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Vilayet

A vilayet (, 'province'; ), also known by various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated by the Ottoman Reform Edict of 1856. The Danube Vilayet had been specially formed in 1864 as an experiment under the leading reformer Midhat Pasha. The Vilayet Law expanded its use, but it was not until 1884 that it was applied to all of the empire's provinces. Writing for the Encyclopaedia Britannica in 1911, Vincent Henry Penalver Caillard claimed that the reform had intended to provide the provinces with greater amounts of local self-government but in fact centralized more power with the sultan and local Muslims at the expense of other communities.

Names

The Ottoman Turkish vilayet () was a loanword borrowed from Arabic wilāya (), an abstract noun formed from the verb waliya (, 'to administer'). In Arabic, it had meant 'province', 'region', or 'administration' as general ideas, but following the Tanzimat reforms the Ottoman term formalized it in reference to specific areas in a defined hierarchy. It was borrowed into Albanian , Bulgarian vilaet (), Judaeo-Spanish , and French and , which was used as a lingua franca among the educated Jews and Christians. It was also translated into Armenian as gawaŕ (), Bulgarian as oblast (), Judaeo-Spanish as , and Greek as eparchía () and nomarchía ().

The early Republic of Turkey continued to use the term vilayet until it renamed them il in the late 1920s.

Organization

The Ottoman Empire had already begun to modernize its administration and regularize its eyalets in the 1840s, but the Vilayet Law extended this throughout the empire, regulating the hierarchy of administrative units.

Each vilayet or province was governed by a vali appointed by the sultan. Acting as the sultan's representative, he was notionally the supreme head of administration in his province, subject to various caveats. Military administration was entirely separate, although the vali controlled local police. His council comprised a secretary (mektupçu), a comptroller (defterdar), a chief justice (müfettiş-i hükkâm-ı şeriyye), and directors of foreign affairs, public works, and agriculture and commerce, each nominated by the respective ministers in Istanbul. The defterdar in particular answered directly to the finance minister rather than the vali. A separate vilayet council was composed of four elected members, comprising two Muslims and two non-Muslims.

If the vali fell ill or was absent from the capital, he was variously replaced by the governor of the chief sanjak (merkez sancak) near the capital, the muavin, and the defterdar. A similar structure was replicated in the lower hierarchical levels, with executive and advisory councils drawn from the local administrators and—following long-established practice—the heads of the millets, the various local religious communities.

The Vilayet Law (1864) saw a general reorganization, with the hierarchy vilayet—sanjak—kaza—nahiye, the vilayet administrated by the Vali under whose authority was the mutasarrif of the sanjak appointed by the Sultan, the kaymakam of the kaza appointed by the Interior Ministry, the mudür of the nahiye, the muhtar of the village.

Lists

1870s

Vilayets, sanjaks and autonomies in the mid-1870s:

1905

By 1905, the Ottoman Empire had lost administrative control over Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia, Crete and Cyprus, even though these were all still under nominal Ottoman sovereignty, as was Egypt. In this list, the numbering and place names are indicated as in the French-language source, with present-day names in parentheses where different:

  1. Hedjâz (Hejaz): Sanjaks of Mediné (Medina) and Djiddé (Jeddah)
  2. Yemen: Sanjaks of Sanaa, Hodeïda (Hodeidah), Assir (Asir), and Ta'az (Taiz)
  3. Basra: Sanjaks of Basra, Muntefik (Al-Muntafiq), Nedjed (Najd), and Amara (Amarah)
  4. Bagdâd: Sanjaks of Bagdâd (Baghdad), Divaniyé (Al Diwaniyah), and Kerbela (Karbala)
  5. Mossoul: Sanjaks of Mossoul (Mosul), Kerkouk (Kirkuk), and Souleïmaniyé (Sulaymaniyah)
  6. Haleb: Sanjaks of Haleb (Aleppo), Ourfa (Urfa), and Marach (Kahramanmaraş)
  7. Syria: Sanjaks of Damas (Damascus), Hama, Hauran, and Kerak (Al-Karak)
  8. Beirout: Sanjaks of Beirout (Beirut), Akka (Acre), Taraboulus (Tripoli in Lebanon), Lazakiyé (Latakia), and Nablous (Nablus)
  9. Tripoli: Sanjaks of Taraboulous (Tripoli in Libya), Khams (Al-Khums), Djebel (Jabal al Gharbi), and Fezzân
  10. Khoudavendiguiâr: Sanjaks of Brousse (Bursa), Ertoġroul (Bilecik), Kutahia (Kütahya), Kara Hissâr (Afyonkarahisar), and Karassi (Balıkesir)
  11. Konia: Sanjaks of Konia (Konya), Nigdé (Niğde), Bodroûm (Bodrum), Hamid Abâd (Isparta), and Tekké (Antalya)
  12. Angora: Sanjaks of Angora (Ankara), Jozgâd (Yozgat), Kaissarié (Kayseri), Kirchehir (Kırşehir), and Tchoroûm (Çorum)
  13. Aïdin: Sanjaks of Smyrne (İzmir), Saroukhan (Manisa), Aïdin (Aydın), Menteché (Muğla), and Denizli
  14. Adana: Sanjaks of Adana, Mersina (Mersin), Djebel-i-Bereket (Yarpuz), Kozân, and Itchili (Silifke)
  15. Kastamouni: Sanjaks of Kastamouni (Kastamonu), Boli (Bolu), Kengri (Çankırı), and Sinob (Sinop)
  16. Sivâs: Sanjaks of Sivâs, Amassia (Amasya), Kara Hissar Charki (Şebinkarahisar), and Tokad (Tokat)
  17. Diarbekir: Sanjaks of Diarbekir (Diyarbakır), Mardin, and Ergana Madeni (Maden)
  18. Bitlis: Sanjaks of Bitlis, Mouch (Muş), Saïrd (Siirt), and Guentch (Genç)
  19. Erzeroum: Sanjaks of Erzeroûm (Erzurum), Erzindjân (Erzincan), Bayézid (Doğubayazıt), and Khinis (Hınıs)
  20. Mamouret ul-Azîz: Sanjaks of Mamouret ul-Azîz / Kharpoût (Elazığ), Malatia (Malatya), and Dersîm (Tunceli)
  21. Van: Sanjaks of Van and Hakiari (Hakkâri)
  22. Trébizonde: Sanjaks of Tarabizon (Trabzon), Djanik (Samsun), Lazistan (Rize), Gumuchkhané (Gümüşhane)
  23. Archipel (Aegean Sea): Sanjaks of Rhodos (Rhodes), Midilli (Mytilene), Chios, and Lemnos
  24. Andrinople: Sanjaks of Andrinople (Edirne), Gumuldjina (Komotini), Kirkkilissé (Kırklareli), Dedeaġatch (Alexandroupolis), Tekfoûr Daġy / Rodosto (Tekirdağ), and Galipoli (Gelibolu)
  25. Salonique: Sanjaks of Selanik (Thessaloniki), Siros (Serres), Drama, and Thasos
  26. Kossovo: Sanjaks of Uskub (Skopje), Prichtina (Pristina), Senidjé (Sjenica), Ipek (Peja), Tachildjé (Pljevlja), and Prizren
  27. Janina: Sanjaks of Janina (Ioannina), Ergueri / Argyrokastro (Gjirokastër), Preveza, and Berat
  28. Skutari: Sanjaks of Skutari (Shkodër) and Dratch / Durazzo (Durrës)
  29. Monastir: Sanjaks of Monastir (Bitola), Serfidjé (Servia), Dibré (Debar), Elbassan (Elbasan), and Koritza (Korçë)

The same document added Jerusalem, Bengazi, Zor, Izmid, Biġa, and as independent departments, but did not mention the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate and Principality of Samos, both self-administered under a leader appointed by the Ottoman government. The Sharifate of Mecca was another special case, coexisting with the Hejaz vilayet without being subordinate to it.

1917

Vilayets and independent sanjaks in 1917:

Vilayets included:

Independent sanjaks included:

Vassal states and autonomous provinces:

  • Eastern Rumelia (Rumeli-i Şarkî): autonomous province (Vilayet in Turkish) (1878–1885); unified with Bulgaria in 1885
  • Sanjak of Benghazi (Bingazi Sancağı): autonomous sanjak. Formerly in the vilayet of Tripoli, but after 1875 dependent directly on the ministry of the interior at Constantinople.
  • Sanjak of Biga (Biga Sancağı) (also called Kale-i Sultaniye) (autonomous sanjak, not a vilayet)
  • Sanjak of Çatalca (Çatalca Sancağı) (autonomous sanjak, not a vilayet)
  • Cyprus (Kıbrıs) (island with special status) (Kıbrıs Adası)
  • Khedivate of Egypt (Mısır) (autonomous khedivate, not a vilayet) (Mısır Hidivliği)
  • Sanjak of Izmit (Ä°zmid Sancağı) (autonomous sanjak, not a vilayet)
  • Mutasarrifyya/Sanjak of Jerusalem (Kudüs-i Şerif Mutasarrıflığı): independent and directly linked to the Minister of the Interior in view of its importance to the three major monotheistic religions.
  • Sharifate of Mecca (Mekke Şerifliği) (autonomous sharifate, not a vilayet)
  • Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate (Cebel-i Lübnan Mutasarrıflığı): sanjak or mutessariflik, dependent directly on the Porte.
  • Principality of Samos (Sisam Beyliği) (island with special status)
  • Tunis Eyalet (Tunus Eyaleti) (autonomous eyalet, ruled by hereditary beys)

1927

The early Turkish Republic had 63 vilayet in the 1927 Turkish census:

  1. Ankara vilayet
  2. Istanbul vilayet
  3. Artvin vilayet
  4. Edirne vilayet
  5. Ertuğrul (Bilecik) vilayet
  6. Erzurum vilayet
  7. Ordu vilayet
  8. Erzincan vilayet
  9. Izmir vilayet
  10. Eskişehir vilayet
  11. Adana vilayet
  12. Afyonkarahisar vilayet
  13. Aksaray vilayet
  14. Elaziz vilayet
  15. Amasya vilayet
  16. Antalya vilayet
  17. Urfa vilayet
  18. Aydın vilayet
  19. Içel vilayet
  20. Bayezid vilayet
  21. Bitlis vilayet
  22. Bursa vilayet
  23. Bozok vilayet
  24. Bolu vilayet
  25. Burdur vilayet
  26. Tekirdağ vilayet
  27. Tokat vilayet
  28. Canik vilayet
  29. Cebel-i Bereket vilayet
  30. Çankırı vilayet
  31. Çanakkale vilayet
  32. Çorum vilayet
  33. Hakkâri vilayet
  34. Hamîdâbâd vilayet
  35. Denizli vilayet
  36. Diyarbekir vilayet
  37. Rize vilayet
  38. Zonguldak vilayet
  39. Siirt vilayet
  40. Sinop vilayet
  41. Sivas vilayet
  42. Saruhan vilayet
  43. Trabzon vilayet
  44. Gazi Ayıntab (Gaziantep) vilayet
  45. Kars vilayet
  46. Kırklareli vilayet
  47. Karahisâr-ı Şarkî (Şebinkarahisar) vilayet
  48. Karesi (Balıkesir) vilayet
  49. Kastamonu vilayet
  50. Kırşehir vilayet
  51. Kayseri vilayet
  52. Kocaeli vilayet
  53. Konya vilayet
  54. Kütahya vilayet
  55. Gümüşhane vilayet
  56. Giresun vilayet
  57. Mardin vilayet
  58. Mersin vilayet
  59. Maraş vilayet
  60. Menteşe (Muğla) vilayet
  61. Malatya vilayet
  62. Niğde vilayet
  63. Van vilayet

Maps

See also

References

Further reading

  • - About the Law of the Vilayets

External links