Bitlis Vilayet

ولایت بتليس Vilâyet-i Bitlis
Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire
← 1875–1923 →
Bitlis Vilayet in 1892
Capital		Bitlis
History
•	Established	1875
•	Declaration of the Republic of Turkey	1923
Population
•	Muslim, 1914[1]	309,999
•	Armenian, 1914[1]	117,492
Today part of		Turkey

Bitlis Vilayet (Armenian: Բիթլիսի վիլայեթ Bit'lisi vilayet' Ottoman Turkish: ولایت بتليس) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire. Before the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) it had been part of the Erzurum Vilayet, it was then made a separate vilayet by the Porte.^[2] It was one of the six Armenian vilayets of the Empire.

At the beginning of the 20th century it reportedly had an area of 11,522 square miles (29,840 km²), while the preliminary results of the first Ottoman census of 1885 (published in 1908) gave the population as 388,625.^[3] The accuracy of the population figures ranges from "approximate" to "merely conjectural" depending on the region from which they were gathered.^[3]

Bitlis and Muş were formerly included in the Eyalet of Erzurum. In 1875 they were detached and made a separate vilayet. The sanjak of Siirt was joined to the vilayet of Bitlis in 1883-84.^[4]

Administrative divisions

Sanjaks of Bitlis Vilayet:^[2]

1. Sanjak of Bitlis (Bitlis, Ahlat, Hizan, Mutki)
2. Sanjak of Muş (Muş, Bulanık, Sason, Malazgirt, Varto)
3. Sanjak of Siirt (Siirt, Eruh, Pervari, Şirvan, Kurtalan)
4. Sanjak of Genç (Genç, Bingöl, Kulp)

References

External links

•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bitlis". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
• Media related to Vilayet of Bitlis at Wikimedia Commons

Administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire   c. 1365 – 1867 (eyalets) Africa Algiers Egypt Habesh Tripolitania Tunis Anatolia Adana Aidin Anatolia Ankara Childir Diyarbekir Dulkadir Erzurum Hüdavendigâr Karaman Kars Kastamonu Rum Trebizond Van Europe Adrianople Archipelago Bosnia Budin Crete Egir Herzegovina Kanije Kefe Morea Niš Podolia Rumelia Salonica Silistra Temeşvar Uyvar Varat Widdin Yanina Middle East Aleppo Baghdad Basra Cyprus Damascus Lahsa Mosul Rakka Shahrizor Sidon Tripoli Yemen   1867–1922 (vilayets and mutasarrıfates) Africa Tripolitania Anatolia Adana Aidin Ankara Archipelago Bitlis Diyarbekir Erzurum Hüdavendigâr Kastamonu Konya Mamuret-ul-Aziz Sivas Trebizond Van Europe Adrianople Bosnia Constantinople Crete Danube Janina Kosovo Manastir Salonica Scutari Middle East Aleppo Baghdad Basra Beirut Hejaz Jerusalem Mosul Mount Lebanon Syria Yemen   Vassals and autonomies Vassals Cossack Hetmanate Crimean Khanate Khanate of Kazan Principality of Moldavia Sharifate of Mecca Republic of Ragusa Serbian Despotate Duchy of Syrmia Principality of Transylvania Principality of Wallachia Principality of Romania Principality of Serbia Principality of Bulgaria Kingdom of Imereti Septinsular Republic Autonomies Cretan State Khedivate of Egypt Eastern Rumelia Principality of Samos See also the list of short-lived Ottoman provinces

Six Armenian vilayets of the Ottoman Empire Van Vilayet Van Hakkâri Erzurum Vilayet Erzurum Bayezit Erzincan Kars (Between 1845-1878) Ardahan (Between 1845-1878) Mamuret-ul-Aziz Vilayet Mamuretülaziz Malatya Dersim Bitlis Vilayet Bitlis Muş Genç Siirt Diyâr-ı Bekr Vilayet Diyarbakır Mardin Ergani Sivas Vilayet Sivas Kara Hisar-i Şarkî Amasya Tokat (after 1880)