Short-lived Ottoman provinces

Among the many Ottoman provinces (eyalets or vilayets) that were created during the centuries-long history of the Ottoman Empire, some existed for relatively short amounts of time, either because they were ceded to foreign powers, obtained independence, or were simply merged with other provinces.

Eyalets

• The Eyalet of Tiflis was taken from Kartli in 1578/9, but the country proved difficult to subdue: Tiflis was lost in 1583, the Ottomans then lost the whole land except for Lori and Gori, and both were made eyalets in place of Tiflis, but were later lost in 1590 and 1599 respectively.^[1]
• The Eyalet of Kakheti was nominally an eyalet in 1578, when King Alexander was made a beylerbeyi of his own kingdom.^[1]
• The Eyalet of Shirvan existed from 1578 to 1604, it had previously been an Ottoman vassal for some years after 1533.^[1]
• The Eyalet of Dagestan was conquered in 1578 and remained an eyalet until the beginning of the next century.^[1]

Eyalet of Kurdistan

The Eyalet of Kurdistan (Ottoman language: ايالت كردستان‎, Eyâlet-i Kurdistân^[2]) existed from 1847 to 1867 (20 years). Confusingly, some neighbouring eyalets, such as Sharazor, were also sometimes referred to as "Kurdistan".^[3] It was established by the Ottoman Empire following the suppression of Bedirhan Bey's revolt in 1847. On December 14, 1847, the Ottoman State newspaper - Takvim-i Vekayi Gazetesi - carried an official notice announcing the establishment of 'the Province of Kurdistan'.^[4] The area of the eyalet was populated mainly by Kurdish speaking Muslims. As to its yearbook, it included Hakkâri, Dêrsîm, Diyâr-ı Bekr in 1849. The territorial setup was later altered and it was disbanded in 1867.^[5]

Vilayets

• Dersim Vilayet: existed from 1879 to 1886 (7 years); the capital was Tunceli.
• Hakkari Vilayet existed from 1876 to 1888 (12 years); the capital was Hakkari.
• Karasi Vilayet existed from 1881 to 1888 (7 years); the capital was Karesi.
• Prizren Vilayet existed from 1871 to 1877 (6 years). It was created by joining the Sanjak of Prizren together with the Sanjak of Dibra, Sanjak of Skopje and Sanjak of Niš into one vilayet.^[6][7] In the late 19th century it reportedly had an area of 18,320 square miles (47,400 km²).^[8] It became part of the Kosovo Vilayet, which was established in 1877.
• Herzegovina Vilayet was created during the Tanzimat reforms. In the late 19th century it reportedly had an area of 5,720 square miles (14,800 km²).^[8]

References