Silistra Eyalet

Eyalet-i Silistra Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire ← 1593–1864 → Silistra Eyalet in 1609 Capital Silistra[1] and Özi 44°7′N 27°16′E / 44.117°N 27.267°E / 44.117; 27.267Coordinates: 44°7′N 27°16′E / 44.117°N 27.267°E / 44.117; 27.267 History  - Established 1593  - Disestablished 1864 Today part of Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine

The Eyalet of Silistra^[2] (Turkish: Silistre Eyaleti), later known as Özü Eyalet (Turkish: Özi Eyaleti) was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire along the Black Sea littoral and south bank of the Danube River in southeastern Europe. The fortress of Belgrade was under the eyalet's jurisdiction.^[3] Its reported area in the 19th century was 27,469 square miles (71,140 km²).^[4]

History

The Eyalet of Silistra was formed in 1593 as beylerbeylik of Özi^[5] from territory of the former Principality of Karvuna, later Dobruja, Silistra was originally the Silistra Sanjak of Rumelia Eyalet.

Around 1599, it was expanded and raised to the level of an eyalet likely as a benefit to its first governor-general (beylerbeyi), the khan of Crimea. It was centered on the regions of Dobruja, Budjak (Ottoman Bessarabia), and Yedisan and included the towns of Varna, Kustendja (Constanţa), Akkerman (Bilhorod-Dnistrovs'kyi), and Khadjibey (Odessa) with its capital at the fortresses of Silistra (now in Bulgaria) or Özi (now Ochakiv in Ukraine).

In the 17th century, Silistra Eyalet was expanded to the south and west to include most of modern Bulgaria and European Turkey including the towns of Adrianople (Edirne), Filibe (Plovdiv), and Vidin. In the late 17th century and early 18th century, a series of Russo-Turkish Wars truncated the eyalet in the east with Russia eventually annexing all of Yedisan and Budjak to the Danube 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

According to Sancak Tevcih Defteri, eyalet was consisted of eight sanjaks between 1700 and 1730 as follows:[6] Sanjak of Özi (Paşa Sancağı , Ochakiv) Sanjak of Silistre (Silistra) Sanjak of Vidin (Vidin) Sanjak of Niğbolu (Nikopoli) Sanjak of Kırk Kilise (Kırklareli) Sanjak of Çirmen (Ormenio) Sanjak of Vize (Vize) Sanjak of Tağan Geçidi (until 1699)

Sanjaks in the early 19th century:[7] Sanjak of Nikopoli Sanjak of Chermen Sanjak of Wize Sanjak of Kirkkilissa Sanjak of Belgrade, which was only a military command in Belgrade Sanjak of Widdin

References

1. ^ Commercial statistics: A digest of the productive resources, commercial... By John Macgregor at Google Books
2. ^ The English Cyclopaedia: Geography By Charles Knight
3. ^ System of universal geography, founded on the works of Malte-Burn and Balbi ... at Google Books By Conrad Malte-Brun, Adriano Balbi
4. ^ The Popular encyclopedia: or, conversations lexicon, Volume 6 at Google Books
5. ^ Nejat Göyünç, Osmanlı Devleti'nde Taşra Teşkilâtı (Tanzimat'a Kadar), Osmanlı, Cilt 6: Teşkilât, Yeni Türkiye Yayınları, Ankara, 1999, ISBN 975-6782-09-9, p. 78. (Turkish)
6. ^ Orhan Kılıç, XVII. Yüzyılın İlk Yarısında Osmanlı Devleti'nin Eyalet ve Sancak Teşkilatlanması, Osmanlı, Cilt 6: Teşkilât, Yeni Türkiye Yayınları, Ankara, 1999, ISBN 975-6782-09-9, pp. 92-93. (Turkish)
7. ^ The Penny cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful ..., Volume 25 at Google Books — by George Long, Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge