From the History of “Aljamiado” Literature in the Balkans: Abdulvehab Ilhamiya (1773–1821)

The paper is devoted to the life and work of a Bosnian writer and thinker Abdulvehab Ilhamiya Žepčevi who was one of most outstanding authors of South-Slavonic Aljamiado literature. Aljamiado works were written in Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian using Arabic script adapted to Slavonic languages (Arebica). Žepčevi’s literary output covers works in Bosnian (as he called his mother tongue), Arabic and Turkish. He wrote mystical poems and prose, including religious treaties. Ilhamiya was critical towards the rule of Ottoman Governor Jalaluddin Pasha and probably was killed at his command and buried in Travnik. Ilhamiya had a significant impact on future generations of Bosnian Muslim writers.