Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire Totally Explained

Everything about Subdivisions Of The Ottoman Empire totally explained

The subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire were administrative divisions of the state organisation of the Ottoman Empire based on military administration but with civil executive functions as well. Outside this system were various types of vassal and tributary states. There were two main eras of administrative organisation. The first was the initial organisation that evolved with the rise of the Empire and the second was the organisation after extensive administrative reforms of 1864.

Initial Organization

The initial organization dates back to the Ottoman beginnings as a Seljuk vassal state (Uç Beyliği) in central Anatolia. The Ottoman Empire over the years became an amalgamation of pre-existing polities, the Anatolian beyliks, brought under the sway of the ruling House of Osman.
This extension was based on an already established administrative structure of the Seljuk system in which the hereditary rulers of these territories were known as beys. These beys (local leadership), which were not eliminated, continued to rule under the suzerainty of the Ottoman sultans. The term bey came to be applied not only to these former rulers but also to new governors appointed where the local leadership had been eliminated.
The Ottoman Empire was, at first, subdivided into the sovereign’s sanjak and other sanjaks entrusted to the Ottoman sultan’s sons. Sanjaks were governed by sanjak beyis, military governors who received a flag or standard – a "sanjak" (the literal meaning) – from the sultan. As the Empire expanded into Europe, the need for an intermediate level of administration arose and, under the rule of Murad I (r. 1359-1389), a beylerbeyi or governor-general was appointed to oversee Rumelia, the European part of the empire. About the same time a beylerbeylik was also established for Anatolia, excluding however the Rum area around Amasya, then the seat of the Empire, which remained under the sultan’s direct control (usually through his grand vizier). Following the establishment of beylerbeyliks, sanjaks became second-order administrative divisions, although they continued to be of the first order in certain circumstances such as newly conquered areas that had yet to be assigned a beylerbeyi. In addition to their duties as governors-general, beylerbeyis were the commanders of all troops in their province.

First-order administrative units

Eyalets in 1299-1609

From the mid-14th century until the late 16th century, only one new beylerbeylik (Karaman) was established.

Eyalets disappeared before 1609

The eyalets that existed before 1609 but disappeared and eyalets created after 1609.

Abkhazia (Abhaz) (1578-?) (also called Sukhum [Sohumkale] or Georgia [Gürcistan] and included Mingrelia and Imeretia as well as modern Abkhazia – nominally annexed but never fully conquered)
Akhaltsikhe (Ahıska) (c. 1603-?) (either split from or coextensive with Samtskhe)
Dagestan (Dağıstan) (1578-?) (also called Demirkapı – assigned a serdar [chief] rather than a beylerbeyi)
Dmanisi (Tumanis) (c. 1584-?)
Ganja (Gence) (c.1588-1604)
Gori (Gori) (c. 1588-?) (probably replaced Tiflis after 1586)
Győr (Yanık) (1594-1598)
Kakheti (Kaheti) (c. 1578-?) (Kakhetian king was appointed hereditary bey)
Lazistan Province, Ottoman Empire|Lazistan]] (c. 1574-?)
Lorri (Lori) (c. 1584-?)
Moldavia (Boğdan) (1595 only; the rest of the time Moldavia was an separate autonomous province)
Nakhichevan (Nahçivan) (c. 1603) (possibly never separate from Yerevan)
Poti (Faş) (1579-?) (may have also been another name for Trabzon)
Sanaa (San'a) (1567-1569) (temporary division of Yemen)
Shemakha (Şamahı) (c. 1583) (may have also been another name for Shervan)
Szigetvár (Sigetvar, Zigetvar) (c. 1596) (later transferred to Kanizsa)
Shervan (Şirvan) (1578-1604) (overseen by a serdar [chief] rather than a beylerbeyi)
Tabriz (Tebriz) (1585-1603)
Tiflis (Tiflis) (1578-1586) (probably replaced by Gori after 1586)
Wallachia (Eflak) (1595 only; the rest of the time Wallachia was an separate autonomous province)
Yerevan (Erivan) (1583-1604) (sometimes also included Van)
Zabid (Zebid [Zebit]) (1567-1569) (temporary division of Yemen)

Eyalets in 1609

Conquests of Selim I and Suleyman I in the 17th century required an increase in administrative units. By the end of the latter half of the century there were as many as 42 eyalets, as the beylerbeyliks came to be known. The chart below shows the administrative situation as of 1609.

Province Name	Ottoman Turkish Name and Transliteration (Modern Turkish)	Year Established	Current Location
Abyssinia	Habeş	c. 1554	Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia	Included areas on both sides of the Red Sea. Also called "Mecca and Medina"
Adana	آضنه Ażana (Adana)	c. 1608	Turkey
Aegean Archipelago	Cezayir	mid-1500s	Greece	Domain of the Kapudan Pasha (Lord Admiral); Also called Denizi, later Cezayir Bahr-i Sefid
Aleppo	حلب Ḥaleb (Halep)	c.1516-1521	Syria, Turkey
Algiers	جزاير غرب Cezâyîr-i Ġarb (Cezayir Garp)	1519	Algeria
Anatolia	Anadolu	c. 1365	Turkey
Baghdad	بغداد Baġdâd (Bağdat)	1535	Iraq
Basra	بصره Baṣra (Basra)	c. 1552	Iraq, Kuwait
Bosnia	Bosna	c. 1520s	Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro
Buda	Budin	1541	Hungary, Croatia, Serbia
Cyprus	قبرص Ḳıbrıṣ (Kıbrıs)	1571	Cyprus, Turkey	c. 1660-1703 and 1784→ part of Aegean Archipelago Province
Diyarbekir	دياربكر Diyârbekir (Diyarbakır)	1515	Turkey, Iraq
Eger	اكر Egir (Eğri)	1596	Hungary, Slovakia
Egypt	مصر Mıṣır (Mısır)	1517	Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia
Erzurum	Erzurum	c. 1514-1534	Turkey
Al-Hasa	Lahsa	c. 1579	Saudi Arabia	Seldom directly ruled
Kefe (Theodosia)	Kefe	c. 1581	Ukraine, Russia
Kanizsa	Kanije	1600	Hungary, Croatia
Karaman	Karaman	c. 1470	Turkey
Kars	Kars	1579	Turkey, Georgia	Merged with Samtskhe in 1604. Finally bounded to *Erzurum in 1845.
Maraş	Maraş, Dulkadır	c. 1522	Turkey
Mosul	Musul	c. late 1500s	Iraq
Ar-Raqqah	Rakka	c. late 1500s	Syria, Turkey, Iraq	Also called Ruha (Urfa)
Rumelia	Rumeli	c. 1365	Bulgaria, Greece, Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Turkey	With Anatolia, one of the original two eyalets
Samtskhe	Çıldır	c. 1579	Georgia, Turkey	Also called Meskheti, later possibly coextensive with Akhaltsikhe (Ahıska) Province. Most of eyalet passed to Russia in 1829. Remained parts of eyalet bounded to Erzurum in 1845.
Shehrizor	Şehrizor	c. mid-1500s	Iraq, Iran	Also Shahrizor, Sheherizul, or Kirkuk. In 1830, this eyalet bounded to Mosul province as Kirkuk sanjak.
Silistria	Silistre	c. 1599	Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine	Later sometimes called Ochakiv (Özi); First beylerbeyi was the Crimean khan
Sivas	Sivas	c. early 1500s	Turkey
Syria	Şam	1516-17	Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestinian Authority, Jordan, part of present Turkey and part of present Iraq.
Timişoara	Tımışvar	1552	Romania, Serbia, Hungary	Also called Temesvar Province
Trabzon,Lazistan	Trabzon	c. late 1500s	Turkey, Georgia	Also called Trebizond Province
Tripoli (Tripoli-in-the-East)	Trablus-ı Şam (Trablusşam)	c. 1570s	Lebanon, Syria
Tripolitania (Tripoli-in-the-West)	Trablus-ı Garb (Trablusgarp)	1551	Libya
Tunis	Tunus	1574	Tunisia
Van	Van	1548	Turkey
Yemen	Yemen	1517-18, 1539	Yemen, Saudi Arabia

Sources:

Colin Imber. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The structure of Power. (Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.)

Halil Inalcik. The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600. Trans. Norman Itzkowitz and Colin Imber. (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1973.)

Donald Edgar Pitcher. An Historical Geography of the Ottoman Empire (Leiden, Netherlands: E.J.Brill,1972.)

Eyalets established 1609–1683

Crete (Girid [Girit]) (1669/70– )

Morea (Mora) (1620–1687) and (1715–1829) (originally part of Aegean Archipelago Province)

Podolia (Podolya) (1674–1699 only) (overseen be several serdars [chiefs] rather than a beylerbeyi)

Sidon (Sayda) (1660– )

Neuhäusl (Uyvar) (1663–1685)

Oradea (Varad) (1661–1692)

Eyalets established 1683–1864

Second-order administrative units The provinces were divided into sanjaks (also called livas) governed by sanjakbeys and were further subdivided into timars (fiefs held by timariots) and zeamets (also ziam; larger timars). Some, such as the Mutasarrifate (Sanjak) of Jerusalem, were not part of a province. Sanjak governors also served as military commanders of all of the timariot and zeamet-holding cavalrymen in their sanjak. Some provinces such as Egypt, Baghdad, Abyssinia, and Al-Hasa (the salyane provinces) were not subdivided into sanjaks and timars.

Administrative reform, 1864

As the Ottoman Empire began to decline, the administrative structure came under pressure. After 1861 there existed an autonomous Mount Lebanon with a Christian mutasarrif, which had been created as a homeland for the Maronite Christians under European pressure. As part of the Tanzimat reforms, an Ottoman law passed in 1864 provided for a standard provincial administration throughout the empire with the eyalets becoming smaller vilayets governed by a wali or governor still appointed by the Porte but with new provincial assemblies participating in administration. The vilayets were subdivided into sanjaks, mutasarrifates and vassal states such as Serbia, Romania, and Montenegro remained separate from the provincial system.

Vilayets, 1877

� Western

Bosnia (Bosna)

Çatalca (Çatalca) (autonomous sanjak, not a vilayet) (Çatalca Sancağı)

Crete (Girit)

Cyprus (Kıbrıs) (island with special status) (Kıbrıs Adası)

Danube (Tuna)

Eastern Rumelia, autonomous

Edirne (Edirne) (Also called Adrianople)

Herzegovina (Hersek)

Istanbul (İstanbul) (Also called Constantinople)

Janina (Yanya)

Kosovo (Kosova)

Monastir (Manastır)

Salonica (Selanik)

Shkodër (İşkodra)

Samos (Sisam) (island with special status) (Sisam Beyliği)

Sofia (Sofya)

Mecca (Mekke) (autonomous sharifate, not a vilayet) (Mekke Şerifliği)

Mosul (Musul) (from 1879)

Mount Lebanon (Cebel-i Lübnan [CebeliLübnan]) (mutasarrifate of Beirut, not a vilayet) (Cebel-i Lübnan Mutasarrıflığı)

Serfije Sanjak (Serfije, Servia), not attached to a vilayet

Syria (Şam) (Also called Damascus)

Tripolitania (Trablusu-Garb [Trablusgarp])

Tunis (Tunus) (autonomous eyalet, ruled by hereditary beys) (Tunus Eyaleti) � Anatolia

Adana (Adana)

Aegean Archipelago (Cezayir-i Bahr-i Sefid [AkdenizAdaları])

Aleppo (Haleb [Halep])

Ankara (Ankara) (also called Angora)

Aydın (Aydın)

Biga (Biga) (also called Kale-i Sultaniye) (autonomous sanjak, not a vilayet) (Biga Sancağı)

Bitlis (Bitlis)

Diyarbekir (Diyarbekır [Diyarbakır])

Erzurum (Erzurum)

Van (Van) � Eastern

Baghdad (Bağdad [Bağdat])

Basra (Basra)

Beirut (Beyrut)

Benghazi (Bingazi) (autonomous sanjak, not a vilayet) (Bingazi Sancağı)

Deir ez-Zor (Deyr-i Zor)

Egypt (Mısır) (autonomous khedivate, not a vilayet) (Mısır Hidivliği)

Hejaz (Hicaz)

Hudavendigar (Hüdavendigar) (Also called Bursa)

İzmit (İzmid [İzmit]) (autonomous sanjak, not a vilayet) (İzmid Sancağı)

Jerusalem (Kudüs-i Şerif) (mutasarrifate, not a part of any vilayet) (Kudüs-i Şerif Mutasarrıflığı)

Kastamonu (Kastamonu)

Konya (Konya)

Mamuret-el-Aziz (Mamuret-ül Aziz [Mamuretülaziz]) (also called Kharput, now Elazığ)

Sivas (Sivas)

Vilayets, 1915

After 1885, with the governing reforms of Tanzimat, the control of the Ottoman land in Asia Minor divided into 15 vilayets, one sanjak and one mutersaflik of the vilayet of Constantinople (both being on the Asiatic side of the Bosporus).
Every vilayet was further divided in a number of sanjaks.
More specifically the political division of Asia Minor in 1915 was as follows; � Western

Independent vilayet of the Dardanelles

the sanjak of Uskudar � Anatolia

Vilayet of İzmir divided in the sanjaks of Manisa, İzmir, Aydın, Denizli, Mentese

Vilayet of Bursa divided in the sanjaks of Balıkesir, Bursa, Erdogrul, Kütahya, Afyon

Vilayet of Konya divided in the sanjaks of Burdur, Hamid abad, Atalya, Konya, Nigde

Vilayet of Kastamonu divided in the sanjaks of Bolu, Çankırı, Kastamonu, Sinop

Vilayet of Ankara divided in the sanjaks of Ankara, Kırşehir, Yozgat, Kayseri

Vilayet of Adana, divided in the sanjaks of Icel (Mersin), Adana, Kozan, Osmaniye

Vilayet of Sivas divided in the sanjaks of Sivas, Tokat, Amasya, Şebinkarahisar

Vilayet of Trabzon divided in the sanjaks of Samsun, Trabzon, Gümüşhane, Lazistan

Vilayet of Erzurum

Vilayet of Bitlis divided in the sanjaks of Muş, Genç, Siirt

Vilayet of Van divided in the sanjaks of Van, Hakkari

Independent mutersaflik of İzmit and � Eastern

Vilayet of Mosul divided in the sanjaks of Mosul, Sehrizor (Kirkuk), Suleymaniyeh

Vilayet of Mamure-ul-Azil divided in the sanjak of Diyarbakır and the mutersaflik of Zor

Vilayet of Halep divided in the sanjaks of Halep, Urfa, Maraş Also the

Vilayets, 1918

� Western

Istanbul � Anatolia

Vilayet of Adana

Vilayet of Ankara

Vilayet of Aydın

Vilayet of Bitlis

Vilayet of Diyarbekir

Vilayet of Edirne

Vilayet of Erzurum

Vilayet of Hudavendigar (Bursa)

Vilayet of İzmit

Vilayet of Konya

Vilayet of Mamuret-el-Aziz (Elazığ)

Vilayet of Sivas

Vilayet of Trabzon

Vilayet of Van � Eastern

Vilayet of Mosul divided in the sanjaks of Mosul, Sehrizan, SuleymanihFurther Information

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