Eyâlet

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The Eyâlet (from Arabic iyāla for "exercise of power, administration"), outdated popular transcription Ejalet ( Ottoman ايالت), was the great province of the Ottoman Empire until the Tanzimatz time . From 1867 it was replaced by the Vilâyet . At the head of the eyalet was a governor, who was usually only appointed for a short time and who was called Beylerbey in the early days , later mostly vali and who had the rank of pasha of two horse tails (Tugh), in the later period also often vizier rank (three horse tails).

history

Many Eyâlets were in two or more Sandschaks divided, wherein the immediately subordinate to the eyalet governor district as paşa sancağı was designated. Basically there was no fundamental difference between the administrative tasks of an Eyâlet governor and those of a sanjak governor. The other sanjaks were under the direction of governors of lower rank with the designation sancakbeyi , mir-liva , later also mutessarıf and the title of a Bey . Originally the main task of the sancakbeyis was the command of the members of the so-called feudal riding ( Sipahis ) stationed in their districts . These, the governors and other functionaries were not paid directly, but instead provided for according to the Tımar system through the allocation of income from a certain piece of land. In most of the sandjaks, several hundred to a thousand units (called Tımar, Zeamet / Ziamet or Hass , depending on their size ) were formed.

The Eyâlet developed from the office of Beylerbey of the commander in chief of the feudal riding. Murad I (1360-1389) was the first to appoint the Beylerbey of Rumeli ( Rumelia ) for all European possessions. Shortly afterwards, a Beylerbey from Anadolu ( Anatolia ) was appointed for the Asian possessions. The ranks of the Beylerbeys of Rumeli and Anadolu remained the highest in the feudal hierarchy and were also awarded as honorary titles in the late period. In the 15th century the Beylerbey of rum for Northeast Anatolia was added. After the Beyliks Karaman was conquered , this area was also subordinated to a Beylerbey, as were the newly acquired areas from this time. Likewise, new Beylerbeyliks were formed by separating the area of ​​the Beylerbeys from Rumelien. Due to the fact that feudal riding lost its military importance, the administrative function of the Beylerbeys and Sancakbeyis as provincial governors came to the fore. For the districts of the Beylerbeyis, the name Eyâlet became common until the 17th century.

This loss of importance of feudal riding is also attributed to the fact that the Eyalets Egypt, Baghdad, Habeş , al-Hasa, Yemen and the so-called barbarian states of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, later conquered from the 16th century in the Arab-speaking countries, did not establish a Tımar system and Sanjaks were erected there only as an exception.

Territorial typology of Ottoman rule in the 16th century

Over the centuries vassals became provinces and vice versa.

Ottoman core provinces (Eyâlet / Vilâyet )

  • ruled by the Grand Governor appointed by the Sultan
  • divided into sanjaks, ruled by governors
  • Most of the land was divided into benefices / fiefs ( Tımar ).
  • Examples: Anatolia , Buda , Cyprus , Rumelia etc.
  • Special positions: Smaller communities and regions received special privileges and local autonomies; Examples: monasteries of Athos and Sinai , some islands and mountain regions in Greece etc.

Ottoman provinces (Sâliyâne-Eyâlet / Sâliyâne-Vilâyet)

  • ruled by the Grand Governor appointed by the Sultan
  • divided into sanjaks, ruled by governors
  • Land only partially or slightly divided into benefices. While maintaining the pre-Ottoman socio-economic and administrative structures, an annual tribute is paid to the Ottoman treasury
  • Examples: Egypt , Yemen , Tunisia , Baghdad , Basra etc.
  • Special positions: Rarely on the level of Eyâlets, more on the Sanjak level, one finds some provinces ruled by governors who were allowed to inherit their office; Examples: Adana among the Ramazan Oğulları , some Kurdish sanjaks , Vidin among the Mihaloğlu family, etc.

Muslim vassals

  • States that accept the supremacy of the Ottomans but are allowed to retain their traditional organizational structure. Nevertheless, the Sultan reserves the right to nominate the ruler of the vassal territory himself. They have to align their policies with Ottoman politics in general, but can also act independently, even carry out local acts of war.
  • generally has a strong political, military and / or symbolic significance for the Ottoman Empire and therefore receives various forms of financial support
  • Examples: Khanate of the Crimean Tatars , Sherif of Mecca etc.
  • Special position: Iran paid tribute between 1590 and 1603, but was politically independent.

Christian vassals

  • States that accept the supremacy of the Ottomans, they pay an annual total sum as a tribute to the Sultan, have to align their foreign policy with Ottoman policy, but retain for the most part their autonomy and traditional Christian institutions (no Islamic or Ottoman law in the vassal's territory) . Nevertheless, the Sultan reserves the right to nominate the ruler of the vassal territory himself, should politics not adhere to the guidelines.
  • Examples: Ragusa , Georgia , Transylvania , Moldova , Wallachia etc.
  • Special positions: some Christian empires did pay tribute, either for parts of their territory (e.g. Venice paid for Cyprus until the Ottoman conquest between 1517 and 1571; the Habsburgs paid tribute for Northern Hungary 1533–1593) or as a "nominal fee" in order not to be attacked to be afflicted or to be plagued by forays (e.g. Poland-Lithuania to the Khanate of Crimea and occasionally to the Ottomans), but retained their political independence.

List of Eyâlet

From 1609 the following Eyâlets existed (name of the capital in brackets, if not identical to that of the Vilâyets):

Surname Ottoman name and transliteration ( Turkish ) Founded Current situation Remarks
Abyssinia Hebeşe circa 1554 Saudi Arabia , Sudan , Eritrea , Somalia Covers both coasts of the Red Sea. Is also called Mecca and Medina.
Adana آضنه Ażana (Adana) circa 1608 Turkey
Aegean islands Cezayir Mid 1500 Greece The governorship was linked to the office of Kapudan Pasha .
Egypt مصر Mıṣır (Mısır) 1517 Egypt , Israel , Jordan , Saudi Arabia
Aleppo حلب Ḥaleb (Halep) approx. 1516-1521 Syria , Turkey
Algeria جزاير غرب Cezâyîr-i Ġarb (Cezayir Garp) 1519 Algeria
Anatolia Anadolu circa 1365 Turkey
Baghdad بغداد Baġdâd (Bağdat) 1535 Iraq
Basra بصره Baṣra (Basra) circa 1552 Iraq , Kuwait
Bosnia Bosna circa 1520s Bosnia-Herzegovina , Croatia , Serbia , Montenegro
Buda Budin 1541 Hungary , Croatia , Serbia
Diyarbekir دياربكر Diyârbekir (Diyarbakır) 1515 Turkey , Iraq
Eger اكر Egir ( Egri ) 1596 Hungary
Erzurum Erzurum approx. 1514-1534 Turkey
al-Hasa Lahsa circa 1579 Saudi Arabia
Yemen Yemen 1517-18, 1539 Yemen , Saudi Arabia
Kefe Kefe circa 1581 Ukraine , Russia
Kanizsa Kanije 1600 Hungary , Croatia
Karaman Karaman circa 1470 Turkey
Kars Kars 1579 Turkey , Georgia 1604 summarized with velvet cows. Then connected to Erzurum in 1845.
Maraş Maraş, Dulkadır circa 1522 Turkey
Mosul Musul approx. late 15th century Iraq
ar-Raqqa Raqqa 1586-1683 Syria , Turkey , Iraq Also called Urfa
Rumelia Rumeli circa 1365 Bulgaria , Greece , Macedonia , Albania , Serbia , Montenegro , Turkey
Velvet cows Çıldır circa 1579 Georgia , Turkey Also called meskheti. Most of the eyalets were lost to Russia in 1829. The rest was attached to Erzurum.
Shahrazor Şehrizor Mid 1500 Iraq , Iran Also called Shahrizor, Sheherizul or Kirkuk . Was attached to Mosul as a sanjak in 1830.
Silistria Silistre circa 1599 Bulgaria , Romania , Moldova , Ukraine Later also called Ochakiv / Özi.
Sivas Sivas Early 1500 Turkey
Syria Şam 1516-17 Syria , Lebanon , Israel , Palestine , Jordan , Turkey and Iraq .
Timișoara Tımışvar 1552 Romania , Serbia , Hungary Also called Temesvar
Trabzon Trabzon Late 1500s Turkey , Georgia
Tripoli Trablus-ı Şam (Trablusşam) circa 1570s Lebanon , Syria
Tripolitania Trablus-ı Garb (Trablusgarp) 1551 Libya
Tunis Tunus 1574 Tunisia
Van Van 1548 Turkey
Cyprus قبرص Ḳıbrıṣ (Kıbrıs) 1571 Cyprus , Turkey 1660–1703 and 1784 part of the Eyalets of the Aegean Islands

Swell:

  • Colin Imber: The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650: The structure of power. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 2002, ISBN 0-333-61387-2 .
  • Halil Inalcik: The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300–1600. Translated by Norman Itzkowitz and Colin Imber. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1973, ISBN 0-297-99490-5 .
  • Donald Edgar Pitcher: An Historical Geography of the Ottoman Empire. Brill, Leiden 1972, OCLC 494766207 .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ I. Metin Kunt: The Sultan's Servants. The Transformation of Ottoman Provincial Government, 1550-1650. Columbia Univ. Press, New York, NY 1983, ISBN 0-231-05578-1 , p. 27
  2. ↑ Halil Berktay , Bogdan Murgescu (Ed.): Workbook I: The Ottoman Empire . (PDF; 7.5 MB) 2nd edition. Thessaloniki 2009, ISBN 978-960-88963-7-6 , p. 69.