Hadži Gazi-beg Čengić's Madrasa in Višegrad

Abstract

In the introductory part of this text, the author provides an overview of the published literature on the Višegrad Madrasa and the work methodology based on the textual analysis of unpublished archival materials. The author then deals with the Višegrad Madrasa, its founder and waqfs from whose funds its functioning was financed. Based on the preserved documents about Hadži Gazi-beg Čengić's Madrasa from the Archives of Gazi Husrev-beg's Library, the author presents the biographies of three famous mudarrises of this madrasa, analyses its curriculum and brings aggregate data on the madrasa students in the period from 1897 to 1925, with the presentation of certain information from the biography of some of its students. Hadži Gazi-beg Čengić's Madrasa is an educational institution whose importance for the Islamic religious enlightenment of the Bosniak Muslims in the area of Višegrad and its surroundings, bearing in mind that only one brief research record has been published about it thus far, has not been sufficiently highlighted. The abundance of new and so far unpublished information about this madrasa, which the author mentions in the paper, will help to see its significance for the preservation of Islam in the Višegrad area and beyond in a new light.