The Vilayets of the Ottoman Empire were introduced with the promulgation of the "Vilayet Law" (Turkish: Teskil-i Vilayet Nizamnamesi)[1] in 1864, as part of the administrative reforms that were being enacted throughout the empire.[2] The term vilayet is derived from Arabic wilayah.
Unlike the previous eyalet system, the 1864 law established a hierarchy of administrative units: the vilayet, liva/sanjak, kaza and village council, to which the 1871 Vilayet Law added the nabiye.[3] The 1864 law also specified the responsibilities of the governor (wāli) of the vilayet and their councils.[3]
At the same time, the law left to the governors vast scope for independent action as well as responsibility, as part of a system intended to achieve a large degree of efficiency in ruling the provinces.[2] The livas or sanjaks were headed by a mutasarrif, who was accountable to the wāli.[2]
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Vilayets of the Ottoman Empire in the year 1900:
Vilayets and independent sanjaks in 1917:[6]
Vilayets
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Independent Sanjaks
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For administrative purposes the immediate possessions of the sultan are divided into vilayets (provinces), which are again subdivided into sanjaks or mutessarifliks (arrondissements), these into kazas (cantons), and the kazas into nahies (parishes or communes). A vali or governor-general, nominated by the sultan, stands at the head of the vilayet, and on him are directly dependent the kaimakams, mutassarifs, deftardars and other administrators of the minor divisions. All these officials unite in their own persons the judicial and executive functions, under the " Law of the Vilayets," which made its appearance in 1861, and purported, and was really intended by its framers, to confer on the provinces a large measure of self-government, in which both Mussulmans and non-Mussulmans should take part. It really, however, had the effect of centralizing the whole power of the country more absolutely than ever in the sultan's hands, since the Valis were wholly in his undisputed power, while the ex officio official members of the local councils secured a perpetual Mussulman majority.[7]
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