TheOttoman Turkishvilayet (ولایت) was aloanwordborrowed fromArabicwilāya (وِلَايَة), an abstract noun formed from theverbwaliya (وَلِيَ, "to administer"). In Arabic, it had meant "province", "region", or "administration" as general ideas, but following the Tanzimat reforms the Ottoman term formalized it in reference to specific areas in a defined hierarchy.[3] It was borrowed intoAlbanianvilajet,Bulgarianvilaet (вилает),[4]Judaeo-Spanishvilayet, andFrenchvilaïet andvilayet, which was used as alingua franca among the educatedJews andChristians. It was also translated intoArmenian asgawaŕ (գաւառ), Bulgarian asoblast (област), Judaeo-Spanish asprovinsiya, andGreek aseparchía (επαρχία) andnomarchía (νομαρχία).[5]
The earlyRepublic of Turkey continued to use the termvilayet until it renamed themil in the late 1920s.[when?]
The Ottoman Empire had already begun to modernize its administration and regularize itseyalets in the 1840s,[6] but theVilayet Law extended this throughout the empire, regularizing the following hierarchy of administrative units.[1][7]
Each vilayet or province was governed by avali appointed by thesultan.[7] Acting as the sultan's representative, he was notionally the supreme head of administration in his province,[8] subject to various caveats.Military administration was entirely separate,[7] although the vali controlled local police.[7] His council comprised a secretary (mektupçu), acomptroller (defterdar), a chief justice (müfettiş-i hükkâm-ı şeriyye), and directors of foreign affairs, public works, and agriculture and commerce,[8] each nominated by the respective ministers[8] in Istanbul.[7] Thedefterdar in particular answered directly to the finance minister rather than the vali.[7] A separate vilayet council was composed of four elected members, comprising two Muslims and two non-Muslims.[8]
If the vali fell ill or was absent from the capital, he was variously replaced by the governor of the chief sanjak (merkez sancak) near the capital,[8] themuavin, and the defterdar.[7] A similar structure was replicated in the lower hierarchical levels, with executive and advisory councils drawn from the local administrators and—following long-established practice—the heads of themillets, the various local religious communities.[8]
Each vilayet was divided intoarrondissements,[2]subprovinces, orcounties known assanjaks,livas, or mutasarrifliks. Each sanjak or liva was administered by asanjakbey ormutasarrif personally appointed by the sultan and a council (idare meclisi) composed of a secretary (tahrirat müdürü), comptroller (muhasebeci), deputy judge (naib), and representatives of the public works board (nafia) and the educational system (maarif).[7]
Each sanjak was divided intocantons[2] ordistricts known askazas. Each kaza was under akaymakam and a council composed of a secretary (tahrirat kâtibi), comptroller (mal müdürü), deputy judge, and representatives of the public works board.[7]
Each kaza was divided intoparishes orcommunes[2] known asnahiyes. Each nahiye was under amüdir appointed by the vali but answerable to the regional kaymakam.[7] He was responsible for localtax collection, court sentences, and maintaining the peace.[7]
Each nahiye was divided into wards and villages (kariye). Each kariye was under amuhtar ("headman") chosen by its inhabitants and confirmed by the regional kaymakam.[7] He was assisted in his duties by a local "council of elders" (ihtiyar meclisi).[7]
Eastern Rumelia (Rumeli-i Şarkî): autonomous province (Vilayet in Turkish) (1878–1885); unified with Bulgaria in 1885
Sanjak ofBenghazi (Bingazi Sancağı): autonomous sanjak. Formerly in thevilayet of Tripoli, but after 1875 dependent directly on the ministry of the interior at Constantinople.[11]
Sanjak ofBiga (Biga Sancağı) (also calledKale-i Sultaniye) (autonomous sanjak, not a vilayet)
Sanjak ofÇatalca (Çatalca Sancağı) (autonomous sanjak, not a vilayet)
Cyprus (Kıbrıs) (island with special status) (Kıbrıs Adası)
Sanjak ofIzmit (İzmid Sancağı) (autonomous sanjak, not a vilayet)
Mutasarrifyya/Sanjak of Jerusalem (Kudüs-i Şerif Mutasarrıflığı): independent and directly linked to the Minister of the Interior in view of its importance to the three major monotheistic religions.[12]
^abcBirken, Andreas (1976).Die Provinzen des Osmanischen Reiches. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients (in German). Vol. 13. Reichert. p. 22.ISBN9783920153568.
^abcdOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Caillard, Vincent Henry Penalver (1911). "Turkey". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 428.
^Birken, Andreas (1976).Die Provinzen des Osmanischen Reiches. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients (in German). Vol. 13. Reichert. pp. 19–20.ISBN9783920153568.
^One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Hogarth, David George (1911). "Bengazi". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 736.
^One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Socin, Albert; Hogarth, David George (1911). "Lebanon". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 348.
Sublime Porte (1867).Sur la nouvelle division de l'Empire en gouvernements généraux formés sous le nom de Vilayets. Constantinople.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - About the Law of the Vilayets
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Caillard, Vincent Henry Penalver (1911). "Turkey". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 428.
