The English spelling of the
Slavic word "Bosniac", which is an old, traditional name used to describe
Muslim Bosnians. Their ethnicity originates from the Southern Slavic tribes that invaded the
Balkan Peninsula in the 7th century, who converted to
Islam after the
Ottoman Invasion of the
Bosnian Kingdom in the 15th century.
The Bosniacs were basically prohibited from legally proclaiming themselves as such between the years of 1918 and 1993, first by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians (which was renamed "Yugoslavia"), then by Socialist Yugoslavia (1945-1991) who, while acknowledging their ethnic heritage, officially denied the term. The term was once again recognized by Proclamation of the Bosnian Peoples Congress in 1993. The Bosniacs were the group targeted for genocide by Serb forces during their attack on Bosnia-Herzogovina in 1992-5.