Sanjak of Sofia

Sanjak of Sofia
Sofia Sancağı
Софийски санджак
sanjak of the Ottoman Empire
←
ca. 1393–1878 →
Capital Sofia
History
 - Established ca. 1393
 - Treaty of Berlin (1878) 1 July 1878
Population
 - 1520s 25,910 
Today part of Bulgaria

The Sanjak of Sofia (Turkish: Sofia Sancağı, Bulgarian: Софийски санджак) was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire which county town was Sofia. It was founded in 1393 and disestablished in 1878 with establishment of the Principality of Bulgaria.

Administration

The Sanjak of Sofia was established around 1393.[1] Initially it had two nahiyahs: Znepolje and Visok.[2] Its first sanjakbey was Ince Balaban, also referred to as 'the conqueror of Sofia'.[3] One of its sanjakbeys was Malkoçoğlu Ali Bey, a member of the Malkoçoğlu family, who died in 1514.[4]

Soon after establishment of this sanjak Sofia became the seat of the Rumelia Eyalet.[5] Although beglerbegs of Rumelia in early periods sometimes stayed in Bitola, Sofia remained the seat and center of Rumelia Eyalet.[6] Since it was a seat of the Rumelian beglerbey Sanjak of Sofia had status of Pasha Sanjak (Turkish: Paşa Sancağı), the main sanjak of Elayet.[7][8]

The Sanjak of Sofia and its 50 timars were registered for tax purposes in 1446 and 1455, and also in 1488/1489 and 1491.[3][9] In 1520's around 6.1% of total number of population (25,910) of the Sanjak of Sofia were Muslims.[10][11] At the end of 16th and beginning of 17th century Niš belonged to the Sanjak of Sofia.[12]

At the end of 18th century it was under frequent attacks by Osman Pazvantoglu.[13] In period 1846—1864 Sanjak of Sofia belonged to Niš Eyalet[14] while in period 1864–1878 it belonged to Danube Vilayet.[15] At that time it had the following kazas: Sofia, Kyustendil, Samokov, Dupnica, Radomir, Zlatica, Orhanie and Džumaja.[16]

Disestablishment

After adoption of the decisions of Berlin Congress on 1 July 1878 the Sanjak of Sofia was merged with Northern Bulgaria into Principality of Bulgaria, a de facto independent vassal of the Ottoman Empire.[17]

References

  1. ↑ Godisnjak. Drustvo Istoricara Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo. 1950. p. 174. Санџак Софија Овај је санџак основан око г. 1393.
  2. ↑ Études balkaniques. Édition de lA̕cadémie bulgare des sciences. 1998. p. 148.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gradeva, Rosit︠s︡a (2004). Rumeli under the Ottomans, 15th-18th centuries: institutions and communities. Isis Press. p. 34.
  4. ↑ Resimli-haritalı mufassal Osmanlı tarihi: Bir heyet tarafından yazılmıştır. İskit Yayını. 1957. p. 734.
  5. ↑ Godisnjak. Drustvo Istoricara Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo. 1950. p. 174. Ту је врло рано пренесено сједиште румелиског ејалета
  6. ↑ Godisnjak. Drustvo Istoricara Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo. 1950. p. 173.
  7. ↑ Djela. Akademija nauka i umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine. Odjeljenje istorijsko-filoloških nauka. 1967. p. 188. u Paša-sandžaku (Sofijski sandžak)
  8. ↑ Glasnik Hrvatskih zemaljskih muzeja u Sarajevu. Sarajevo, Independent State of Croatia: Hrvatskih zemaljski muzeji. 1942. p. 337. Točno je međutim, da je Paša sandžak Sofijski Sandžak. Sofija je bila sjedište rumelijskoga beglerbega kome su kao paši bila direktno podvrgnuta 52 kadiluka sofijskoga i raznih drugih susjednih sandžaka i sačinjavali tzv. Pašovski sandžak.
  9. ↑ Balkan Studies. The Institute. 1967. p. 207.
  10. ↑ Minkov, Anton (2004), Conversion to Islam in the Balkans : Kisve bahası petitions and Ottoman social life, 1670-1730, Ottoman Empire and its heritage 30, Boston: Brill, p. 49, ISBN 9789047402770, OCLC 191947039
  11. ↑ Zlatar, Zdenko (2007). The poetics of Slavdom. Peter Lang. p. 750. For instance, in the sancak of Sofia, out of 25,910 hearths, 24,341 belonged to the Christians, i.e. 94% and 1,569 or 6% to the Muslims.
  12. ↑ Mirčetić, Dragoljub (1994). Vojna istorija Niša: deo 1. Od najstarijih vremena do prvog srpskog ustanka. deo 2. U sredjem veku (700-1459). deo 3. U razdoblju Turske vlasti (1459-1878). Prosveta. p. 139. Крајем XVI и у првој половини XVII века, кадилук Ниш припадао је Софијском санцаку
  13. ↑ The unification of Greece, 1770-1923. Benn. 1972. p. 16. By the end of the eighteenth century the over-mighty vassal Ali Pasha had extended his power over Albania and parts of Macedonia and Greece, while another pasha, Pasvanoglou, held sway in and around the sanjak of Sofia
  14. ↑ The three eras of Ottoman history, a political essay on the late reforms of ..., p. 75, at Google Books By James Henry Skene
  15. ↑ International Journal of Turkish Studies. University of Wisconsin. 2008. p. 64.
  16. ↑ Revue Bulgare D'histoire 10. Publishing House of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. 1982. p. 82. Sanjak Sofia (the town of Sofia and kaazi: Kjustendil, Samokov, Dupnica, Radomir, Zlatica, Orhanie and Dzumaja)
  17. ↑ Genchev, Nikolaĭ (1977). The Bulgarian national revival period. Sofia Press. p. 192. In accordance with the decision of the Berlin Congress adopted on July 1, 1878 the Bulgarian Principality, comprising the territories of northern Bulgaria and the sanjak of Sofia, was to be a dependency of the Ottoman Empire.