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43-483: The Eyalet of Silistra was formed in 1593 as beylerbeylik of Özi ( Ukrainian : Очаків , Očakiv ) from territory of the former Principality of Karvuna , later Dobruja , 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

86-517: 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 (Constanța), Akkerman (Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi), and Khadjibey (Odesa) with its capital at the fortresses of Silistra (now in Bulgaria ) or Özi (now Ochakiv in Ukraine ). In

129-577: A canal some time after 1532 between the Nile and the Red Sea so that spices could go directly to Constantinople. According to Dom Andre de Oviedo , the Ottomans were interested in the area because of the prospect of capturing slaves from other African regions via the ports. Then to use that for galleys, provisions, iron , and other goods. According to Selman Reis , an ambitious Ottoman Red Sea admiral,

172-616: A law decreeing that there would be 28 provinces, each to be governed by a vizer. These were Adana , Aleppo , Anatolia , Baghdad , Basra , Bosnia , Childir , Crete , Constantinople , Damascus , Diyarbekir , Egypt , Erzurum , Habesh , Karaman , Kars , Dulkadir , the Archipelago , Morea , Mosul , Rakka , Rumelia , Sayda , Sharazor , Silistra , Sivas , Trebizond , Tripoli , Van . In practice, however, central control remained weak, and beylerbeyis continued to rule some provinces, instead of vizers. The beylerbeyliks where

215-436: A religious duty to conquer Habesh. After the 1517 conquests, the Ottomans also were interested in the region because of the hajj . Having conquered the former Muslim defenders of the hajj , the Ottomans, being the successor of those states, was charged with protecting and providing safe passage to all undertaking the hajj . Portuguese hegemony in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, however, gave them some control over hajjis . In

258-733: A series of subsequent Egyptian governorates. In 1871, after the removal from office of wali Hurşid Pasha , the position of the Jeddah wali was briefly abolished and the mutasarrıflık of Jeddah was installed in its place. This reorganization lasted only one year, and the walilik was brought back the following year. The Eyalet of Jeddah was then transformed into the Hejaz Vilayet , with a governor in Mecca . Specific Ottoman interest in Habeshistan arose from its pivotal geographic position in

301-624: The Khanate of the Crimea , territories which Mehmed II had brought under his suzerainty, remained in the control of native dynasties tributary to the Sultan. So, too, did the Kingdom of Hungary after the battle of Mohács in 1526. From the mid-14th century until the late 16th century, only one new beylerbeylik ( Karaman ) was established. The eyalets that existed before 1609 but disappeared include

344-479: The timar system was not applied, such as Abyssinia , Algiers, Egypt, Baghdad, Basra and Lahsa , were more autonomous than the others. Instead of collecting provincial revenues through sipahis , the beylerbey transferred fixed annual sums to Constantinople, known as the salyane . By 1500, the four central eyalets of the Empire, Rumelia, Anatolia, Rum and Karaman, were under direct rule. Wallachia , Moldavia and

387-611: The 1560s. In 1571, the governor of Habesh moved to break a siege of Suakin by forces of the Funj kingdom . The expansion was halted in 1578, and the Ottomans retired from most of the highlands. During the following centuries, the Ottoman administration largely refrained from further interventions, relying on a system of indirect rule. Only on the island of Massawa itself was there an Ottoman governor, who controlled trade and taxes; in Sawakin

430-474: 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 and early 18th centuries, 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

473-670: The Ottoman Empire from Portuguese invasions. The Ottoman Empire then began extending its borders throughout the rest of the Red Sea coast. Muslim rulers from Sudan and the Arabian Peninsula were dominant in the African Red Sea coast until the Ottoman Turks arrived in the 16th century. The ports of Suakin and Massawa were occupied by Özdemir Pasha , who had been appointed beylerbey in 1555, and

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516-429: The Ottoman authorities appointed a customs officer. There is very little in the way of source material for Ottoman rule in the eyalet of Habesh after the 16th century. Most of Cengiz Orhonlu 's Ottoman sources on Habesh come from the late 16th century, with some from the 17th century. Despite the seminal nature of his Habesh Eyaleti , he could not "find precise data regarding the administrative and financial structure of

559-654: The Ottomans had no "effective, long term control" outside of the ports where there was a direct Ottoman presence. In 1517, the Ottoman Turks conquered the Turkic Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt and Syria, during the reign of Selim I . As such, territories of the Sultanate including Jeddah and Mecca were controlled by the Ottomans. Jeddah was then expanded for the purpose of protecting the borders of

602-542: The Pasha styled himself wali (or governor) of not only Jeddah, but also Sawakin and Habesh, and he kept custom-house officers at Sawakin and Massawa. When Muhammad Ali successfully fought the Ottoman–Saudi War , he received the administration of Habesh in 1813. His son Ahmad Tushun Pasha was appointed wali by a firman , thus also gaining control over the ports of Sawakin and Massawa. Muhammad Ali's control of Habesh

645-475: The Portuguese had built fortresses and taken control of the Red Sea ports first (especially Dahlak ), they would have controlled the whole region, both directly and through their allies. Despite the possible economic gain from taxing Habesh proper, the Ottomans were more concerned with overcoming and outmaneuvering the Portuguese in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Part of the reasoning behind Ottoman expansion

688-545: The United States , sometimes along with the provinces of Argentina , Canada and Pakistan , deferent to the modern definition of the word. Albeit China and Iran are legally unitary states, these countries' provinces may also occasionally be referred to as eyalet in Turkish. Habesh Eyalet Habesh Eyalet ( Arabic : إيالة الحبشة ; Ottoman Turkish : ایالت حبش , romanized :  Eyālet-i Ḥabeş )

731-433: The chronological order of their conquest. The term eyalet is sometimes translated province or governorate . Depending on the rank of the governor, they were also sometimes known as pashaliks (governed by a pasha ), beylerbeyliks (governed by a bey or beylerbey ), and kapudanliks (governed by a kapudan ). Pashaluk or Pashalik ( Turkish : paşalık ) is the abstract word derived from pasha , denoting

774-539: The coast (specifically the Dahlak Archipelago ) was also rich with pearls , and the amount of merchandise and trade consisting of "gold, musk, and ivory" present at Berbera, on the Somali coast, was described by Selman as "limitless". Despite the promises of Selman Reis , Habesh did not provide much revenue for the Ottomans, partly because the spice trade was not very profitable, but more importantly because

817-786: The creation of new eyalets. The former principality of Dulkadir became the Dulkadir Eyalet at some time after its annexation in 1522. After the Iranian campaign of 1533–6, the new eyalets of Erzurum , Van , Sharazor and Baghdad guarded the frontier with Iran. In 1541 came the creation of Budin Eyalet from part of the old Kingdom of Hungary . The Eyalet of the Archipelago was created by Süleyman I especially for Hayreddin Barbarossa in 1533, by detaching districts from

860-539: The creation of the eyalet of Özi was presumably to improve the defences of the Black Sea ports against the Cossacks. By 1609, according to the list of Ayn Ali , there were 32 eyalets. Some of these, such as Tripoli, Cyprus or Tunis, were the spoils of conquest. Others, however, were the products of administrative division. In 1795, the government launched a major reorganization of the provincial administration, with

903-690: The districts adjoining this border fortress, which had fallen to the Ottomans in 1600. In the same period, the annexation of the Rumelian districts on the lower Danube and the Black Sea coast, and their addition to territories between the Danube and the Dniepr along the Black Sea, created the Silistra Eyalet . At the same time, on the south-eastern shore of the Black Sea, Trebizond Eyalet came into being. The purpose of this reorganisation, and especially

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946-431: The eastward expansion of Bayezid's realms in the 1390s, a third eyalet, Rûm Eyalet , came into existence, with Amasya its chief town. This became the seat of government of Bayezid's youngest son, Mehmed I , and was to remain a residence of princely governors until the 16th century. In 1395, Bayezid I executed the last Shishmanid Tsar of Bulgaria , and annexed his realm to Rumelia Eyalet . In 1461, Mehmed II expelled

989-481: The following: Conquests of Selim I and Suleyman I in the 16th century required an increase in administrative units. By the end of the latter half of the century there were as many as 42 eyalets , as the beylerbeyliks came to be known. The chart below shows the administrative situation as of 1609. Sources: Turkish Language Association defines the word eyalet as "an administrative division having some kind of administrative independence" and in modern Turkish,

1032-527: The greatest increase in the number of eyalets, largely through the conquests of Selim I and Süleyman I , which created the need to incorporate the new territory into the structure of the Empire, and partly through the reorganisation of existing territory. A list dated 1527 shows eight eyalets, with Egypt , Damascus , Diyarbekir and Kurdistan added to the original four. The last eyalet, however, did not survive as an administrative entity. Süleyman's conquests in eastern Turkey, Iraq and Hungary also resulted in

1075-522: The last of the Isfendyarid dynasty from Sinop , awarding him lands thus taxation authority near Bursa in exchange for his hereditary territory. The Isfendyarid principality became a district of Anatolia Eyalet . In 1468, Karaman Eyalet was established, following the annexation of the formerly independent principality of Karaman ; Mehmed II appointed his son Mustafa as governor of the new eyalet, with his seat at Konya . The 16th century saw

1118-490: The pashalik of Jeddah as having been "reduced to perfect insignificance" by the power of the Sharif of Mecca , and the title was bestowed upon individuals who had never attempted to take possession of their governorship. Even before the takeover by Wahhabi rebels of most of Hejaz in 1803, the appointment to the governorship of Jeddah was said to be little esteemed, and considered tantamount to exile. Burckhardt also noted that

1161-600: The primary administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire . From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ottoman local government was loosely structured. The empire was at first divided into states called eyalets, presided over by a beylerbey ( title equivalent to duke in Turkish and Amir al Umara in Arabic ) of three tails (feathers borne on a state officer's ceremonial staff). The grand vizier

1204-413: The province of Habesh was formed in 1557. Massawa being of secondary economical importance, the administrative capital was soon moved across the Red Sea to Jeddah (from the end of the 16th century until the early 19th century; Medina temporarily served as the capital in the 18th century). The Ottoman Turks made multiple advances further inland conquering Eritrea . A sanjak of Ibrim was established in

1247-451: The province" or information on any agricultural taxation. When the Ottomans became dominant in the Hejaz in 1517, Jeddah had been established as a sanjak under the authority of Beylerbeylik of Egypt . As Jeddah developed into an important centre of trade, the Ottomans turned Jeddah into a beylerbeylik itself. In the 18th century, it was attached to the eyalet of Habeş, and governors of

1290-482: The quality, office or jurisdiction of a pasha or the territory administered by him. In European sources, the word "pashalic" generally referred to the eyalets. The term 'eyalet' began to be applied to the largest administrative unit of the Ottoman Empire instead of beglerbegilik from the 1590s onward, and it continued to be used until 1867. Murad I instituted the great division of the sultanate into two beylerbeyiliks of Rumelia and Anatolia , in circa 1365. With

1333-508: The rank of vizier started to be appointed here. In 1701, Suakin and the other Ottoman possessions on the African coast were put under the authority of the governor in Jeddah. After its combination with Jeddah, the eyalet gained importance. Owing to the great distance from the capital, the Ottomans had little control over the Pasha of Jeddah, and their authority over the region was mostly nominal. In 1829, John Lewis Burckhardt described

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1376-551: The region: it had ports and coastline on both the Red Sea (and near the Bab-el-Mandeb , where Ottoman blockades could be performed if necessary) and on the Indian Ocean (specifically Zeila and the Somali coast). The Ottoman navy was still relatively weak and in its infancy, so Ottoman land forces would have to capture key areas to ensure that the weak navy would have some influence and strengthen. Selman also recognized

1419-403: The rich hinterlands were unconquered, with the Ottomans holding only the dry and hot coasts. Given that Yemen often cost more in upkeep than it sent to Constantinople as taxes, and that Habesh had much less in the way of agricultural taxes (but just as high a salary for the beylerbeyi ), the province was probably very unprofitable. Habesh, along with other 16th century conquests, was not under

1462-404: The same vein, other Muslim states in the region saw the Ottomans as their defenders as Muslim brothers: The Shah of Hormuz, Sharafaldin , wrote a letter to Sultan Süleyman to provide him with military help in order to expel the Portuguese from Hormuz. The ruler of Gujerat [Gujarat] also sought Ottoman military help. Finally, there was a pre-emptive element to the Ottoman invasion of Ethiopia. If

1505-580: The shores and islands of the Aegean which had previously been part of the eyalets of Rumelia and Anatolia , and uniting them as an independent eyalet. In 1580, Bosnia, previously a district of Rumelia, became an eyalet in its own right, presumably in view of its strategically important position on the border with the Habsburgs. Similar considerations led to the creation of the Kanije Eyalet from

1548-688: The timar system as were lands conquered in Europe and Anatolia. Rather, it was a salyaneli province, in which taxes "were collected directly for the centre and were transferred to the central treasury after the local expenses were deducted". Due to the aridity of the province, little in the way of taxes on agriculture were collected; the most important source of revenue was the customs duty collected through iltizam (tax farming) on goods flowing through Massawa, Beylul , and Suakin in Sudan. Individuals would be allowed to collect duties, but in return would have to send

1591-496: The word eyalet is used widely in the context of federalism , corresponding to the English word state . While the word eyalet is out of use in Turkish public administration , replaced long ago by ils under a unitary structure, top-level administrative subdivisions of numerous federal states are called "eyalet" in Turkish, such as the states of Australia , Austria , Brazil , Germany , India , Malaysia , Mexico and

1634-646: Was an Ottoman eyalet . It was also known as the Eyalet of Jeddah and Habesh , as Jeddah was its chief town, and Habesh and Hejaz . It extended on the areas of coastal Hejaz and Northeast Africa of Eritrea that border the Red Sea basin. On the Northeast Africa littoral, the eyalet comprised Suakin and their hinterlands. Like Ottoman control in North Africa, Yemen , Bahrain , and Lahsa ,

1677-646: Was constituted from south of Silistra Eyalet in 1830 . With Ottoman administrative reforms of 1864 the Silistra Eyalet was reconstituted as the Danube Vilayet . According to Sancak Tevcih Defteri , eyalet consisted of eight sanjaks between 1700 and 1730 as follows: Sanjaks in the early 19th century: Beylerbeylik (Ottoman Empire) Eyalets ( Ottoman Turkish : ایالت , pronounced [ejaːˈlet] , lit.   ' province ' ), also known as beylerbeyliks or pashaliks , were

1720-538: Was invested with powers of absolute government within his province, being the chief of both the military and financial departments, as well as police and criminal justice. At official functions, the order of precedence was Egypt , Baghdad , Abyssinia , Buda , Anatolia , "Mera'ish", and the Kapudan Pasha in Asia and Buda, Egypt, Abyssinia, Baghdad, and Rumelia in Europe, with the remainder arranged according to

1763-515: Was only temporary; after the Wahhabi emergence came to an end, it reverted to Ottoman rule in 1827. Massawa and Sawakin were given to him again in 1846, until his death in 1849. In 1866, however, Habesh was taken away from Jeddah and formally incorporated into the Egyptian vice-kingdom as a separate entity. Thus Habesh ceased to exist in its traditional form and starting from 1869 was replaced by

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1806-491: Was responsible for nominating all the high officers of state, both in the capital and the states. Between 1861 and 1866, these eyalets were abolished, and the territory was divided for administrative purposes into vilayets (provinces). The eyalets were subdivided into districts called livas or sanjaks , each of which was under the charge of a pasha of one tail, with the title of mira-lira, or sanjak-bey . These provinces were usually called pashaliks by Europeans. The pasha

1849-456: Was to aid fellow Muslim states in the new role it had taken on, but economic issues were pertinent as well. Though weapons were usually given unilaterally, the Muslim states could provide another source of revenue through the selling of firearms, as those were greatly in demand there. More important, however, was the Red Sea trade, despite its relatively small revenue. The Ottomans even constructed

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