Vilayet


A vilayet, 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 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. Writing for the Encyclopaedia Britannica in 1911, Vincent Henry Penalver Caillard claimed that the reform had intended to provide the provinces with greater amounts of local self-government but in fact centralized more power with the sultan and local Muslims at the expense of other communities.

Names

The Ottoman Turkish vilayet was a loanword borrowed from Arabic wilāya, an abstract noun formed from the verb waliya. 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. It was borrowed into Albanian vilajet, Bulgarian vilaet, 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, Bulgarian as oblast, Judaeo-Spanish as provinsiya, and Greek as eparchía and nomarchía.
The early Republic of Turkey continued to use the term vilayet until it renamed them il in the late 1920s.

Organization

The Ottoman Empire had already begun to modernize its administration and regularize its eyalets in the 1840s, but the Vilayet Law extended this throughout the empire, regularizing the following hierarchy of administrative units.
Each vilayet or province was governed by a vali appointed by the sultan. Acting as the sultan's representative, he was notionally the supreme head of administration in his province, subject to various caveats. Military administration was entirely separate, although the vali controlled local police. His council comprised a secretary, a comptroller, a chief justice, and directors of foreign affairs, public works, and agriculture and commerce, each nominated by the respective ministers in Istanbul. The defterdar in particular answered directly to the finance minister rather than the vali. A separate vilayet council was composed of four elected members, comprising two Muslims and two non-Muslims.
If the vali fell ill or was absent from the capital, he was variously replaced by the governor of the chief sanjak near the capital, the muavin, and the defterdar. 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.

Sanjaks

Each vilayet was divided into arrondissements, subprovinces, or counties known as sanjaks, livas, or mutasarrifliks. Each sanjak or liva was administered by a sanjakbey or mutasarrif personally appointed by the sultan and a council composed of a secretary, comptroller, deputy judge, and representatives of the public works board and the educational system.

Kazas

Each sanjak was divided into cantons or districts known as kazas. Each kaza was under a kaymakam and a council composed of a secretary, comptroller, deputy judge, and representatives of the public works board.

Nahiyes

Each kaza was divided into parishes or communes known as nahiyes. Each nahiye was under a müdir appointed by the vali but answerable to the regional kaymakam. He was responsible for local tax collection, court sentences, and maintaining the peace.

Kariyes

Each nahiye was divided into wards and villages. Each kariye was under a muhtar chosen by its inhabitants and confirmed by the regional kaymakam. He was assisted in his duties by a local "council of elders".

List in the mid-1870s

Vilayets, sanjaks and autonomies in the mid-1870s:
By 1905, the Ottoman Empire had lost administrative control over Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia, Crete and Cyprus, even though these were all still under nominal Ottoman sovereignty, as was Egypt. In this list, the numbering and place names are indicated as in the French-language source, with present-day names in parentheses where different:
  1. Hedjâz : Sanjaks of Mediné and Djiddé
  2. Yemen: Sanjaks of Sanaa, Hodeïda, Assir, and Ta'az
  3. Basra: Sanjaks of Basra, Muntefik, Nedjed, and Amara
  4. Bagdâd: Sanjaks of Bagdâd, Divaniyé, and Kerbela
  5. Mossoul: Sanjaks of Mossoul, Kerkouk, and Souleïmaniyé
  6. Haleb: Sanjaks of Haleb, Ourfa, and Marach
  7. Syria: Sanjaks of Damas, Hama, Hauran, and Kerak
  8. Beirout: Sanjaks of Beirout, Akka, Taraboulus, Lazakiyé, and Nablous
  9. Tripoli: Sanjaks of Taraboulous, Khams, Djebel, and Fezzân
  10. Khoudavendiguiâr: Sanjaks of Brousse, Ertoġroul, Kutahia, Kara Hissâr, and Karassi
  11. Konia: Sanjaks of Konia, Nigdé, Bodroûm, Hamid Abâd, and Tekké
  12. Angora: Sanjaks of Angora, Jozgâd, Kaissarié, Kirchehir, and Tchoroûm
  13. Aïdin: Sanjaks of Smyrne, Saroukhan, Aïdin, Menteché, and Denizli
  14. Adana: Sanjaks of Adana, Mersina, Djebel-i-Bereket, Kozân, and Itchili
  15. Kastamouni: Sanjaks of Kastamouni, Boli, Kengri, and Sinob
  16. Sivâs: Sanjaks of Sivâs, Amassia, Kara Hissar Charki, and Tokad
  17. Diarbekir: Sanjaks of Diarbekir, Mardin, and Ergana Madeni
  18. Bitlis: Sanjaks of Bitlis, Mouch, Saïrd, and Guentch
  19. Erzeroum: Sanjaks of Erzeroûm, Erzindjân, Bayézid, and Khinis
  20. Mamouret ul-Azîz: Sanjaks of Mamouret ul-Azîz / Kharpoût, Malatia, and Dersîm
  21. Van: Sanjaks of Van and Hakiari
  22. Trébizonde: Sanjaks of Tarabizon, Djanik, Lazistan, Gumuchkhané
  23. Archipel : Sanjaks of Rhodos, Midilli, Chios, and Lemnos
  24. Andrinople: Sanjaks of Andrinople, Gumuldjina, Kirkkilissé, Dedeaġatch, Tekfoûr Daġy / Rodosto, and Galipoli
  25. Salonique: Sanjaks of Selanik, Siros, Drama, and Thasos
  26. Kossovo: Sanjaks of Uskub, Prichtina, Senidjé, Ipek, Tachildjé, and Prizren
  27. Janina: Sanjaks of Janina, Ergueri / Argyrokastro, Preveza, and Berat
  28. Skutari: Sanjaks of Skutari and Dratch / Durazzo
  29. Monastir: Sanjaks of Monastir, Serfidjé, Dibré, Elbassan, and Koritza
The same document added Jerusalem, Bengazi, Zor, Izmid, Biġa, and as independent departments, but did not mention the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate and Principality of Samos, both self-administered under a leader appointed by the Ottoman government. The Sharifate of Mecca was another special case, coexisting with the Hejaz vilayet without being subordinate to it.

List in 1917

Vilayets and independent sanjaks in 1917:

Vilayets