Administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire

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Vilayets and Sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire in 1875

The administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire were

state organisation of the Ottoman Empire. Outside this system were various types of vassal and tributary states
.

The Ottoman Empire was first subdivided into provinces, in the sense of fixed territorial units with governors appointed by the sultan, in the late 14th century.

kadi.[2]

It is considered extremely difficult to define the number and exact borders of Ottoman provinces and domains, as their borders were changed constantly.

nomadic tribes contributed to the extreme variability of the population figures.[6]

List of types

In English, Ottoman subdivisions are seldom known by myriad Turkish terms (vilayet, eyalet, beylerbeylik, sancak, nahiye, kaza, etc.) which are often eschewed in favour of the English-language denomination (e.g. "province", "county", or "district") that is perceived to be the closest to the Turkish original.[7] These translations are rarely consistent between the works of different scholars, however.

Turkish English Etymology Head Notes
vilayet province, department[8] from Arabic wilāyah Wali (administrative title) Established: 21 January 1867, replaced the eyalets
eyalet province replaced the beylerbeylik, starting 1590
beylerbeylik beylerbey
sancak (liva) sanjak, banner, district, arrondissement[8] sanjakbey/
mutesarrifs
 mostly subdivision of eyalet or vilayet, but also independent sanjaks
kaza jurisdiction, subdistrict, canton
kadi (until 1839)/kaymakam
 below sanjak or mutasarrifate
nahiye subdistrict, commune, parish from Arabic nāḥiyah kaymakam below kaza
belediye municipality from Arabic baladiyyah below kaza
mutasarriflık
mutasarrifate
mutasarrıf
 direct controlled
ağalık agaluk
aga
kadılık kadiluk
kadi
 sometimes equivalent of kaza

Sanjaks were further divided into timars (fiefs held by timariots), kadiluks (the area of responsibility of a judge, or Kadi)[9] and zeamets (also ziam; larger timars).

Initial organization (pre-1362)

State organisation of
the Ottoman Empire
Coat of arms of the Ottoman Empire (1882–1922)
Classic period
Constitutional period

The initial organization dates back to the Ottoman beginnings as a

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

sanjakbeys
, military governors who received a flag or standard – a "sanjak" (the literal meaning) – from the sultan.

As the Empire expanded into

beylerbeylik was also established for Anatolia, with his capital at Kütahya.[10] He was always considered inferior in rank to the beylerbey of Rumelia, since large areas nominally under his control were given to the ruler's sons.[10]

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 beylerbey. In addition to their duties as governors-general, beylerbeys were the commanders of all troops in their province.

Following the conquests between 1362 and 1400 of Murad I and his son Bayezid I, a need arose for the formal organisation of Ottoman territory.

Administrative hierarchy

First-level divisions

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.

Eyalets (1362–1864)

Main article: Eyalet
Eyalets in 1609
Eyalets in 1795

An eyalet (also

timariot sipahis, the beylerbey transferred fixed annual sums to Istanbul, known as the salyane.[12]

Vilayets (1864–1922)

Main article: Vilayet
Vilayets in 1905
Table of Ottoman Administrative Divisions in 1905 (table published in 1908)

The Vilayets were introduced with the promulgation of the "Vilayet Law" (Turkish: Teskil-i Vilayet Nizamnamesi)[13] in 1864, as part of the administrative reforms of the Tanzimat period that were being enacted throughout the empire.[14][15]

Unlike the previous

nahiye.[16] The 1864 law also specified the responsibilities of the governor (wali) of the vilayet and their councils.[16] At the same time, the law left to the governors vast scope for independent action as well as responsibility, as part of a system intended to achieve a large degree of efficiency in ruling the provinces.[14]

The new provincial system could not be introduced in provinces at the same time, due to both insufficient funds and a lack of experience in administering the new law. Therefore, the new

Aleppo, respectively.[17]

By 1865 the four vilayets of Danube, Aleppo,

Salonica, Prizren, and Iskodra, with an autonomous Crete being organized as a vilayet by Ali Pasha in 1871.[17] By the end of 1876 the new provincial system was in operation all over the empire, with the sole exception of the Arabian Peninsula and autonomous provinces like Egypt.[17]

Maras from Adana and making them into separate provinces, and also taking Herzegovina from Bosnia and joining it with Novipazar in a new province.[18]

Second-level divisions (sanjaks)

Main article: Sanjak

The provinces (eyalets, later vilayets) were divided into

sanjakbeys (also called Mutesarrifs) and were further subdivided into timars (fiefs held by timariots), kadiluks (the area of responsibility of a judge, or Kadi)[9]
and zeamets (also ziam; larger timars).

Third-level divisions

Main article: Kaza

Sanjaks were divided into kazas, along with other divisions. The position of kazas in the administrative hierarchy was clarified after 1839.

Governors

Beylerbey

Main article: Beylerbey
A detailed map showing the Ottoman Empire and its dependencies, including its administrative divisions (vilayets, sanjaks, kazas), in 1899.

The Turkish word for governor-general is Beylerbey, meaning 'lord of lords'. In times of war, they would assemble under his standard and fight as a unit in the sultan's army. However, as a territorial governor, the Beylerbey now had wider responsibilities. He played the major role in allocating fiefs in his eyalet, and had a responsibility for maintaining order and dispensing justice. His household, like the sultan's in the capital, was the political centre of the eyalet.[1] By the mid-16th century, apart from the principalities north of the Danube, all eyalets came under the direct rule of the sultan. The Beylerbeys were all his appointees, and he could remove or transfer them at will. Their term of office was limited: governorships were not hereditary, and no one could serve for life.[1]

The office of Beylerbey was the most prestigious and the most profitable in the provincial government, and it was from among the Beylerbeys that the sultan almost always chose his viziers. There was also, it appears, a hierarchy among the governors themselves. The senior was the Beylerbey of Rumelia who, from 1536, had the right to sit on the Imperial Council. Precedence among the remainder, according to Ayn Ali in 1609, followed the order in which the eyalets were conquered, although he does not make it clear whether this ranking had anything other than a ceremonial significance. However, before 1650, there was another development. During this period, the practice began of appointing some Beylerbeys with the rank of vizier. A vizieral governor, according to the chancellor Abdurrahman Pasha in 1676, had command over the governors of adjoining eyalets who 'should have recourse to him and obey his command'. Furthermore, 'when Beylerbeys with Vizierates are dismissed from their eyalet, they listen to lawsuits and continue to exercise Vizieral command until they reach Istanbul'.[1]

Sanjak-bey

Main article: Sanjak-bey
Major R Huber's 1899 map of the Ottoman Empire, showing detailed subdivisions (vilayets, sanjaks and kazas)

The office of Sanjak-bey resembled that of Beylerbey on a more modest scale. Like the Beylerbey, the Sanjak-bey drew his income from a prebend, which consisted usually of revenues from the towns, quays and ports within the boundary of his sanjak.[1]

Like the Beylerbey, the Sanjak-bey was also a military commander. The term sanjak means 'flag' or 'standard' and, in times of war, the cavalrymen holding fiefs in his sanjak, gathered under his banner. The troops of each sanjak, under the command of their governor, would then assemble as an army and fight under the banner of the Beylerbey of the eyalet. In this way, the structure of command on the battlefield resembled the hierarchy of provincial government. Within his own sanjak, a governor was responsible above all for maintaining order and, with the cooperation of the fief holders, arresting and punishing wrongdoers. For this, he usually received half of the fines imposed on miscreants, with the fief holder on whose lands the misdeed took place, receiving the other half. Sanjak governors also had other duties, for example, the pursuit of bandits, the investigation of heretics, the provision of supplies for the army, or the despatch of materials for shipbuilding, as the sultan commanded.[1]

Sanjak governors also served as military commanders of all of the timariot and zeamet-holding

Aga was often known as an Agaluk.[9] The term Arpalik (Turkish: Arpalik), or Arpaluk, refers to large estate (i.e. sanjak) entrusted to some holder of senior position, or to some margrave, as temporary arrangement before they were appointed to some appropriate position.[19] The barleycorn was known as arpa in Turkish, and the feudal system in Ottoman Empire employed the term Arpalik, or "barley-money", to refer to a second allowance made to officials to offset the costs of fodder for their horses (for covering the expenses of keeping a small unit of cavalry).[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Imber, Colin (2002). "The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The Structure of Power" (PDF). pp. 177–200. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 26, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d Ağır, Seven (November 2010). "Sacred Obligations, Precious Interests: Ottoman Grain Administration in Comparative Perspective" (PDF). Department of Economics - Yale University. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 25, 2012.
  3. ISBN 978-0-8133-1359-7
    .
  4. ISBN 978-0-295-80363-0
    . Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  5. ISBN 978-1-4381-1025-7
    . Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  6. ^ System of universal geography founded on the works of Malte-Brun and Balbi
  7. ISBN 978-1-4381-1025-7
    . Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  8. ^ a b "Australian Light Horse Studies Centre".
  9. ^
    ISBN 0-330-41244-2
    .
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-0-521-29163-7
    . Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  11. ISBN 978-90-5201-374-9
    . Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  12. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4617-3176-4
    . Retrieved 2013-06-02.
  13. ISBN 978-605-4030-01-9
    . Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  14. ^
    ISBN 978-90-04-11051-9
    . Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  15. ISBN 9781107033634
  16. ^
    ISBN 978-1-84511-291-2
    . Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  17. ^
    ISBN 978-0-521-29166-8
    . Retrieved 2013-06-04.
  18. ISBN 978-0-521-29166-8
    . Retrieved 2013-06-04.
  19. OCLC 42854785
    , retrieved 29 December 2011
  20. ISBN 90-04-09796-1
    .

Further reading
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