| Eyalet of the Islands of the White Sea | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eyalet of theOttoman Empire | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1533–1864 | |||||||||||||||||||||
.svg) Flag | |||||||||||||||||||||
_Kopie.png) The Eyalet of the Archipelago in 1609 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Gallipoli[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||
• Established | 1533 | ||||||||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1864 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Today part of |  Turkey Greece Cyprus | ||||||||||||||||||||
TheEyalet of the Islands of the White Sea (Ottoman Turkish:ایالت جزایر بحر سفید,romanized: Eyālet-i Cezāyir-i Baḥr-i Sefīd,lit. 'Eyalet of the Islands of theWhite Sea')[2] was a first-level province (eyalet) of theOttoman Empire. From its inception until theTanzimat reforms of the mid-19th century, it was under the personal control of theKapudan Pasha, the commander-in-chief of theOttoman Navy.
During the early period of theOttoman Empire, the commander of the Ottoman fleet (theDerya Begi, "Bey of the Sea") also held the governorship of thesanjak ofGallipoli, which was the principal Ottoman naval base until the construction of theImperial Arsenal under SultanSelim I (reigned 1512–20). His province also included the isolatedkazas ofGalata andIzmit.[3][4]
In 1533/4, the corsair captainHayreddin Barbarossa, who had taken overAlgeria, submitted to the authority of SultanSuleyman I (r. 1520–66). His province was expanded by the addition of thesanjaks ofKocaeli,Suğla, andBiga from theEyalet of Anatolia, and of thesanjaks ofInebahti (Naupaktos),Ağriboz (Euboea),Karli-eli (Aetolia-Acarnania),Mezistre (Mystras), andMidilli (Lesbos) from theEyalet of Rumelia, thus forming the Eyalet of the Archipelago.[3][4] After Hayreddin's death, the province remained the domain of theKapudan Pasha, the new title of the commander-in-chief of the navy, a position of great power and prestige: its holder was avizier of threehorsetails and a member of theImperial Council.[3][4] As a token of this, the title of the local sub-provincial governors was notsanjak-bey butderya-bey.[3] Although the Kapudan Pashas resided in the Imperial Arsenal, Gallipoli remained the official capital (pasha-sanjak) until the 18th century.[3][4][5]
After Hayreddin's death in 1546, thesanjak ofRodos (Rhodes) also became part of the Eyalet of the Archipelago, and in 1617/8 thesanjaks ofSakız (Chios),Nakşa (Naxos) andAndıra (Andros) were added to it.[3] Algeria becamede facto independent of Ottoman control after 1642, and in ca. 1670Cyprus was added to the eyalet. It was detached in 1703 as the personal fief (hass) of theGrand Vizier, but returned to the eyalet in 1784. UnderMerzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha, thesanjaks of Mezistre and Karli-eli were detached and incorporated in the newEyalet of the Morea.[3] Alone among the majorAegean islands,Crete, althoughconquered from theRepublic of Venice in 1645–69, was never subordinated to the Eyalet of the Archipelago.[3] From 1701–1821, the office of theDragoman of the Fleet, entrusted to aPhanariote Greek, served as intermediary between the Kapudan Pasha and the autonomous communities of the Aegean islands. In this area, the Dragoman of the Fleet enjoyed considerable authority.
By the early 19th century, the eyalet was reduced to thesanjaks of Biga (now thepasha-sanjak, its centre was moved toKale-i Sultaniye in 1855), Gelibolu, Rodos, Sakız, Midilli,Limni (Lemnos) and Cyprus.[3].Sanjak of Gelibolu became part ofEdirne Eyalet in 1846.[6] As part of theTanzimat reforms, its ties to the Kapudan Pasha were severed in 1849,[3][5] and it became theVilayet of the Archipelago after 1867.[5] Sanjak of Biga was part ofHüdavendigâr Eyalet between 1 January 1847 and 31 December 1868 and 1 January 1872 and 1873 before reverting to this province during periods of 1869-1871 and 1873-1877. Sanjak of Biga broken ties with her after transferring to Şehremaneti (Its centre wasIstanbul in 1877.[7] The island ofSamos (Turkish Sisam), which was anautonomous principality since 1832, continued to be counted as asanjak of the eyalet until 1867.[5] Cyprus was lost toBritish control in 1878, and the remainder of the vilayet was dissolved after the eastern Aegean islands were conquered by the Italians during theItalo-Turkish War (1911–12) and the Greeks in theFirst Balkan War (1912–13).[3][5]
Including Crete, its reported area in the 19th century was 9,829 square miles (25,460 km2) and its population around 700,000.[8]
The eyalet's English names are theProvince of the Islands[1] orof the Archipelago.[9] Because it was commanded by theKapudan Pasha, the head of theOttoman navy, it was also known as theProvince of the Kapudan Pasha[10] (Ottoman Turkish:Kapudanlık-ı Derya, "Captaincy of the Sea").
The Ottoman 'Vilâyet Djezayr Bahr-i-Sefid' for the islands was derived from an old Arabic name 'Djezayr-Bahr-i-Rum' (جزائر بحر الروم), Province of Djezayrs[1] or Dschesair,[8] the Province of the Islands of the Archipelago,[8] the Province of the Islands of the White Sea,[11] and the Eyalet of the Mediterranean Islands.[12]
