ota, ایالت شام , conventional_long_name = Damascus Eyalet , common_name = Damascus Eyalet , subdivision =

Eyalet Eyalets ( Ottoman Turkish: ایالت, , English: State), also known as beylerbeyliks or pashaliks, were a primary administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ottoman local government ...

, nation = the Ottoman Empire , year_start = 1516 , year_end = 1865 , date_start = , date_end = , event_start = Battle of Marj Dabiq , event_end = , p1 = Mamluk Sultanate , flag_p1 = Mameluke Flag.svg , s1 = Syria Vilayet , flag_s1 = Flag of the Ottoman Empire.svg , s2 = Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem , flag_s2 = Flag of the Ottoman Empire.svg , image_flag = Ottoman Flag.svg , flag_type = , image_coat = , image_map = Damascus Eyalet, Ottoman Empire (1795).png , image_map_caption = The Damascus Eyalet in 1795 , capital =

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, stat_year1 = , stat_area1 = , stat_pop1 = , stat_year2 = , stat_area2 = , stat_pop2 = , footnotes = , demonym = , today =

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

Damascus Eyalet ( ar, إيالة دمشق; ota, ایالت شام, Eyālet-i Šām) was an

eyalet Eyalets ( Ottoman Turkish: ایالت, , English: State), also known as beylerbeyliks or pashaliks, were a primary administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ottoman local government ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Its reported area in the 19th century was . It became an eyalet after the Ottomans conquered it from the

Mamluks Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') i ...

in 1516. By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters

Janbirdi al-Ghazali Janbirdi al-Ghazali ( ar, جان بردي الغزالي; ''Jān-Birdi al-Ghazāli''; died 1521) was the first governor of Damascus Province under the Ottoman Empire from February 1519 until his death in February 1521. Career Viceroy of Hama and ...

, a Mamluk traitor, was made the first

beylerbey ''Beylerbey'' ( ota, بكلربكی, beylerbeyi, lit=bey of beys, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords') was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks ...

of Damascus. The Damascus Eyalet was one of the first Ottoman provinces to become a

vilayet A vilayet ( ota, , "province"), also known by #Names, 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 init ...

after an administrative reform in 1865, and by 1867 it had been reformed into the Syria Vilayet.

Territorial jurisdiction

The

conquered Syria from the

following the

Battle of Marj Dabiq The Battle of Marj Dābiq ( ar, مرج دابق, meaning "the meadow of Dābiq"; tr, Mercidabık Muharebesi), a decisive military engagement in Middle Eastern history, was fought on 24 August 1516, near the town of Dabiq, 44 km north of ...

in August 1516 and the subsequent pledges of allegiance paid to the Ottoman sultan,

Selim I Selim I ( ota, سليم الأول; tr, I. Selim; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute ( tr, links=no, Yavuz Sultan Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite last ...

, in

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

by delegations of notables from throughout Syria. The Ottomans established Damascus as the center of an ''

'' (Ottoman province) whose territories consisted of the ''mamlakat'' (Mamluk provinces) of Damascus,

Hama , timezone = EET , utc_offset = +2 , timezone_DST = EEST , utc_offset_DST = +3 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , ar ...

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

Safad Safed (known in Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevat ...

and Karak.Abu Husayn, p. 11. The ''mamlaka'' of

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

, which covered much of northern Syria, became the

Aleppo Eyalet ota, ایالت حلب , common_name = Aleppo Eyalet , subdivision = Eyalet , nation = the Ottoman Empire , year_start = 1534 , year_end = 1864 , date_start = , date_end = , event_s ...

. For a few months in 1521, Tripoli and its district were separated from Damascus Eyalet, but after 1579, the

Tripoli Eyalet Tripoli Eyalet ( ota, ایالت طرابلس شام, Eyālet-i Ṭrāblus-ı Şām; ar, طرابلس الشام) was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. The capital was in Tripoli, Lebanon. Its reported area in the 19th century was . It extended ...

permanently became its own province. At the close of the 16th century, the Damascus Eyalet was administratively divided into the ''

sanjaks Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ) * Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province") * Bulgarian: окръг ('' okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region") * el, Διοίκησις (''dioikēsis'', meaning "province") ...

'' (districts) of

Tadmur Palmyra (; ar, تَدْمُر, Tadmor; Palmyrene: ''Tadmor'') is a city in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate. It is located in an oasis in the middle of the Syrian Desert northeast of Damascus and southwest of the Eu ...

Lajjun Lajjun ( ar, اللجّون, ''al-Lajjūn'') was a large Palestinian Arab village in Mandatory Palestine, located northwest of Jenin and south of the remains of the biblical city of Megiddo. The Israeli kibbutz of Megiddo, Israel was built o ...

Ajlun Ajloun ( ar, عجلون, ''‘Ajlūn''), also spelled Ajlun, is the capital town of the Ajloun Governorate, a hilly town in the north of Jordan, located 76 kilometers (around 47 miles) north west of Amman. It is noted for its impressive ruins of t ...

Nablus Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, Gaza and Karak, in addition to the city of Damascus and its district.Bakhit 1982, p. 91. There was also the ''sanjak'' of Sidon-Beirut, though throughout the late 16th century, it frequently switched hands between the ''eyalets'' of Damascus and Tripoli. Briefly in 1614, and then permanently after 1660, the Sidon-Beirut and Safad ''sanjaks'' were separated from Damascus to form the

Sidon Eyalet ota, ایالت صیدا , common_name = Eyalet of Sidon , subdivision = Eyalet , nation = the Ottoman Empire , year_start = 1660 , year_end = 1864 , date_start = , date_end = , eve ...

. These administrative divisions largely held place with relatively minor changes until the mid-19th century.Salibi, pp. 63–64.

Governors

(1518–1521) *

Ahmad ibn Ridwan Ahmad ibn Ridwan ( ar, أحمد بن رضوان ) (died 1607), better known as Ahmad Pasha, was the governor of the Damascus Eyalet in the early 17th century. Before that, he was governor of the Gaza Sanjak, a subprovince of Damascus, for nearly 30 ...

(1601–1607) *

Sulayman Pasha al-Azm Sulayman Pasha al-Azm ( ar, سليمان باشا العظم; tr, Azmzâde Süleyman Paşa; died August 1743) was the governor of Sidon Eyalet (1727–33), Damascus Eyalet (1733–38, 1741–43), and Egypt Eyalet (1739–40) under the Ottoman Emp ...

(1733–1737; 1741–1743) *

As'ad Pasha al-Azm As'ad Pasha al-Azem ( ar, أسعد باشا العظم, 1706 – March 1758) was the governor of Damascus under Ottoman rule from 1743 to his deposition in 1757. He was responsible for the construction of several architectural works in the city a ...

(1743–1757) *

Uthman Pasha al-Kurji Uthman Pasha al-Kurji (also known as Uthman Pasha al-Sadiq, alternative spellings include ''Othman'', ''Osman'' or ''Usman'' and ''al-Kurdji'' or ''Kurzi''), was the Ottoman governor (''wali'') of Damascus Eyalet between 1760 and 1771.Burns, 2005, ...

(1760-1771) *

Abdullah Pasha al-Azm Abdullah Pasha al-Azm ( 1783–1809) was an Ottoman statesman who served as the governor of the Damascus Eyalet (three separate terms, 1795–1807), Aleppo Eyalet (1794), Egypt Eyalet (1798), Adana Eyalet, and Rakka Eyalet (1809), before retirin ...

(1795-1798; 1799-1803; 1804–1807) *

Mehmed Emin Rauf Pasha Mehmed Emin Rauf Pasha (1780–1860) was an Ottoman industrialist and statesman, who was Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire twice under Mahmud II (reign 1808–1839) and three times under Abdülmecit I (reign 1839–1861) during t ...

(October 1828 - July 1831) * Mehmed Selim Pasha (1830–1831)

Administrative divisions

Sanjaks of Damascus Eyalet in the 17th century: By

Evliya Çelebi Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years, recording ...

Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall (9 June 1774 – 23 November 1856) was an Austrian orientalist and historian. He is considered one of the most accomplished Orientalists of his time. He was critical of the trend of ascribing classical or a ...

*''Khass'' sanjaks (i.e. yielded a land revenue): # Sanjak of Damascus #

Sanjak of Jerusalem The Sanjak of Jerusalem was an Ottoman administrative district, part of the Damascus Eyalet for much of its existence.Abu-Manneh (1999), pp3637. It was created in the 16th century after the 1516 Turkish conquest of Palestine,Beshara (2012), pp2 ...

Sanjak of Gaza Gaza Sanjak ( ar, سنجق غزة) was a sanjak of the Damascus Eyalet, Ottoman Empire centered in Gaza. In the 16th century it was divided into ''nawahi'' (singular: ''nahiya''; third-level subdivisions): Gaza in the south and Ramla in the north ...

# Sanjak of Karak #

Sanjak of Safad Safed Sanjak ( ar, سنجق صفد; tr, Safed Sancağı) was a ''sanjak'' (district) of Damascus Eyalet ( Ottoman province of Damascus) in 1517–1660, after which it became part of the Sidon Eyalet (Ottoman province of Sidon). The sanjak was cen ...

Sanjak of Nablus The Nablus Sanjak ( ar, سنجق نابلس; tr, Nablus Sancağı) was an administrative area that existed throughout Ottoman rule in the Levant (1517–1917). It was administratively part of the Damascus Eyalet until 1864 when it became part o ...

# Sanjak of

Beqaa Beqaa ( ar, بقاع, link=no, ''Biqā‘'') can refer to two places in Lebanon: * Beqaa Governorate, one of six major subdivisions of Lebanon * Beqaa Valley, a valley in eastern Lebanon and its most important farming region See also

*Kasbeel ...

*''Salyane'' sanjaks (i.e. had an annual allowance from government): # Sanjak of

# Sanjak of

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

# Sanjak of

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{coord missing, Asia Ottoman Syria Eyalets of the Ottoman Empire in Asia History of Damascus Political entities in the Land of Israel 1510s in Ottoman Syria 16th century in Ottoman Syria 17th century in Ottoman Syria 18th century in Ottoman Syria 19th century in Ottoman Syria 1510s establishments in Asia 16th-century establishments in Ottoman Syria 1864 disestablishments in Ottoman Syria 1860s disestablishments in Asia 1516 establishments in the Ottoman Empire