The Eyalet of Childir was an eyalet

Eyalet

Eyalets were a former primary administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The term is sometimes translated province or government. Depending on the rank of their commander, they are also sometimes known as pashaliks, beylerbeyliks, and kapudanliks.From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth...

 of the Ottoman Empire in the Southwestern Caucasus. The area of the former Çıldır Eyalet is now divided between Samtskhe-Javakheti and the Autonomous Republic of Adjara in Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 and provinces of Artvin

Artvin

-History:See Artvin Province for the history of the region.-Places of interest:* Artvin or Livana castle, built in 937There are a number of Ottoman Empire houses and public buildings including:* Salih Bey mosque, built in 1792...

, Ardahan

Ardahan

Ardahan is a city in northeastern Turkey, near the Georgian border.-Ancient and medieval:In Ancient times the region was called Gogarene, which is assumed to derive from the name of Gugars, who were a Proto-Kartvelian tribe...

 and Erzurum

Erzurum

Erzurum is a city in Turkey. It is the largest city, the capital of Erzurum Province. The city is situated 1757 meters above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 361,235 in the 2000 census. .Erzurum, known as "The Rock" in NATO code, served as NATO's southeastern-most air force post during the...

 in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. The administrative center was Çıldır

Çildir

- Names :Çıldır is also called , Hiusisean; , Chrdili; , Childyr.- Background :The large Lake Çıldır in the district is an important haven for bird life....

 between 1608-1829 and Oltu

Oltu

Oltu is a town and district of Erzurum Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The mayor is İbrahim Ziyrek . The population is 19,969 .-History:...

 between 1829-1845.

History

The Ottomans took the Ahıska

Akhaltsikhe

Akhaltsikhe is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region of Samtskhe-Javakheti. It is situated on the both banks of a small river Potskhovi, which separates the city to the old city in the north and new in the south. The name of the city translates from Georgian as "new fortress".- History...

 region from the Principality of Guria

Principality of Guria

The Principality of Guria was a historical state in Georgia. Centered on modern-day Guria, a southwestern region in Georgia, it was located between the Black Sea and Lesser Caucasus, and was ruled by a succession of twenty-two princes of the House of Gurieli from the 1460s to 1829. The...

, a vassal state of Safavid dynasty

Safavid dynasty

The Safavid dynasty was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires since the Muslim conquest of Persia and established the Twelver school of Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning...

. In 1578, when the new province was established, they appointed the former Georgian prince, Minuchir (who took the name of Mustafa after converting to Islam) as the first governor. From 1625 onwards the entire eyilet was a hereditary possession of the now-Muslim atabeg

Atabeg

Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince...

s of Samtskhe, which administered it as hereditary governors, with some exceptions, until the mid-18th century.

Samtskhe was the only Georgian principality to permanently become an Ottoman province (as the eyalet of Cildir). In the eighty years after the battle of Zivin the region was gradually absorbed into the empire. During the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829), Russians occupied much of the province. The administrative centre was moved from Ahıska, which was ceded to Russia, to Oltu

Oltu

Oltu is a town and district of Erzurum Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The mayor is İbrahim Ziyrek . The population is 19,969 .-History:...

. The greater part of the eyalet was ceded to Russia, while remaining, smaller part was united with the eyalet of Kars.

Administrative divisions

Sanjaks of the Eyalet in the 17th century:

1. Sanjak of Oulti
2. Sanjak of Harbus
3. Sanjak of Ardinj
4. Sanjak of Hajrek
5. Sanjak of Great Ardehan (Ardahan
   Ardahan
   Ardahan is a city in northeastern Turkey, near the Georgian border.-Ancient and medieval:In Ancient times the region was called Gogarene, which is assumed to derive from the name of Gugars, who were a Proto-Kartvelian tribe...
   
   )
6. Sanjak of Postkhu
7. Sanjak of Mahjil
8. Sanjak of Ijareh penbek

• Hereditary sanjaks:

1. Sanjak of Purtekrek
2. Sanjak of Lawaneh
   Artvin
   -History:See Artvin Province for the history of the region.-Places of interest:* Artvin or Livana castle, built in 937There are a number of Ottoman Empire houses and public buildings including:* Salih Bey mosque, built in 1792...
   
   
3. Sanjak of Nusuf Awan
4. Sanjak of Shushad
   Savsat
   Şavşat is a town and district of Artvin Province in the Black Sea region, between the cities of Artvin and Kars on the border with Georgia at the far eastern end of Turkey.- Geography :...