Principality of Vlachia

The House of Radulović is an ancient noble family that originates from Radulov Do (English: Radul’s Valley) and the village of Kola in the Zmijanje region of Bosnia. The head of the noble house holds the title of knez (prince), while other male members of the family hold the title of knežević (junior prince). The progenitor of the House of Radulović was duke Radul (born c. 1120) a Vlach nobleman and commander in the army of King Bela II of Hungary. His descendants held the title of župan (prince) of Fojnica which the family shares with the Princely House of Bulat, being its senior brach. After the fall of Fojnica under the Ottomans in the year 1463, this branch of the House of Radulović joined the liberation campaign of the Matthias Corvinus, the King of Hungary. After the success of this campaign, this branch of the House of Radulović moved to the area of the former Bosnian county of Zemljanik which became a part of the just established Banate of Jajce, a realm of the Kingdom of Hungary and Croatia.

The people of the tribal confederation that lived in Zemljanik since the earliest times were called Vlachs and Morlachs. This branch of the House of Radulović settled in a valley in the area of the village of Kola. They named this valley after their progenitor – Radulov Do (Radul’s Valley). The vrhovni knez (high prince) of the Morlachs gave them the title of knez (prince) and control over the village Kola inhabited by the Morlach Koljani tribe. At one of the highest points of the village’s terrain, the hill Kik, they built a fortified tower. Since then, that hill became known as Kula (Tower).

In the year 1528, by the fall of the Banate of Jajce, Zemlyanik became the autonomous Nahiye of Zmijanje under the Ottoman Sultanate. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the local Muslim nobility, especially the beys of the House of Džinić and the aghas of the House of Bumišić, started the conquest of Zmianje and other parts of Bosnia. Their army destroyed the tower of the House of Radulović to the ground. Their campaign ended with the massacre of the nobility of Zmianje in the year 1839 on the Mrazovo hill. Prince Petar Radulović was murdered together with his sons and grandsons. The local peasants hid his only great-grandson and by doing that saved this bloodline of the House of Radulović. The surviving members of the Radulović family together with six other families of the Koljani tribe have spent the following few decades in the caves of the Vodič mountain. The House of Radulović never fully recovered from this tribulation. All their wealth was pillaged and destroyed. At the beginning of the 1860s, the people of Zmianje managed to send a delegation to Prince Mihajlo Obrenović of Serbia and inform him about the situation in Bosnia. Prince Mihajlo then informed the Ottoman Sultan. Sultan Abdulaziz sent Topal Sherif Osman Pasha to liberate Zmianje from the Džinić and the Bumišić and restore the autonomy of Zmijanje.

Nahiye Zmianje became just a region of Zmianje when in 1878 the Berlin Congress left Bosnia & Herzegovina under Habsburg control. Because of the poverty and the new authorities, the House of Radulović was forced to end the feudal relationship with the Koljani tribe. They kept the princely title but not the role of the knez of the Koljani tribe. Koljani gained the right to choose among themselves the one who will act as their knez, so they first chose Đurica Gajić. Out of gratitude to those six Koljani families who took care of and stayed loyal to the surviving members of the House of Radulović, the head of the family established a clan with those six Koljani families. The clan was named Radulovići. He gave them the right to use the family name Radulović and gave them land. The patriarch of the clan is always an adult male member of the noble house of Radulović (not necessarily the head of the family) chosen by other male members of the Radulovići clan. The Radulovići clan was integrated with other clans into the Koljani tribe. A hamlet of the village Kola inhabited by the Radulovići clan is named after the clan. The hamlet Radulovići is situated at the base of the hill Kik (also known as Kula).

The family was back on their feet during the time of Đorđe Radulović (born c. 1878) and his only son Mlađen Radulović (born in 1896). Both of them served in the Austro-Hungarian army. Mladjen received a decorated revolver for his good service in the Austro-Hungarian army.

Mlađen had seventeen children. Four from his first marriage, and thirteen from the second. From the first marriage, he has a son Grujo and a daughter Pava. His other two (daughter Vinka and another one) died during childhood. From the second marriage, he has a daughter Koviljka, a son Zdravko, a son Petar, a son Svetozar, a daughter Mileva, and a daughter Milosavka. Others (son Milutin, son Vukosav and five more) died during childhood. Grujo had seven children: a daughter Lela, a daughter Lepa, a son Predrag, a son Draško, a son Zoran, a daughter Jelena and a daughter Vinka. Zdravko has six children: a daughter Bosiljka, a daughter Mlađenka, a son Boro, a daughter Biljana, a daughter Ljiljana and a daughter Gospa. Petar has four sons. The fourth Mlađan died during childhood, other three are Drago, Neđeljko and Jelenko. Svetozar has five children: a son Bratoljub, a son Miroljub, a daughter Zagorka, a daughter Božana and a daughter Gospava. Peter’s son Drago has two sons Dejan and Andrej. Neđeljko has no offspring. Jelenko begot two sons: Damjan and Petar. Peter died three months old.