T H E B A NAT - an d t h e s er b o r o u man ian fr o n t ier p r o b l e m . Th e Banat is the strip of territory bounded by t a T is za th e W he D nube in the South , the in est , th e Mare s in the North and the C arpathians in l m 1 71 8 i . ame o n e he East The n dates y fro , Peace of Pas s aro v its (Po zar' e v ats ) or a ro v in ce W by which Austri acquired the p z hich n ev ern b e fo re o n e m v u had been ad inistrati e nit , fro m the T urk s t Until then and for many cen tu ries the lowlands had been regarded as sepa fro m th e mo un t ain i o us - rate district , now known o mi at Kras s o - z r as the C t (county) of S e en y . In i 3 th u IV o a the Cent ry , King Bela f Hung ry fo rmed t h e e astern district into the Banat of K S ev erin and entruste d the pro vince to the Knights of the Order of the S t . John for t h e purpose of e t t u m 3\ d fending he frontier against he K ans and i Bul ars . o 4t h 1 5th l b g Through ut the and centu ries the Banat of Se verin existed as a frontier province bordering on the Turkish Empire . ' ro m th e 1 2th i 4th u t h e to the cent ry , low , level part of t h e Banat was divided into counti es d T m ve Csana , orontal , Horo , Ke h and Temes . Some of t e l o cal counts (comi tes) disting uished th emselves in the wars agains t t u s O a Hu he T rk , notably Pipo de zor , John n yadi and count Paul Bran ko v it ch : E ventually s c everal adj a ent districts ( Horom , Keve and T o or ntal) were placed under one count , for the o a u r s purp se of better defence gainst the T k , and in the reign of King Mathias I (1 458- 1 490) we fi n d the ce ntral and western part of t h e Banat referre d to as t h e Cap i t an eatus p ar ti am r e n i in e r i o r um o r a t D a g f , still l ter , as he cate d i T e mis v ar or Pro v mtia de Temisvar Under t h e T urks (1 552 - 1 71 6) the we stern and central di s tricts of t h e Banat were un l te d under t e o f Vil a e t e f m va he nam the y Te es r , while the ' e as te rn part retained its statuts as a separate tu n t t a a province . This part was r ed in o he B n t Lu o s u 1 658 u e v t of g , and ntil r l d o er by he Prin ces of Transylvania as a province trib utary 58 e to the T urkish E mpire . In 1 6 parts of it wer incorpora t ed with the Vilay e t of Te mesvar . When the A us trians gained possession of a 1 71 8 t e m it th e Ban t in , hey r na ed after the me c t t h e a o Vilayet of Te svar , alling i Ban t f m s h a a t a a Te e , to w ich were dded p r s of the B n t ' o f Lu . t e t Kras s o gos , viz he pres nt dis rict of S zoreny . The n e w Austrian province was pre s en t ly given a military organisation under a governor with Teme s var as t h e oapi tal . B ut t h e military administration of the uni te d Banat ‘ - 1 was only short lived . I n 751 the north e rn a t e m t p r s were giv n civil ad inistra ion , while the - sou th remaine d u nder mili tary au thori ty 1 fo rming a kind of military frontier . In 773 t h e Southern Ban at was de fin it e ly constitute d the Serbian Military ' rontier (C o n fin s mili taire s ) while th e we s tern forme d the au tonomous Ser h bian county of Kikinda . T e northern Banat w as incorpora ted wi th Hungary in 1 779 and div ide d i n t o f u u s . t me o r co nti , viz Toron al , Te s , K ras s o and Szoreny ' but t h e mil itary frontier e n 1 873 an d t t remained in b ing u til , the dis ric o f Kikinda u n til 1 874 wh e n they were in co rp o Th rated wi t h cou nty of Torontal . us th e B an at was n e ve r un i t ed un d er o n e mil it ar y an d j udi T m c ial ad mi n is t r at io n . h e eas ter n o un ta in o us d is t r i c ts we r e al way s un der a s ep ar ate ad mi n is t rat io n bo th mil i tar an d ud icial co n t r o l l ed , y j , l a as is t i r r o m Tr an s v an i d n ct o m th e l a i n s . f y , f p The county of Torontal h as an ar e a of t o f T e me s 7 43 3 Kras s o S o e S . q km tha , , z r ny the total area of th e t h ree c ountie s n . a bei g eg . km The eastern p rt of the Banat i s mo un t ain i o u s and of the same cha t rac te r as Transylvania . The m ai n slope . is ‘ we s tward with the result that all th e rivers o f t M m a he Banat ( aros , Begej , Te es , Brz va , i . eto . fl o w a e t Karas , ) in th t direction , hey converge towards Belgrade and the line of the m Mora va and Vardar valleys . The cli ate of o n the p l ains resemble s th at of the Alf ld . I s u other word , a hot summer is q ickly followed m by a very cold a utu mn . The cli ate of the T e eastern p arts is more equable . h central and western district of the Banat and those adjoining the Backa are th e most fertile in H ungary A : T h e e astern hill s are rich in mine a c a . r ls (coal , cop per , and espe i lly i ron ore) There are th ree free Royal boroughs in th e l ibe r ate ci v i tates r e iae Pan t oh e v o Banat ( g ) , w t e a Ve rs et z ( i h a mainly S rbi n population) , (seat of a Serbia n orthodox bishop) and Temes var (also the se at of a Serbi an o rth o dox bishop) . ' i ve cities in the province have their o wn ‘ c u B et oh k e rek ma t o rts , ( Serbian j ori y) , Kikind a (Serbian maj ori ty) Bel a Crkva (Weiss m m Karan s e b es z Ro u kirchen , Ger an aj ority) , ( manian m aj ority) and Lugos (Ruman ian majo rity) . The counties are subdivided into dis t rio t s 1 4 m 1 1 Kras s o , Torontal into , Te es into , e t 1 4 m a 3 9 Szor ny in o , aking total of dis ‘ t rict s . D iffe r e n t Nat io n al it ie s i n t h e Ban at, f 1 r bs . e s r r . S e O all the nationaliti ep e - d a a t h sented to y in the Ban t , he Serbs ave be e n there longest . They settl e d th ere as early as the oth c e ntu ry at the time of their migration from their original home beyond the C a rpathi ans ' and maintain e d th e msel ve s ‘ s s in pite of invasions by Avar , Bulgars and u b u a fin al l y M agyars who s J g t ed the S e rbs (o r a ts 1 0 th Jugosl vs) of those par in the century .