Bushnak


Bushnak is a surname common among Levantines of Bosniak origin. Those sharing this surname are the descendants of Bosniaks apprehensive of living under Christian rule after the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878, who emigrated to Ottoman Syria.
While not originally from one family, most Bosniaks who emigrated to the Levant adopted Bushnak as a common surname, attesting to their origins. Bushnak is also used colloquially among Palestinians to refer to someone who is fair-skinned and good looking.

History

Some Bosnian movement to Palestine occurred when Bosniak soldiers were brought to Palestine in the late 1800s to provide reinforcements for the Ottoman army.
More substantial movement occurred after 1878, when the Austro-Hungarian empire, ruled by the, occupied Bosnia. Bosniak emigration continued through this period, escalating after the Austro-Hungarian's 1908 annexation of Bosnia. Many emigrated to parts of what is now modern Turkey, while a smaller number settled in Ottoman Syria.
Bosnian emigrants settled predominantly in villages in the parts of the present day West Bank and Israel: Caesarea, Yanun, Nablus and Tulkarem. Their descendants still live in these villages, their Bosnian heritage reflected in the Arab surname of Bushnak.
The Bosnian Muslim immigrants who settled in Caesarea in 1878 built two mosques, joining other Muslim immigrants from Morocco, Algeria, Crimea, the Caucasus, and Turkestan. These Slavic speaking immigrants eventually assimilated into the local Arab population.

Notable people bearing the surname