[4] The region of "Rascia" (Raška) was the center of Serb settlement and Serbian tribes are also thought to have occupied parts near the Adriatic coast, especially modern-day Herzegovina and Montenegro.

[5] Prince Vlastimir (r. 830–850) united the Serbian tribes in the vicinity,[6] and after a victory over the advancing Bulgars he went on to expand to the west, taking Bosnia, and Zahumlje (Herzegovina)).

[10] Following his death, much of Bosnia would be subjected to Croatian rule,[8] before the arrival of Samuel of Bulgaria who subjugated the territory but eventually found himself deposed by the Byzantine empire.

[8] To the south of Bosnia proper lay the territories of Duklja, which included Zeta and Zachlumia who were consolidated into a Serbian Kingdom ruled by local Serb princes.

[13] In the second half of the 12th century, Serbian unity and power grows exponentially with the formation of the Nemanjić dynasty led by Stefan Nemanja, Grand Prince (župan) of Raška.

[20][21] The last sovereign, Stephen Tomašević, ruled briefly as Despot of Serbia in 1459 and as King of Bosnia between 1461 and 1463,[22] before losing both countries and his life to the Ottoman Turks.

[23] According to the historian Neven Isailovović, there was a general awareness in medieval Bosnia, at least amongst the nobles, that they shared a join state with Serbia and that they belong to the same ethnic group.

[25] Under the millet system, Christians were afforded a level of autonomy by the provision of local leaders who served the Ottoman state for religious, social, administrative and legal purposes.

[29] Given the threat of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the Catholics of Bosnia faced strenuous religious oppression, although this same level of discrimination would also be applied to Orthodox believers with the rise of an independent Serbian state in the 19th century.

During the 1593-1606 war, Serbs in the Banat along the border with Transylvania and Wallachia, and chieftains of the Herzegovina clans rebelled, both assisting enemies of the Ottomans and working toward restoring the Serbian state.

[36] After the reorganization of the Ottoman army and abolition of the Janissaries, Bosnian nobility revolted in 1831, led by Husein Gradaščević, who wanted to preserve existing privileges and stop any further social reforms.

Bosnian Serbs felt oppressed by the Austro-Hungarians who favored Roman Catholicism, and in turn the Croat population, who were the only members of the three constituent groups with any loyalty to the empire.

During WWI, Serbs in Bosnia were often blamed for the outbreak of the war, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and were subjected to persecution by the Austro-Hungarian authorities, including internment and looting of their businesses, by people who were instigated to ethnic violence.

[49] Early in the war, the Austro-Hungarian authorities unleashed a persecution of Bosnian Serbs, which included the internment of thousands in camps, court-martialing and death sentencing of intellectuals, massacres by the Schutzkorps, looting of property and forced expulsions.

[citation needed] After World War I, Bosnia and Herzegovina became part of the internationally unrecognized State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs which existed between October and December 1918.

[56] Competing ideologies among Serbs and Croats and their influences on Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to a broader extent, a lack of agreement on inter-ethnic relations in the new Yugoslav state and its governance resulted in perpetual instability.

[62] Serbs in villages in the countryside were hacked to death with various tools, thrown alive into pits and ravines or in some cases locked in churches that were afterwards set on fire.

[69] In an interview on 4 November 2015, Bakir Izetbegović, Bosniak Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, affirmed the persecutions of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia as genocide.

[95] The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina has three members, one Bosniak, one Croat and one Serb who are tasked with foreign, diplomatic and military affairs, as well as the budget of state-level institutions.

Beginning in the nineteenth century, Bosanska vila from Sarajevo and Zora from Mostar, were important literary magazines at the forefront of political and cultural issues.

Serbian singers and composers such as Rade Jovanović, Jovica Petković, Dragiša Nedović and others gave significant contribution to special type of songs called sevdalinka.

Bosnian and Heregovian Serbs largely participated in the Yugoslav pop-rock scene that was active from the end of the World War II until the break up of the country.

Serbian musicians are or were members, and often leaders of popular bands such as Ambasadori, Bijelo Dugme, Bombaj Štampa, Indexi, Plavi orkestar, ProArte, Regina, Vatreni Poljubac, and Zabranjeno pušenje.

[121] Significant directors include Emir Kusturica, double winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Zdravko Šotra, Predrag Golubović, and Boro Drašković.

Actors that have achieved success in Yugoslav and Serbian cinematography include Predrag Tasovac, Branko Pleša, Marko Todorović, Tihomir Stanić, Nikola Pejaković, Nebojša Glogovac, Davor Dujmović, Nataša Ninković, and Danina Jeftić.

Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina gave significant contribution to the folklore of Serbian people, including folk costume, music, traditional singing and instruments, epic poetry, crafts, and dances.

[124] The educational system of Bosnia and Herzegovina during communism was based on a mixture of nationalities and the suppression of Serb identity, as Tito focused on building the social dimension of the country.

Notable players that represented Yugoslavia, Serbia and Bosnia include Branko Stanković, Milan Galić, Dušan Bajević, Boško Antić, Miloš Šestić, Savo Milošević, Mladen Krstajić, Neven Subotić, Zvjezdan Misimović, Luka Jović, Sergej Milinković-Savić, and Rade Krunić among many others.

Zvjezdan Misimović served as captain of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team from 2007 to 2012 while Ljupko Petrović led Red Star Belgrade to the Champions League trophy in 1991.

Other players that represented Serbia with success are Đorđe Đurić, Brankica Mihajlović, Tijana Bošković, Jelena Blagojević, Sanja and Saša Starović.