Silistra Province, Ottoman Empire
Encyclopedia
The Eyalet of Silistra , later known as Özü Eyalet 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. Its reported area in the 19th century was 27469 square miles (71,144.4 km²).
of Özi 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 War
s 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.
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
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
along the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
littoral
Littoral
The littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...
and south bank of the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
River in southeastern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The fortress of Belgrade was under the eyalet's jurisdiction. Its reported area in the 19th century was 27469 square miles (71,144.4 km²).
History
The Eyalet of Silistra was formed in 1593 as beylerbeylikBeylerbeylik
Beylerbeylik was a type of country subdivision in the Ottoman Empire....
of Özi from territory of the former Principality of Karvuna
Principality of Karvuna
The Principality of Karvuna or Despotate of Dobruja was a 14th-century quasi-independent state in the region of modern Dobruja. It emerged as a polity under the influence of the Byzantine Empire, and probably had a population composed of Bulgarians, Gagauz, Greeks, Tatars, and Vlachs.The...
, later Dobruja
Dobruja
Dobruja is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast...
, Silistra was originally the Silistra Sanjak of Rumelia Eyalet
Rumelia Eyalet
The eyalet of Rumeli or eyalet of Rumelia , also known as Rumeli Beylerbeyliği was a eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. The capital was in Adrianople , Monastir and Sofia. Its reported area in the 19th century was .It was formed during the reign of Murad I as the first Beylerbeylik of the Ottoman Empire...
.
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
Khan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...
of Crimea
Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate, or Khanate of Crimea , was a state ruled by Crimean Tatars from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was . Its khans were the patrilineal descendants of Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...
. It was centered on the regions of Dobruja
Dobruja
Dobruja is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast...
, Budjak
Budjak
Budjak or Budzhak is a historical region in the Odessa Oblast of Ukraine. Lying along the Black Sea between the Danube and Dniester rivers this multiethnic region was the southern part of Bessarabia...
(Ottoman Bessarabia), and Yedisan
Yedisan
Yedisan is a historical region in modern southwestern Ukraine and southeastern Moldova . The region lies to the north of the Black Sea between the Dniester and Dnieper rivers...
and included the towns of Varna
Varna
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
, Kustendja
Constanta
Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....
(Constanţa), Akkerman (Bilhorod-Dnistrovs'kyi), and Khadjibey
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
(Odessa) with its capital at the fortresses of Silistra
Silistra
Silistra is a port city of northeastern Bulgaria, lying on the southern bank of the lower Danube at the country's border with Romania. Silistra is the administrative centre of Silistra Province and one of the important cities of the historical region of Southern Dobrudzha...
(now in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
) or Özi
Ochakiv
Ochakiv is a city in the Mykolaiv Oblast of southern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Ochakivsky Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is located on a peninsula in the Black Sea, at the entrance to the Dnieper Rivers's estuary,...
(now Ochakiv
Ochakiv
Ochakiv is a city in the Mykolaiv Oblast of southern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Ochakivsky Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is located on a peninsula in the Black Sea, at the entrance to the Dnieper Rivers's estuary,...
in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
).
In the 17th century, Silistra Eyalet was expanded to the south and west to include most of modern Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and European 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...
including the towns of Adrianople
Edirne
Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...
(Edirne), Filibe
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
(Plovdiv), and Vidin
Vidin
Vidin is a port town on the southern bank of the Danube in northwestern Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Serbia and Romania, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as of the Metropolitan of Vidin...
. In the late 17th century and early 18th century, a series of Russo-Turkish War
Russo-Turkish War
Russo-Turkish War may refer to one of the following conflicts between Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire:*Russo-Turkish War *Russo-Turkish War *Russo-Turkish War *Pruth River Campaign...
s truncated the eyalet in the east with Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
eventually annexing all of Yedisan
Yedisan
Yedisan is a historical region in modern southwestern Ukraine and southeastern Moldova . The region lies to the north of the Black Sea between the Dniester and Dnieper rivers...
and Budjak
Budjak
Budjak or Budzhak is a historical region in the Odessa Oblast of Ukraine. Lying along the Black Sea between the Danube and Dniester rivers this multiethnic region was the southern part of Bessarabia...
to the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
by 1812.
Edirne Eyalet
Edirne Eyalet
The Eyalet of Adrianople or Edirne was constituted from parts of the eyalets of Silistra and Rumelia in 1826. The region later became part of the Adrianople Vilayet.-Administrative divisions:Sanjaks of the Eyalet in the mid-19th century:...
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:
|
Sanjaks in the early 19th century:
WIZE WIZE — branded WIZE AM 1340 — is a commercial radio station in Springfield, Ohio owned by Clear Channel Communications as part of their Dayton cluster... Belgrade Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe... , which was only a military command in Belgrade |