Banovina
Ban was a title used in some states in central-eastern Europe with various meanings over various periods of time. It is often translated as viceroy or duke but neither translation can accurately describe each ban.
It is thought that this word originates from Sarmatian "Bajan"; it also bears similarity with Khan.
Ban was the title of province administrators in the medieval Croatian state and in the kingdom of Hungary, since the 9th century. In Hungary, each of the provinces was called Banat; the Croatian word for it was banovina.
When Croatia became a part of the Hungarian kingdom in the 12th century, the title of ban acquired the meaning of viceroy because the bans were appointed by the king, though the banate of Croatia was rarely referred to as a banat. Croatia as a whole was governed by the viceroy ban between ca. 970 and 1225, when it was split between Slavonia and Croatia-Dalmatia and occasionally had two different bans until 1345/1476, when the institution of a single ban was resumed, and lasted until 1918.
When the medieval Bosnian state achieved some independence in the 12th century, its rulers were also called bans, and their territory banovina, likely because of the similar suzerain status that it had towards the king of Hungary. Nevertheless, the Bosnian bans weren't viceroys in the sense they were appointed by the king. Sometimes their titles are translated as dukes. Later in the 13th century they gradually achieved more independence (though in some periods they were still vassals) and eventually got renamed to kings in the late 14th century.
Ban was also the title of medieval rulers of parts of Wallachia since the 13th century (of Oltenia and of Severin). The Wallachian bans were military governors who also coined their own money (the bani). Territory over which a ban ruled in Wallachia was called Banat. The main Wallachian ruling title was voivod, the position bans aspired to.
The region of Mačva in modern-day Serbia was also ruled by bans. Mačva was then part of the Hungarian kingdom though under various levels of independence; some were foreign viceroys, some were native nobles, and one even rose to the status of a royal palatine. The Gorjanski family gave three notable native bans of Mačva in the 14th century.
20th century
Ban was also the title for province administrator in Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941; each of the provinces was also called Banovina. The weight of the title was not nearly similar to medieval one.
Legacy
The term ban is still used in the phrase banski dvori (the ban palace) for the buildings that host the highest government officials. The Banski Dvori in Zagreb host the Government of Croatia, while the Banski Dvori in Banja Luka host the President of Republika Srpska (first-tier subdivision of Bosnia and Herzegovina).
The term banovina is still used as a toponym for the region of Banovina or Banija in central Croatia (south of Sisak).
See also
