This is the charter of Ban Kulin, written on the 29th of August 1189. It was was a trade agreement between the Banate of Bosnia and the Republic of Ragusa that effectively regulated Ragusan trade rights in medieval Bosnia. It is the oldest written record proving the existence of our nationality and rule in our country.
Here's a short tale of my country's origin. It was originally a refuge in the ice age for many tribes that later on formed various cultures in the Balkans. My people have the same genes as the Proto-Europeans making them one of the oldest peoples in Europe. We have had many cultural changes, from the invasion of the Indo-Aryan peoples, the Illyrian culture making its way down to the Balkans and assimilating many tribes into some form of a pseudo-Hellenic or Hellenistic culture. An interesting detail about this time is the fact that the Illyrians have served as infantry in Alexanders campaigns. Later on the population was conquered by Rome, and with it it was romanized. We have served in many wars as legionaries , most famously in the Marcomannic wars.
After the fall of Rome the land belonged to the Ostrogoths, and then later on it belonged to the Slavs, who were first recorded to be here during the reign of Attila the Hun.The post Roman recorded history is very hard to find or non-existent but it was said by numerous sources that many Roman cities were sacked or razed in that period. During that time the slavs completed the cultural assimilation of the population and maintained rule shaky rule with the land being conquered by various Slavic rulers, and the ERE.
Bosnia as a region was first recorded by ERE historians as a vassal for the Hungarian kingdom. We broke free from Hungarian rule with a successful revolt in where we gained numerous cities and castles. We have time after time stopped Hungarian crusading armies and gained more and more land until we have risen to vast size in a short amount of time. To demonize the Bosnian kingdom, many of the scribes and historians, mostly Serb, have written that we were a barbaric pagan horde sacking cities and killing nobles wherever we could find them. Our kings and lords have proven their virtue and honor in many ways. Most Croatian lord and cities gladly joined the Bosnian crown because they knew they would get treated fairly and with respect. The country's economy, population and army grew constantly. Our Ban Kulin, to avoid a bloodbath from both sides said to the Byzantine commander that he can send his best champion to battle him, and whoever survives, wins the battle. The both side agreed, and Ban Kulin met the Byzantine champion in the middle of the field. The battle soon ended because Kulin hit the champion so hard with the mace that his skull cracked and his helmet merged with his face.
We have as well waged war with the Ottomans, most famously in the battle of Kosovo polje and in the battle of Bileca, we have had some major victories and good skirmishes but the Ottoman army with over 150 000 troops proved to great for us and it slowly conquered our kingdom one city at a time. The story of our kingdom ended when our last king surrendered with the promise of a safe route out of the Ottoman empire but when he got out of his castle the Ottomans broke their promise and slayed him along with his men.