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Vilayet

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For other administrative divisions in Muslim countries using variants of the word, see wilayah.
Law of the vilayets (French: loi des vilayets; 1867), in Volume II of Legislation ottomane, published by Gregory Aristarchis and edited by Demetrius Nicolaides

A vilayet (Ottoman Turkish: ولایت‎, "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,[1] part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated by the Ottoman Reform Edict of 1856. The Danube Vilayet had been specially formed in 1864 as an experiment under the leading reformer Midhat Pasha. The Vilayet Law expanded its use, but it was not until 1884 that it was applied to all of the empire's provinces.[1]

Names

The Ottoman Turkish vilayet (ولایت‎) was a loanword borrowed from Arabic wilāya (وِلَايَة), an abstract noun formed from the verb waliya (وَلِيَ, "to administer"). In Arabic, it had meant "province", "region", or "administration" as general ideas, but following the Tanzimat reforms the Ottoman term formalized it in reference to specific areas in a defined hierarchy.[2] It was borrowed into Albanian vilajet, Bulgarian as vilayet (вилает),[3] Judaeo-Spanish vilayet, and French vilaïet and vilayet, which was used as a lingua franca among the educated Jews and Christians. It was also translated into Armenian as gawaŕ (գաւառ), Bulgarian as oblast (област), Judaeo-Spanish as provinsiya, and Greek as eparchía (επαρχία) and nomachía (νομαρχία).[4]

Administrative division

The Ottoman Empire had already begun to modernize its administration and regularize its provinces (eyalets) in the 1840s,[5] but the Vilayet Law extended this to the entire Ottoman territory, with a regularized hierarchy of administrative units: the province or vilayet, headed by a vali, was subdivided into sub-provinces or counties (sanjak or liva) under a mütesarrif, further into districts (kaza ) under a kaimakam, into communes (nahiye) under a müdir,[1][6] and into city quarters or villages (kariye).[6]

Vali, head of a province (vilayet)

The vali was appointed by the Sultan[6] and acted as his representative in the vilayet and hence as the supreme head of the administration,[7] holding the executive power over all the executive branches, with the only exception of the military.[6] He was however the head of the police.[6] His administration comprised secretaries in charge of finances (defterdar), correspondence and archives (mektubci), dealings with foreigners, public works, agriculture and commerce, nominated by the respective ministers[7] in Istanbul.[6] The defterdar for instance answered directly to the finance minister.[6] Along with the chief justice (mufettiş-i hukkam-i Şeri'a), the top officials formed the vilayet's executive council.[7] In addition, there was an elected provincial council of four members, two Muslims and two non-Muslims.[7] The governor of the chief sanjak (merkez sanjak), where the vilayet's capital was located, deputized for the vali in the latter's absence.[7] Alternatively, M. Krikorian writes that the role of replacing the vali when absent or incapacitated fell to his assistant, the muavin, and when none existed, to the defterdar.[6]

A similar structure was replicated in the lower hierarchical levels, with executive and advisory councils drawn from the local administrators and—following long-established practice—the heads of the millets, the various local religious communities.[7]

Mutasarrif, head of a county (sanjak/liva)

The mutasarrif was also appointed by the Sultan, and acted as chief-administrator of a sanjak and head of that county's council (the idare meclisi), the public works board (nafia) and the education system (maarif).[6] A deputy judge (naib), chief accountant (muhasebeci) and head of the secretariat (tahrirat müdürü) completed the sanjak's top administration.[6]

Kaymakam, head of a district (kaza)

In similar manner, the kaymakam headed the administration the kaza's council, as well as its public works board, assisted by a deputy judge, a chief accountant (mal müdürü), and the head clerk (tahrirat kâtibi).[6]

Müdir/müdür, head of a commune (nahiye)

The müdür was appointed by the vali, but answered to his immediate superior, the kaymakam.[6] His attributions included tax collection, executing the court sentences, and at times had to mediate disputes and pacify the locals.[6]

Muhtar, head of a quarter or village (kariye)

A muhtar, meaning "head man", headed a city quarter or village and was chosen by its inhabitants, but had to be confirmed by the kaymakam of his kaza.[6] An ihtiyar meclisi, "council of elders", assisted him.[6]

List

Vilayets, sanjaks and autonomies, c. 1876

Vilayets, sanjaks and autonomies, circa 1876:[8]

Vilayets and independent sanjaks in 1917

Vilayets and independent sanjaks in 1917:[9]

Vilayets Independent Sanjaks

Vassals and autonomies

  • Eastern Rumelia (Rumeli-i Şarkî): autonomous province (Vilayet in Turkish) (1878–1885); unified with Bulgaria in 1885
  • Sanjak of Benghazi (Bingazi Sancağı): autonomous sanjak. Formerly in the vilayet of Tripoli, but after 1875 dependent directly on the ministry of the interior at Constantinople.[10]
  • Sanjak of Biga (Biga Sancağı) (also called Kale-i Sultaniye) (autonomous sanjak, not a vilayet)
  • Sanjak of Çatalca (Çatalca Sancağı) (autonomous sanjak, not a vilayet)
  • Cyprus (Kıbrıs) (island with special status) (Kıbrıs Adası)
  • Khedivate of Egypt (Mısır) (autonomous khedivate, not a vilayet) (Mısır Hidivliği)
  • Sanjak of Izmit (İzmid Sancağı) (autonomous sanjak, not a vilayet)
  • Mutasarrifyya/Sanjak of Jerusalem (Kudüs-i Şerif Mutasarrıflığı): independent and directly linked to the Minister of the Interior in view of its importance to the three major monotheistic religions.[11]
  • Sharifate of Mecca (Mekke Şerifliği) (autonomous sharifate, not a vilayet)
  • Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate (Cebel-i Lübnan Mutasarrıflığı): sanjak or mutessariflik, dependent directly on the Porte.[12]
  • Principality of Samos (Sisam Beyliği) (island with special status)
  • Tunis Eyalet (Tunus Eyaleti) (autonomous eyalet, ruled by hereditary beys)

Encyclopædia Britannica on the late Ottoman administration

For administrative purposes the immediate possessions of the sultan are divided into vilayets (provinces), which are again subdivided into sanjaks or mutessarifliks (arrondissements), these into kazas (cantons), and the kazas into nahies (parishes or communes). A vali or governor-general, nominated by the sultan, stands at the head of the vilayet, and on him are directly dependent the kaimakams, mutassarifs, deftardars and other administrators of the minor divisions. All these officials unite in their own persons the judicial and executive functions, under the "Law of the Vilayets", which made its appearance in 1861, and purported, and was really intended by its framers, to confer on the provinces a large measure of self-government, in which both Mussulmans and non-Mussulmans should take part. It really, however, had the effect of centralizing the whole power of the country more absolutely than ever in the sultan's hands, since the Valis were wholly in his undisputed power, while the ex officio official members of the local councils secured a perpetual Mussulman majority.[13]

Maps

  • Vilayets of Europe in 1870
    Vilayets of Europe in 1870
  • Vilayets in 1877
    Vilayets in 1877
  • Vilayets of Europe in 1893
    Vilayets of Europe in 1893
  • Vilayets of Asia in 1897
    Vilayets of Asia in 1897
  • Vilayets of Asia in 1909
    Vilayets of Asia in 1909
  • Vilayets of Europe in 1910
    Vilayets of Europe in 1910
  • Vilayets of Asia in 1911
    Vilayets of Asia in 1911

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ a b c Birken, Andreas (1976). Die Provinzen des Osmanischen Reiches. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients (in German). Vol. 13. Reichert. p. 22. ISBN 9783920153568.
  2. ^ Report of a Committee Set Up to Consider Certain Correspondence between Sir Henry McMahon (His Majesty's High Commissioner in Egypt) and the Sharif of Mecca in 1915 and 1916 (PDF), 2015, Annex A, §10. 2nd Source.
  3. ^ File:Solun Newspaper 1869-03-28 in Bulgarian.jpg
  4. ^ Strauss, Johann (2010). "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire: Translations of the Kanun-ı Esasi and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages". In Herzog, Christoph; Malek Sharif (eds.). The First Ottoman Experiment in Democracy. Würzburg: Orient-Institut Istanbul. pp. 21–51. (info page on book at Martin Luther University) // CITED: p. 41-43 (PDF p. 43-45/338).
  5. ^ Birken, Andreas (1976). Die Provinzen des Osmanischen Reiches. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients (in German). Vol. 13. Reichert. pp. 19–20. ISBN 9783920153568.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Krikorian, Mesrob K. (2018). Armenians in the Service of the Ottoman Empire: 1860-1908. Routledge. p. 24. ISBN 978-1351031288. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Birken (1976), p. 2324.
  8. ^ Abel Pavet de Courteille (1876). État présent de l'empire ottoman (in French). J. Dumaine. pp. 91–96.
  9. ^ A handbook of Asia Minor Published 1919 by Naval staff, Intelligence dept. in London. Page 226
  10. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Hogarth, David George (1911). "Bengazi". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 736.
  11. ^ Palestine; A Modern History (1978) by Adulwahab Al Kayyali. Page 1
  12. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Socin, Albert; Hogarth, David George (1911). "Lebanon". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 348.
  13. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Caillard, Vincent Henry Penalver (1911). "Turkey". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 428.

Further reading

  • Sublime Porte (1867). Sur la nouvelle division de l'Empire en gouvernements généraux formés sous le nom de Vilayets. Constantinople.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - About the Law of the Vilayets
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