Eyalets (
Ottoman Turkish: ایالت, , English: State), also known as beylerbeyliks or pashaliks, were a primary
administrative division
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
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) ...
.
From
1453
Year 1453 ( MCDLIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 1453rd year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 453rd year of the 2nd millennium, the 53rd year of the 15th century, and the ...
to the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ottoman local government was loosely structured.
The empire was at first divided into states called eyalets, presided over by a
beylerbey (
title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
equivalent to
duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
in
Turkish) of three tails (feathers borne on a state officer's ceremonial staff).
The
grand vizier was responsible for nominating all the high officers of State, both in the capital and the states.
Between 1861 and 1866, these eyalets were abolished, and the territory was divided for administrative purposes into
vilayet
A vilayet ( ota, , "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 ...
s (provinces).
The eyalets were subdivided into districts called
livas or sanjaks, each of which was under the charge of a pasha of one tail, with the title of mira-lira, or
sanjak-bey
''Sanjak-bey'', ''sanjaq-bey'' or ''-beg'' ( ota, سنجاق بك) () was the title given in the Ottoman Empire to a bey (a high-ranking officer, but usually not a pasha) appointed to the military and administrative command of a district (''sanjak ...
.
These provinces were usually called pashaliks by Europeans.
[The empires and cities of Asia (1873)](_blank)
by Forbes, A. Gruar. Page 188 The pasha was invested with powers of absolute government within his province, being the chief of both the military and financial departments, as well as police and criminal justice.
At official functions, the order of precedence was
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
,
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
,
Abyssinia
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...
,
Buda,
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
, "Mera'ish", and the
Kapudan Pasha
The Kapudan Pasha ( ota, قپودان پاشا, modern Turkish: ), was the Grand Admiral of the navy of the Ottoman Empire. He was also known as the ( ota, قپودان دریا, links=no, modern: , "Captain of the Sea"). Typically, he was bas ...
in Asia and Buda, Egypt, Abyssinia, Baghdad, and
Rumelia in Europe, with the remainder arranged according to the chronological order of their conquest.
[Çelebi, Evliya. Trans. by von Hammer, Joseph. ]
Narrative of travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa in the seventeenth century
'' Vol. 1, p. 90 ff. Parbury, Allen, & Co. (London), 1834.
Names
The term ''eyalet'' is sometimes translated province or governorate. Depending on the rank of the governor, they were also sometimes known as ''pashaliks'' (governed by a ''
pasha
Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitar ...
''), ''beylerbeyliks'' (governed by a ''bey'' or ''
beylerbey''), and ''kapudanliks'' (governed by a ''kapudan'').
Pashaluk or Pashalik ( tr, paşalık) is the abstract word derived from
pasha
Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitar ...
, denoting the quality, office or jurisdiction of a
pasha
Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitar ...
or the territory administered by him. In European sources, the word "pashalic" generally referred to the eyalets.
The term 'eyalet' began to be applied to the largest administrative unit of the Ottoman Empire instead of beglerbegilik from the 1590s onward, and it continued to be used until 1867.
History
Murad I
Murad I ( ota, مراد اول; tr, I. Murad, Murad-ı Hüdavendigâr (nicknamed ''Hüdavendigâr'', from fa, خداوندگار, translit=Khodāvandgār, lit=the devotee of God – meaning "sovereign" in this context); 29 June 1326 – 15 Jun ...
instituted the great division of the sultanate into two beylerbeyiliks of
Rumelia and
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
, in circa 1365.
With the eastward expansion of Bayezid's realms in the 1390s, a third eyalet,
Rûm Eyalet
Eyalet of Rûm ( ota, ایالت روم; ; originally Arabic for Eastern Roman Empire), later named as the Eyalet of Sivas ( ota, ایالت سیواس; ), was an Ottoman eyalet in northern Anatolia, founded following Bayezid I's conquest of t ...
, came into existence, with
Amasya
Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey and is the capital of Amasya Province, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ...
its chief town. This became the seat of government of Bayezid's youngest son,
Mehmed I
Mehmed I ( 1386 – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi ( ota, چلبی محمد, "the noble-born") or Kirişçi ( el, Κυριτζής, Kyritzis, "lord's son"), was the Ottoman sultan from 1413 to 1421. The fourth son of Sultan Bayezid ...
, and was to remain a residence of princely governors until the 16th century.
In 1395, Bayezid I executed the last
Shishmanid
The House of Shishman ( bg, Шишман), also Shishmanids or Shishmanovtsi ( bg, Шишмановци), was a medieval Bulgarian royal dynasty of Cuman (or partial Cuman) origin.
The Shishman dynasty consecutively ruled the Second Bulgarian Emp ...
Tsar of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
, and annexed his realm to
Rumelia Eyalet
The Eyalet of Rumeli, or Eyalet of Rumelia ( ota, ایالت روم ایلی, ), known as the Beylerbeylik of Rumeli until 1591, was a first-level province ('' beylerbeylik'' or ''eyalet'') of the Ottoman Empire encompassing most of the Balkans (" ...
. In 1461, Mehmed II expelled the last of the
Isfendyarid
The Isfendiyarids or Isfendiyarid dynasty ( Modern Turkish: ''İsfendiyaroğulları'', ''İsfendiyaroğulları Beyliği''), also known as the Beylik of Sinop, Beylik of Isfendiyar (''İsfendiyar Beyliği''), Jandarids or Beylik of Jandar (''Can ...
dynasty from
Sinop Sinop can refer to:
* Sinop, Turkey, a city on the Black Sea
** Sinop Nuclear Power Plant, was planned in 2013, but cancelled in 2018
** Battle of Sinop, 1853 naval battle in the Sinop port
*** Russian ship ''Sinop'', Russian ships named after the ...
, awarding him lands thus taxation authority near
Bursa in exchange for his hereditary territory. The Isfendyarid principality became a district of
Anatolia Eyalet.
In 1468,
Karaman Eyalet
Karaman Eyalet ( ota, ایالت قرهمان, Eyālet-i Ḳaraman) was one of the subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire. Its reported area in the 19th century was .
In 1468, the formerly independent principality of Karaman was annexed by the ...
was established, following the annexation of the formerly independent
principality of Karaman;
Mehmed II appointed his son
Mustafa
Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى
, Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world.
Given name Mou ...
as governor of the new eyalet, with his seat at
Konya
Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it ...
.
The 16th century saw the greatest increase in the number of eyalets, largely through the conquests of
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 las ...
and
Süleyman I, which created the need to incorporate the new territory into the structure of the Empire, and partly through the reorganisation of existing territory.
A list dated 1527 shows eight eyalets, with
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
,
Damascus,
Diyarbekir and
Kurdistan
Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages ...
added to the original four. The last eyalet, however, did not survive as an administrative entity. Süleyman's conquests in eastern Turkey, Iraq and Hungary also resulted in the creation of new eyalets.
The former
principality of Dulkadir became the
Dulkadir Eyalet at some time after its annexation in 1522. After the Iranian campaign of 1533–6, the new eyalets of
Erzurum
Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010.
The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...
,
Van,
Sharazor
Shahrizor or Shahrazur () is a region part of Kurdistan Region, Iraq situated in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate and west of Avroman. Shahrizor is a fertile plain watered by the tributaries of Tandjaro river which flows to Diyala and Tigris rivers. ...
and
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
guarded the frontier with Iran.
In 1541 came the creation of
Budin Eyalet
Budin Eyalet (also known as Province of Budin/Buda or Pashalik of Budin/Buda, ota, ایالت بودین, Eyālet-i Budin) was an administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire in Central Europe and the Balkans. It was formed on the te ...
from part of the old
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
.
The
Eyalet of the Archipelago
The Eyalet of the Archipelago ( ota, ایالت جزایر بحر سفید, ''Eyālet-i Cezāyir-i Baḥr-i Sefīd'', "Eyalet of the Islands of the White Sea") was a first-level province (eyalet) of the Ottoman Empire. From its inception until the ...
was created by Süleyman I especially for
Hayreddin Barbarossa
Hayreddin Barbarossa ( ar, خير الدين بربروس, Khayr al-Din Barbarus, original name: Khiḍr; tr, Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa), also known as Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1478 – 4 July 1546), was an O ...
in 1533, by detaching districts from the shores and islands of the Aegean which had previously been part of the eyalets of
Rumelia and
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
, and uniting them as an independent eyalet.
In 1580, Bosnia, previously a district of Rumelia, became an eyalet in its own right, presumably in view of its strategically important position on the border with the Habsburgs. Similar considerations led to the creation of the
Kanije Eyalet
The Kanije Eyalet ( ota, ایالت قنیژه; Eyālet-i Ḳanije) was an administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire formed in 1600 and existing until the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz. It included parts of present-day Hungary and Croatia ...
from the districts adjoining this border fortress, which had fallen to the Ottomans in 1600. In the same period, the annexation of the Rumelian districts on the lower Danube and the Black Sea coast, and their addition to territories between the Danube and the
Dniepr
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...
along the Black Sea, created the
Silistra Eyalet
The Eyalet of Silistra or Silistria ( ota, ایالت سیلیستره; ''Eyālet-i Silistre''), later known as Özü Eyalet ( ota, ایالت اوزی; ''Eyālet-i Özi'') meaning Province of Ochakiv was an ''eyalet'' of the Ottoman Empire along ...
. At the same time, on the south-eastern shore of the Black Sea,
Trebizond Eyalet
Trebizond Eyalet ( ota, ایالت طربزون, Eyālet-i Ṭrabzōn) or Trabzon Beylerbeyliği was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire.
Established in 1598, By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters it remained a primarily Christian region into the 1 ...
came into being. The purpose of this reorganisation, and especially the creation of the eyalet of Özi was presumably to improve the defences of the Black Sea ports against the Cossacks.
By 1609, according to the list of
Ayn Ali, there were 32 eyalets. Some of these, such as Tripoli, Cyprus or Tunis, were the spoils of conquest. Others, however, were the products of administrative division.
In 1795, the government launched a major reorganization of the provincial administration, with a law decreeing that there would be 28 provinces, each to be governed by a vizer. These were
Adana
Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million.
Adana lies in the heart of Cilicia, wh ...
,
Aleppo,
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
,
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
,
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...
,
Bosnia,
Childir,
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
,
Damascus,
Diyarbekir,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
,
Erzurum
Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010.
The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...
,
Habesh,
Karaman
Karaman, historically known as Laranda (Greek: Λάρανδα), is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the capital district of the Karaman Province. According t ...
,
Kars,
Dulkadir, the
Archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...
,
Morea
The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottom ...
,
Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...
,
Rakka
Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, ...
,
Rumelia,
Sayda,
Sharazor
Shahrizor or Shahrazur () is a region part of Kurdistan Region, Iraq situated in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate and west of Avroman. Shahrizor is a fertile plain watered by the tributaries of Tandjaro river which flows to Diyala and Tigris rivers. ...
,
Silistra,
Sivas
Sivas (Latin and Greek: ''Sebastia'', ''Sebastea'', Σεβάστεια, Σεβαστή, ) is a city in central Turkey and the seat of Sivas Province.
The city, which lies at an elevation of in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is ...
,
Trebizond,
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 ...
,
Van. In practice, however, central control remained weak, and beylerbeyis continued to rule some provinces, instead of vizers.
Government
The beglerbegiliks where the
timar
A timar was a land grant by the sultans of the Ottoman Empire between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, with an annual tax revenue of less than 20,000 akçes. The revenues produced from the land acted as compensation for military service ...
system was not applied, such as
Abyssinia
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...
, Algiers, Egypt, Baghdad, Basra and
Lahsa, were more autonomous than the others. Instead of collecting provincial revenues through
sipahi
''Sipahi'' ( ota, سپاهی, translit=sipâhi, label=Persian, ) were professional cavalrymen deployed by the Seljuks, and later the Ottoman Empire, including the land grant-holding (''timar'') provincial '' timarli sipahi'', which constituted ...
s, the beglerbegi transferred fixed annuals sums to Istanbul, known as the
salyane.
By 1500, the four central eyalets of the Empire, Rumelia, Anatolia, Rum and Karaman, were under direct rule.
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...
,
Moldavia
Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and for ...
and the
Khanate of the Crimea
The Crimean Khanate ( crh, , or ), officially the Great Horde and Desht-i Kipchak () and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary ( la, Tartaria Minor), was a Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to ...
, territories which Mehmed II had brought under his suzerainty, remained in the control of native dynasties tributary to the Sultan. So, too, did the Kingdom of Hungary after the
battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács (; hu, mohácsi csata, tr, Mohaç Muharebesi or Mohaç Savaşı) was fought on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, Kingdom of Hungary, between the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary and its allies, led by Louis II, and thos ...
in 1526.
Map
List
From the mid-14th century until the late 16th century, only one new beylerbeylik (
Karaman
Karaman, historically known as Laranda (Greek: Λάρανδα), is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the capital district of the Karaman Province. According t ...
) was established.
Disappeared before 1609
The eyalets that existed before 1609 but disappeared include the following:
Eyalets in 1609
Conquests of
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 las ...
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
Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains off ...
, 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.)
Established 1609–1683
Established 1826–1864
Maps
File:Das osmannische Reich und dessen Schutz-Staaten, nach seiner grossten Ausdehnung im XVIIten Jahrhundert.jpg, Eyalets in the 17th century
File:1855 Colton Map of Turkey, Iraq, and Syria - Geographicus - TurkeyIraq-colton-1855.jpg, 1855 map of Turkey in Asia by Joseph Hutchins Colton
File:Europaeische Turkey und Griechenland. Zum Atlas v. J.M. Ziegler. Topogr. Anstalt v. Joh. Wurster u. Comp. in Winterthur. (1864).jpg, Map of European Turkey by Carl Ritter
Carl Ritter (August 7, 1779September 28, 1859) was a German geographer. Along with Alexander von Humboldt, he is considered one of the founders of modern geography. From 1825 until his death, he occupied the first chair in geography at the Univer ...
, published in 1864
Modern usage of the term
Turkish Language Association
The Turkish Language Association ( tr, Türk Dil Kurumu, TDK) is the regulatory body for the Turkish language, founded on 12 July 1932 by the initiative of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and headquartered in Ankara, Turkey. The Institution acts as the o ...
defines the word ''eyalet'' as "an administrative division having some kind of administrative independence" and in modern Turkish, the word ''eyalet'' is used widely in the context of
federalism, corresponding to the English word ''
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
''. While the word ''eyalet'' is out of use in Turkish
public administration
Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit est ...
, replaced long ago by
''ils'' under a unitary structure, top-level administrative subdivisions of numerous
federal states
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...
are called ''eyalets'' in Turkish, such as the states of
Australia,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and
the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, along with the provinces of
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, deferent to the modern definition of the word. Albeit
China and
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
are legally unitary states, these countries' provinces are also referred to as ''eyalets'' in Turkish.
See also
*
Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire
The administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire were administrative divisions of the state organisation of the Ottoman Empire. Outside this system were various types of vassal and tributary states.
The Ottoman Empire was first subdivided ...
References
Further reading
*
*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)
External links
* Contains a list of eyalets, or 'beglerbei'.
* Includes a list of provinces or 'beierbei'.
* With a list of 'beglerbegatus'.
* With a list of 'beglerbeg' and 'sangiacks'.
* With a list of 'beglerbeglics'.
* Includes a list of beglerbegliks and sanjaks.
* With a list of Eyalets and livas.
* The appendix includes a list of 'government-generals', sanjaks, and their governors.
{{Authority control
Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire
Types of administrative division
Former types of subdivisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina