Kosovo Province, Ottoman Empire
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| Ancient Kosovo | |||
| Dardania | |||
| Medieval Kosovo | |||
| First Battle of Kosovo | |||
| Second Battle of Kosovo | |||
| Ottoman Kosovo | |||
| Vilayet of Kosovo | |||
| League of Prizren | |||
| Modern Kosovo | |||
| Kosovo War | |||
| Kosovo | |||
The Province of Kosovo (Turkish: Kosova Vilayeti; Serbian: Косовски вилајет or Kosovski vilajet; Albanian: Vilayeti i Kosovës; Macedonian: Покраина на Косово or Pokraina na Kosovo) was a vilayet of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkan Peninsula only roughly corresponding to the current region of Kosovo. It was created from the former Rumelia Province as part of an Ottoman administrative reform law of 1864. As a result of the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, the province was split between Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, and Bulgaria.
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[edit] Name
At the time, Kosovo in English was often spelled with a double "s" (Kossovo) so as to render the sound to English speakers clearly as /s/ rather than /z/. Since first forming a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, followed by the three incarnations of Yugoslavia and now under UN administration whilst within Serbia's borders, the common English spelling has been a transliteration of the Serbian Cyrillic Косово, ie. with a single "s." The Albanian name is traditionally Kosova.
[edit] History
The Province of Kosovo was an area much larger than today's Kosovo; not only was it today's province which was incorporated into the Ottoman administered district, but also parts of north-western Macedonia including the capital city, Skopje (then Uskub). Just as Skopje is larger than Priština today (Kosovo's administrative seat), it was significantly larger then too but with a population several times smaller in both towns. Skopje was the provincial capital of the Kosovo Province when serving as a Turkish vilayet. Kosovo also encompassed sections of the Sandžak region cutting into present-day Central Serbia and Montenegro along with the Kukës municipality and surrounding region in present-day northern Albania.
The province's boundaries shifted as a the Ottoman Empire lost territory to neighboring states in the Treaty of Berlin following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 and parts were also internally transferred to Monastir Province and from Salonica Province. In 1878, the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, a subdivision of the Province of Kosovo, fell under Austro-Hungarian military occupation in accord with the Berlin treaty. There it would remain until 1908.
[edit] Population
The population of the province was predominantly Slavs (mostly Serbs) and Albanians who were followers of three major faiths (Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Islam). As they were living outside of both Serbia and Bulgaria, these rival states strived for influence over the remaining Slavic enclaves still a part of the Ottoman Empire.
[edit] Subdivisions
The province was subdivided into the following sanjaks (Albanian town names in italics):
- Üsküb (Skopje) including the towns of Skopje, Kumanovo, Kačanik (Kaçanik), Štip, Kratovo, and Kočani.
- Prizren including the towns of Prizren and Tetovo (Tetovë ).
- İpek (Peć) including the towns of Peć (Pejë ), Ðakovica (Gjakovë ), Gusinje, Berane, and Trgovište.
- Priştine (Priština) including the towns of Priština (Prishtinë ), Kosovska Mitrovica (Mitrovicë ), Vučitrn (Vushtrri), Gnjilane (Gjilan), and Preševo (Preshevë).
- Yenipazar (Novi Pazar) including the towns of Novi Pazar, Sjenica, Kolašin, Nova Varoš, and Prijepolje.
[edit] Governors
List of the governors of the province:
- . until 1893 : Ibrahim Edem Pasha
- 1894-1899 : Hafiz Mehmed Pasha
- 1900-1902 : Reshad Bey Pasha
- 1903-1904 : Shakir Pasha Numan
- 1905-1907 : Mehmed Shefket Pasha
- .. . . . 1908 : Hadi Pasha
- 1909-1910 : Mazhar Bey Pasha
- .. . . . 1911 : Halil Bey Pasha
- .. . . . 1912 : Ghalib Pasha
