The Eyalet of Silistra or Silistria (; ), later known as Özü Eyalet (; ) meaning Province of Ochakiv was an '' eyalet'' of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

along the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

littoral and south bank of the

Danube River The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important riv ...

in southeastern

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. The

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

of Akkerman was under the eyalet's jurisdiction. Its reported area in the 19th century was .

History

The Eyalet of Silistra was formed in 1593 as of Özi (, )Nejat Göyünç, Osmanlı Devleti'nde Tașra Teșkilâtı (Tanzimat'a Kadar), ''Osmanlı'', Cilt 6: Teșkilât, Yeni Türkiye Yayınları, Ankara, 1999, , p. 78. from territory of the former Principality of Karvuna, later

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; or ''Dobrudža''; , or ; ; Dobrujan Tatar: ''Tomrîğa''; Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and ) is a Geography, geographical and historical region in Southeastern Europe that has been divided since the 19th century betw ...

, Silistra was originally the Silistra Sanjak of Rumelia Eyalet. It was named after Silistra, since its governor often resided in this Danubian fortress. Around 1599, it was expanded and raised to the level of an eyalet likely as a benefit to its first governor-general (), the khan of

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. It was centered on the regions of

Budjak Budjak, also known as Budzhak, is a historical region that was part of Bessarabia from 1812 to 1940. Situated along the Black Sea, between the Danube and Dniester rivers, this #Ethnic groups and demographics, multi-ethnic region covers an area ...

(Ottoman Bessarabia), and Yedisan and included the towns of Varna, Kustendja (Constanța), Akkerman (Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi), and Khadjibey (Odesa) with its capital at the fortresses of Silistra (now in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

) or Özi (now Ochakiv in

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). In the 17th century, Silistra Eyalet was expanded to the south and west to include most of modern

and European

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

including the towns of

Adrianople Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

(Edirne), Filibe (Plovdiv), and Vidin. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, a series of Russo-Turkish Wars truncated the eyalet in the east with

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eventually annexing all of Yedisan and

to the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

by 1812. Edirne Eyalet was constituted from south of Silistra Eyalet in 1830. With Ottoman administrative reforms of 1864 the Silistra Eyalet was reconstituted as the Danube Vilayet.

Administrative division

Evliya Çelebi mentioned in his book ('' Seyahatnâme'') that the Silistra or Özi Eyalet had ten sanjaks: # Niğbolu Sanjak ( Nikopol) # Çirmen Sanjak ( Ormenio) # Vize Sanjak ( Vize) # Kırk Kilise Sanjak ( Kırklareli) # Bender Sanjak ( Bender) # Akkerman Sanjak ( Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi) # Özi-Kale Sanjak ( Ochakiv) # Kılburun Sanjak ( Kinburn) # Doğan Sanjak ( Beryslav) # Silistre Sanjak ( Silistra) According to ''Sancak Tevcih Defteri'', eyalet consisted of eight sanjaks between 1700 and 1730 as follows:Orhan Kılıç, XVII. Yüzyılın İlk Yarısında Osmanlı Devleti'nin Eyalet ve Sancak Teșkilatlanması, ''Osmanlı'', Cilt 6: Teșkilât, Yeni Türkiye Yayınları, Ankara, 1999, , pp. 92-93. # Sanjak of ''Özi'' (''Paşa Sancağı'',

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called 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. Approximately long, with ...

), centered at Özi-Kale ( Ochakiv) # Sanjak of ''Silistre'' ( Silistra) # Sanjak of Vidin ( Vidin) # Sanjak of ''Niğbolu'' ( Nikopol) # Sanjak of Kırk Kilise ( Kırklareli) # Sanjak of Çirmen ( Ormenio) # Sanjak of Vize ( Vize) # Sanjak of ''Tağan Geçidi'' ( Beryslav) (until 1699) Sanjaks in the early 19th century: # Sanjak of ''Niğbolu'' # Sanjak of Çirmen (after 1829, its capital was

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

) # Sanjak of Vize # Sanjak of Kırk Kilise # Sanjak of Akkerman, which was only a military command in Bilhorod (Akkerman) in the Budzhak # Sanjak of Vidin

Beylerbeys

* 1615? - ? Iskender Pasha * 1621–1623 Khan Temir * 1630-1632 - Damat Murtaza Pasha * Late Spring 1632 - 1634 Abaza Mehmed Pasha * c.1657 Melek Ahmed Pasha * c.1683 Mustafa Pasha

References

Bibliography

* {{Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire Eyalets of the Ottoman Empire in Europe Ottoman period in the history of Bulgaria Ottoman period in Romania Ottoman period in Moldova Ottoman period in Ukraine History of Silistra States and territories established in 1599 1593 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1864 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire