Zachlumia - Geography

Geography

The early Archonty of Hum had two major cities: Bona and Hum. The main settlements in Zachlumia were Ston, Ošlje, Dobar, and the towns of Mokriski and Glumainik.

The Principality was bordered by Dalmatian Croatia in the northwest and Pagania in the west; in the north, it bordered the Principality of Serbia. At the mountain of Kalinovik and the Field of Gatak, it bordered Travunia, while the easternmost border of Zahumlje followed the line Popovo-Ljubinje-Dabar and met the Travunian border at the City of Ragusa. In the south, Zahumlje had access to the Adriatic Sea at the Peninsula of Rat.

Zachlumia was divided into the 9 Zhupanates of Ston, Popovo, Dubrava, Luka, Dabar, Žapska, goričku and Večenik around Neretva.

For its immediate hinterland territory, Ragusa paid the annual tax mogoriš in pieces of gold to the Zachlumian rulers.

In its later periods, Zahumlje was split into two Duchies: Upper Zahumlje in the west and Lower Zahumlje in the east.

As the toponym Pagania disappeared by the turn of the 11th century, the land of Hum was expanded to include the territory between Neretva and Cetina previously referred to as Pagania. This territory was at the time controlled by local magnates called Radivojevići, Jurjevići or Vlatkovići.