The Croatian Vilayet ( ota, vilâyet-i Hırvat) was a temporary borderland entity in Dalmatia in the 16th century. Its capital was

Sinj Sinj (; it, Signo; german: Zein) is a town in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The town itself has a population of 11,478 and the population of the administrative municipality, which includes surrounding villages, is 24 ...

Establishment and territory

Immediately after the Ottoman capture of the

Dalmatian hinterland The Dalmatian Hinterland ( hr, Dalmatinska zagora; it, La Morlacca or ) is the southern inland hinterland in the historical Croatian region of Dalmatia. The name ''zagora'' means "beyond (the) hills", which is a reference to the fact that it is t ...

and

Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by ...

from the

Kingdom of Croatia Kingdom of Croatia may refer to: * Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102), an independent medieval kingdom * Croatia in personal union with Hungary (1102–1526), a kingdom in personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary * Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg) (152 ...

and the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

in the 1520s, they organized it as a borderland entity and named it the Vilayet of "Croats" ( tr, Hırvat, hr, Hrvati). The southern border of the territory of this vilayet was river Cetina while north-western border was

and river

Zrmanja Zrmanja (, it, Zermagna) is a river in southern Lika and northern Dalmatia, Croatia. It is long and its basin covers an area of . It was known to the ancient Romans as ''Tedanius''. The spring of Zrmanja is located in southern part of Lika unde ...

. It also included region around river Krka. This territory was administratively governed as the Croatian vilayet which belonged to the

Sanjak of Bosnia Sanjak of Bosnia ( tr, Bosna Sancağı, sh, Bosanski sandžak / Босански санџак) was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire established in 1463 when the lands conquered from the Bosnian Kingdom were transformed into a sanjak and ...

and listed as such in its 1530 ''

defter A ''defter'' (plural: ''defterler'') was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire. Description The information collected could vary, but ''tahrir defterleri'' typically included details of villages, dwellings, household ...

'' (tax registry).

Administration

The capital of the vilayet was

. Its territory was under the jurisdiction of the Skradin ''

kadiluk A kadiluk, in some cases equivalent to a kaza, was a local administrative subdivision of the Ottoman empire, which was the territory of a kadı, or judge. There could be several kadiluks in a sanjak. The kadı's duties extended beyond those of ...

''. Aličić claimed that territories of the Croatian vilayet and Skradin kadiluk were the same and that the official Ottoman administrative unit, Croatian vilayet, was under administrative-judicial jurisdiction of Skradin. In 1528 the Croatian vilayet and ''kadiluk'' of Skradin had the following nahiyahs: * Sinj and Cetina *

Dicmo Dicmo is a municipality in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County. It has a population of 2,802, 98% of which are Croats (2011 census). Geography and history Dicmo is a municipality made up of small villages located on the bottom of several foot- ...

* Zminje Polje * Vrhrika * Petrovo Polje and Petrova Gora (with seat in

Drniš Drniš is a town in Croatia, located in inland Dalmatia, about halfway between Šibenik and Knin. History The name Drniš was mentioned for the first time in a contract dated March 8, 1494. However, there are traces of older Middle Ages' fortr ...

) *

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

Nečven Fort Nečven or Nečven City (also ''Nečvem'' or ''Nechwen'' as it was in 1487 AD) is a medieval Croatian fortress from the 14th century, and one of the most important fortified buildings in Croatia in terms of size and degree of preservation. It ...

* Strmica * Plavna Popina *

Knin Knin (, sr, link=no, Книн, it, link=no, Tenin) is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagr ...

* Grahovo * Zečevo *

Skradin Skradin ( it, Scardona; grc, Σκάρδων) is a small town in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, with a population of 3,825 (2011 census). It is located near the Krka river and at the entrance to the Krka National Park, from Šibenik and ...

* Ostrovica *

Benkovac Benkovac () is a town in the interior of Zadar County, Croatia. Geography Benkovac is located where the plain of Ravni Kotari and the karstic plateau of Bukovica meet, 20 km from the town of Biograd na Moru and 30 km from Zadar. The ...

Bukovica Bukovica may refer to: Croatia *Bukovica, Dalmatia, a geographical region in Croatia * Bukovica, Sisak-Moslavina County, a village near Topusko * Bukovica, Brod-Posavina County, a village near Rešetari *Nova Bukovica, a village and municipality i ...

* Kličevac * Karin *

Nadin Nadin is a Croatian village in the Zadar County, located between Benkovac and Škabrnja. The population is 406 (census 2011). The village was inhabited since the time of the Liburnians when it was named '. It was conquered by Ottoman Empire in ...

* Obrovac * Podgorje The first governor of the Croatian vilayet was Malkoč-beg. Around 1537 the governor of the Croatian vilayet was Mahmud Bey. Many soldiers from the vilayet participated at 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 ...

. Most of the Ottoman soldiers registered before the battle were labelled as Bosnians or Croats, designating the territory they were recruited at. All of them had Muslim names, which proves that the process of

Islamization Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occur ...

of the newly conquered population was much faster than earlier assumed. The Croatian vilayet was disestablished when it was annexed by the newly established

Sanjak of Klis The Sanjak of Klis ( tr, Kilis Sancağı; sh, Kliški sandžak) was a sanjak of the Ottoman Empire which seat was in the Fortress of Klis in Klis (modern-day Croatia) till capture by Republic of Venice in 1648, latterly in Livno between 1648-1826. ...

Establishment and territory

Administration

Annotations

References

Sources

Further reading