly Serbs. ^[2] Former Muslim population of Banat has left from the area following Habsburg conquest. ^[2]

The low population density resulted to a colonization which continued till the early 19th century and had many sources, German families settled there from Austrian and southern German lands, Romanians from Wallachia and Transsylvania, and Serbian refugees from Ottoman Empire, as well as Serbs from other parts of the Habsburg Monarchy. The government organized also regimental districts, which had mostly Serbian population as they got special rights in exchange for defending the borders. Hungarians were excluded from this process as the settlement of Hungarians was officially forbidden till the late 18th century (this was possibly the result of the Rákóczi's War for Independence between 1703-11).

According to data from 1774, the population of the Banat of Temeswar was composed of: ^[3]

• Romanians = 220,000
• Serbs and Greeks = 100,000
• Germans = 53,000
• Hungarians and Bulgarians = 2,400
• Jews = 340

The first official census took part during the rule of Joseph II, from the late 18th century.^{[citation needed]} This shows Romanian majority in the east, Serbian in the west, and numerous German population in the whole area.

[edit] Governors of the Banat of Temeswar

• Claudius Mercy
• Franz Leopold Engelshofen

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

• Banat
• Banat Krajina
• Ottoman Province of Temeşvar

[edit] References

• The Times History of Europe, Times Books, 2002.
• Denis Šehić - Demir Šehić, Istorijski atlas Sveta, Beograd, 2007.
• Milan Tutorov, Banatska rapsodija - istorika Zrenjanina i Banata, Novi Sad, 2001.
• Peter Rokai - Zoltan Đere - Tibor Pal - Aleksandar Kasaš, Istorija Mađara, Beograd, 2002.
• Dr Dušan J. Popović, Srbi u Vojvodini, knjiga 2, Novi Sad, 1990.
• J. H. Šviker, Politička istorija Srba u Ugarskoj, Novi Sad - Beograd, 1998.
• Miodrag Milin, Vekovima zajedno (Iz istorije srpsko-rumunskih odnosa), Temišvar, 1995.
• Dimitrije Boarov, Politička istorija Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 2001.

[edit] External links

• Map
• Map
• The Banat, 1718-1778
• SOME BASIC INFO ON BANAT
• Timisoara Tourism