Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire

State organisation of the Ottoman Empire House of Osman (Ottoman Dynasty) Classic Period: Divan (Porte) • Grand Vizier Constitutional Period: Imperial Government Millets • Subdivisions • Vassal & tributary states

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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] First-order administrative units

The first-order administrative units were called eyalet or pashaluk.

[edit] Eyalets in 1299-1609

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

[edit] 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 (c. 1574-?)
• Lorri (Lori) (c. 1584-?)
• Moldavia (Boğdan) (1595 only; the rest of the time Moldavia was a 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 a separate autonomous province)
• Yerevan (Erivan) (1583–1604) (sometimes also included Van)
• Zabid (Zebid [Zebit]) (1567–1569) (temporary division of Yemen)

[edit] Eyalets in 1609

Ottoman Empire, 1481-1683

Conquests of Selim I and Suleyman I in the 16th 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.

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.)

[edit] 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)

[edit] Eyalets established 1683–1864

This section requires expansion.

[edit] Lower-order administrative units

The provinces (eyalets) were divided into sanjaks (also called livas) governed by sanjakbeys and were further subdivided into timars (fiefs held by timariots), kadiluks (the area of responsibility of a judge, or Kadı)^[1] and zeamets (also ziam; larger timars).

Some sanjaks, 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.

The area governed by an Aga was often known as an Agaluk.^[1]

[edit] Administrative reform, 1864-1885

As the Ottoman Empire began to decline, the administrative structure came under pressure.

In 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.

In 1864, as part of the Tanzimat reforms, an Ottoman law passed provided for a standard provincial administration throughout the empire with the eyalets becoming smaller units called vilayet. These were governed by a vâli 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.

In 1885, 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 was as follows;

"Western" vilayets

"Asia Minor" Vilayets

region	map	vilayet	sanjaks	1861	1885	1914	1918
	link	Bosnia Province	(Bosna)
		Crete Province	(Girit)
		Cyprus Province	(Kıbrıs) (island with special status) (Kıbrıs Adası)
		Danube Province	(Tuna)
		Eastern Rumelia Province	autonomous
	link	Edirne Province	(Edirne) (Also called Adrianople)
		Herzegovina Province	(Hersek)
		Janina Province	(Yanya)
		Kosovo Province	(Kosova)
		Monastir Province	(Manastır)
	link	Salonica Province	(Selanik)
		Shkodër Province	(İşkodra)
		Tripolitania Province	(Trablusu-Garb [Trablusgarp])
		Tunis Province	(Tunus) (autonomous eyalet, ruled by hereditary beys) (Tunus Eyaleti)
	link	Aegean Archipelago Province	(Cezayir-i Bahr-i Sefid [Akdeniz Adaları])
	link	Khedivate of Egypt	(Mısır) (autonomous khedivate, not a vilayet) (Mısır Hidivliği)
		Hejaz Province	(Hicaz)
Western		vilayet Dardanelles	(Independent)
Western		Istanbul	sanjak of Uskudar
Asia Minor		İzmit	(Independent mutersaflik)
		İzmir Vilayet	sanjaks of Manisa, İzmir, Aydın, Denizli, Mentese
		Bursa Vilayet	sanjaks of Balıkesir, Bursa, Erdogrul, Kütahya, Afyon
	link	Konya Vilayet	sanjaks of Burdur, Hamid abad, Atalya, Konya, Nigde
	link	Kastamonu Vilayet	sanjaks of Bolu, Çankırı, Kastamonu, Sinop
	link	Ankara Vilayet	sanjaks of Ankara, Kırşehir, Yozgat, Kayseri
		Adana Vilayet	sanjaks of Icel (Mersin), Adana, Kozan, Osmaniye
		Sivas Vilayet	sanjaks of Sivas, Tokat, Amasya, Şebinkarahisar
		Trabzon Vilayet	sanjaks of Samsun, Trabzon, Gümüşhane, Lazistan
	link	Erzurum Vilayet
		Bitlis Vilayet	sanjaks of Muş, Genç, Siirt
	link	Van Vilayet	sanjaks of Van, Hakkari
	link	Mamure-ul-Azil Vilayet	sanjak of Diyarbakır and the mutersaflik of Zor
Ottoman Iraq	link	Mosul Province	(from 1879) sanjaks of Mosul, Sehrizor (Kirkuk), Suleymaniyeh
		Baghdad Province	(Bağdad [Bağdat])
		Basra Province	(Basra)
Ottoman Syria	link	Aleppo Province	(Haleb [Halep])
		Deir ez-Zor Province	(Deyr-i Zor)
		Beirut Province	(Beyrut)
		Syria Province	(Şam) (Also called Damascus)

[edit] See also

• Vassal and tributary states of the Ottoman Empire
• List of Ottoman Empire territories

[edit] References and further reading

• 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.)
• Paul Robert Magocsi. Historical Atlas of Central Europe. (2nd ed.) Seattle, WA, USA: Univ. of Washington Press, 2002)
• Nouveau Larousse illustré, undated (early 20th century), passim (in French)
• Donald Edgar Pitcher. An Historical Geography of the Ottoman Empire. (Leiden, Netherlands: E.J.Brill,1972.) (Includes 36 color maps)
• Westermann, Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte (in German) (includes maps)
• Map of Europe in year 1500 with the subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire
• WorldStatesmen Turkey; see also other present-day countries

v • d • e Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire Eyalet subdivisions (1363–1864) Adana Eyalet · Anatolia Eyalet · Ankara Eyalet · Aydın Eyalet · Baghdad Eyalet · Basra Eyalet · Bosnia Eyalet · Buda Eyalet · Algiers (Cezayir) Eyalet · Cezayir·i Bahr·i Sefid Eyalet · Çıldır Eyalet · Diyarbakır Eyalet · Edirne Eyalet · Eger Eyalet · Erzurum Eyalet · Crete (Girit) Eyalet · Habesh Eyalet · Aleppo (Halep) Eyalet · Herzegovina Eyalet · Hüdavendigâr Eyalet · İstanbul Eyalet · Kanije Eyalet · Karaman Eyalet · Karesi Eyalet · Kars Eyalet · Kastamonu Eyalet · Kefe Eyalet · Cyprus Eyalet · Lahsa Eyalet · Manastır Eyalet · Egypt (Mısır) Eyalet · Morea Eyalet · Mosul Eyalet · Niš Eyalet · Nogai Eyalet · Özü Eyalet · Podolia Eyalet · Rakka Eyalet · Rum Eyalet · Rumelia Eyalet · Sayda Eyalet · Salonica Eyalet · Silistra Eyalet · Şam Eyalet · Sharazor Eyalet · Timişoara Eyalet · Tripolitania Eyalet · Tripoli Eyalet · Trabzon Eyalet · Tunis Eyalet · Uyvar Eyalet · Van Eyalet · Varad Eyalet · Vidin Eyalet · Ioannina (Yanya) Eyalet · Yemen Eyalet · Szigetvár (Zigetvar) Eyalet · Zûlkâdiriyye Eyalet Vilayet subdivisions (1864–1922) Adana Vilayet · Ankara Vilayet · Aydın Vilayet · Baghdad Vilayet · Basra Vilayet · Beirut Vilayet · Bitlis Vilayet · Bosnia Vilayet · Cezayir·i Bahr·i Sefid Vilayet · Dersim Vilayet · Deir ez·Zor Vilayet · Diyarbakır Vilayet · Edirne Vilayet · Erzurum Vilayet · Crete (Girit) Vilayet · Hakkari Vilayet · Aleppo (Halep) Vilayet · Herzegovina Vilayet · Hicaz Vilayet · Hüdavendigâr Vilayet · İstanbul Vilayet · Shkodër (İşkodra) Vilayet · Karesi Vilayet · Kastamonu Vilayet · Konya Vilayet · Kosovo Vilayet · Mamuret'ül Aziz Vilayet · Monastir Vilayet · Mosul Vilayet · Prizren Vilayet · Salonica Vilayet · Sivas Vilayet · Sofia Vilayet · Syria Vilayet · Damascus (Şam) Vilayet · Tripolitania Vilayet · Trabzon Vilayet · Danube (Tuna) Vilayet · Van Vilayet · Ioannina (Yanya) Vilayet · Yemen Vilayet Vassals and autonomies Cossack Hetmanate · Cretan State · Crimean Khanate · Khedivate of Egypt · Principality of Moldavia · Sharifate of Mecca · Republic of Ragusa · Eastern Rumelia · Principality of Samos· Principality of Transylvania · Tunis Eyalet · Principality of Wallachia