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| Ottoman Syria | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region of theOttoman Empire | |||||||||
| 1516–1918 | |||||||||
.svg) | |||||||||
 Ottoman territories which correspond with theSyrian provinces are shown in purple | |||||||||
| Capital | Administered fromIstanbul | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| • Coordinates | 34°N37°E / 34°N 37°E /34; 37 | ||||||||
| • Type | Monarchy | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| 1516 | |||||||||
| 1831–1833 | |||||||||
| 1839–1841 | |||||||||
| 1918 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Ottoman Syria (Arabic:سوريا العثمانية) is ahistoriographical term used to describe the group of divisions of theOttoman Empire within the region ofLevant, usually defined as being east of theMediterranean Sea, west of theEuphrates River, north of theArabian Desert and south of theTaurus Mountains.[1]
Ottoman Syria became organized by the Ottomans upon conquest from theMamluk Sultanate in the early 16th century as a singleeyalet (province) ofDamascus Eyalet. In 1534, theAleppo Eyalet was split into a separate administration. TheTripoli Eyalet was formed out of Damascus province in 1579 and later theAdana Eyalet was split from Aleppo. In 1660, the Eyalet of Safed was established and shortly afterwards renamedSidon Eyalet; in 1667, theMount Lebanon Emirate was given special autonomous status within the Sidon province, but was abolished in 1841 and reconfigured in 1861 as theMount Lebanon Mutasarrifate. The Syrian eyalets were later transformed into theSyria Vilayet, theAleppo Vilayet and theBeirut Vilayet, following the 1864Tanzimat reforms. Finally, in 1872, theMutasarrifate of Jerusalem was split from the Syria Vilayet into an autonomous administration with special status.
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Before 1516, Syria was part of theMamluk Empire centered inLower Egypt. The Ottoman SultanSelim I conquered Syria in 1516 after defeating the Mamlukes at theBattle of Marj Dabiq nearAleppo in northern Syria. Selim carried on his victorious campaign against the Mamlukes and conqueredEgypt in 1517 following theBattle of Ridanieh, bringing an end to the Mamluk Sultanate.
When he first seized Syria in 1516, Selim I kept the administrative subdivisions of the Mamluk period unchanged. After he came back from Egypt in July 1517, he reorganized Syria into one large province oreyalet namedŞam (Arabic/Turkish for "Syria"). The eyalet was subdivided into several districts orsanjaks.
In 1549, Syria was reorganized into two eyalets. The northern Sanjak ofAleppo became the center of the new Eyalet of Aleppo. At this time, the two Syrian Eyalets were subdivided as follows:
In 1579, theEyalet of Tripoli was established under the name ofTripoli of Syria (Turkish:Trablusşam;Arabic:طرابلس الشام). At this time, the eyalets became as follows:
TheEyalet of Aleppo included the Sanjaks ofAleppo,Adana,Marash,Aintab, andUrfa.
TheEyalet of Tripoli included the Sanjaks ofTripoli,Latakia,Hama andHoms.
TheEyalet of Damascus included the Sanjaks ofDamascus, Beirut, Sidon (Sidon-Beirut),Acre,Safad,Nablus,Jerusalem,Gaza,Hauran andMa'an.
In 1660, theEyalet of Safad was established. It was later renamed theEyalet of Sidon, and later, theEyalet of Beirut.
In 1833, the Syrian provinces were ceded toMuhammed Ali of Egypt in theConvention of Kutahya. The firman stated that "The governments ofCandia andEgypt are continued to Mahomet Ali. And in reference to his special claim, I have granted him the provinces of Damascus, Tripoli-in-Syria, Sidon, Saphet, Aleppo, the districts of Jerusalem and Nablous, with the conduct of pilgrims and the commandment of the Tcherde (the yearly offering to the tomb of the Prophet). His son, Ibrahim Pacha, has again the title of Sheikh and Harem of Mekka, and the district of Jedda; and farther, I have acquiesced in his request to have the district of Adana ruled by the Treasury of Taurus, with the title of Mohassil."[2]
In this period, the Sublime Porte's firmans (decrees) of 1839 and, more decisively, of 1856 – equalizing the status of Muslim and non-Muslim subjects – produced a dramatic alienation of Muslims from Christians. In the words of one writer, "The former resented the implied loss of superiority and recurrently assaulted and massacred Christian communities – in Aleppo in 1850, in Nablus in 1856, and in Damascus and Lebanon in 1860. Among the long-term consequences of these bitter internecine conflicts were the emergence of a Christian-dominated Lebanon in the 1920s – 40s and the deep fissure between Christian and Muslim Palestinian Arabs as they confronted the Zionist influx after World War I."[3]
Following the massacre of thousands of Christian civilians during the1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus, and under growing European pressure, mainly from France, an Ottoman edict issued in 1861 transformed the "DoubleKaymakamate", the former regime based on religious rule that led to civil war, into theMount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, governed by amutasarrıf who, according to law, had to be a non-Lebanese Christian.
As part of theTanzimat reforms, an Ottoman law passed in 1864 provided for a standard provincial administration throughout the empire with the eyalets becoming smallervilayets, governed by avali (governor) still appointed by theSublime Porte but with new provincial assemblies participating in administration.
In 1872Jerusalem and the surrounding towns became theMutasarrifate of Jerusalem, gaining a special administrative status.
From 1872 untilWorld War I subdivisions of Ottoman Syria were:
The sanjak Zor and the major part of the vilayet Aleppo may or may not be included in Ottoman Syria.The Geographical Dictionary of the World, published in 1906, describes Syria as:
"a country in the [south-west] part of Asia, forming part of the Turkish Empire. It extends eastward from the Mediterranean Sea to the river Euphrates and the Syrian Desert (the prolongation northward of the Arabian Desert), and southward from the Alma-Dagh (ancient Amanus), one of the ranges of theTaurus, to the frontiers of Egypt (Isthmus of Suez) It lies between the parallels of 31° and 37° [north latitude]. It comprises thevilayet of Syria (Suria), or of Damascus, the vilayet of Beirut, the [south-west] part of the vilayet of Aleppo, and the mutessarrifliks of Jerusalem and the Lebanon.
Palestine is included in [the country] Syria, comprising themutessarriflik of Jerusalem and part of the vilayets of Beirut and Syria.
The designation Syria is sometimes used in wider sense so as to include the whole of the vilayet of Aleppo and theZor Sanjak, a large part ofMesopotamia being thus added."[4]
About Syria in 1915, a British report says:
"The term Syria in those days was generally used to denote the whole of geographical and historic Syria, that is to say the whole of the country lying between the Taurus Mountains and the Sinai Peninsula, which was made up of part of the Vilayet of Aleppo, the Vilayet of Bairut, the Vilayet of Syria, the Sanjaq of the Lebanon, and the Sanjaq of Jerusalem. It included that part of the country which was afterwards detached from it to form the mandated territory of Palestine."[5]
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