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Ottoman Syria

January 17, 2024

Ottoman Syria (Arabic: سوريا العثمانية) refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of Syria, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and south of the Taurus Mountains.[1]

Ottoman Syria
Region of the Ottoman Empire
1516–1831
1841–1918

Ottoman territories which correspond with the Syrian provinces are shown in purple
CapitalAdministered from Istanbul
Area
 • Coordinates34°N 37°E / 34°N 37°E / 34; 37
 • TypeMonarchy
History 
1516
1831–1833
1839–1841
1918

Ottoman Syria became organized by the Ottomans upon conquest from the Mamluk Sultanate in the early 16th century as a single eyalet (province) of Damascus Eyalet. In 1534, the Aleppo Eyalet was split into a separate administration. The Tripoli Eyalet was formed out of Damascus province in 1579 and later the Adana Eyalet was split from Aleppo. In 1660, the Eyalet of Safed was established and shortly afterwards renamed Sidon Eyalet; in 1667, the Mount Lebanon Emirate was given special autonomous status within the Sidon province, but was abolished in 1841 and reconfigured in 1861 as the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate. The Syrian eyalets were later transformed into the Syria Vilayet, the Aleppo Vilayet and the Beirut Vilayet, following the 1864 Tanzimat reforms. Finally, in 1872, the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem was split from the Syria Vilayet into an autonomous administration with special status.

History edit

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Ottoman Syria.
 
Mosque at Latakia, from Views in the Ottoman Dominions, in Europe, in Asia, and some of the Mediterranean islands (1810) illustrated by Luigi Mayer (1755–1803).
 
Town of Bethlehem, Ottoman Syria from an 1810 illustration by Luigi Mayer.

Before 1516, Syria (region) was part of the Mamluk Empire centered in Lower Egypt. The Ottoman Sultan Selim I conquered Syria in 1516 after defeating the Mamlukes at the Battle of Marj Dabiq near Aleppo in northern Syria. Selim carried on his victorious campaign against the Mamlukes and conquered Egypt in 1517 following the Battle of Ridanieh, bringing an end to the Mamluk Sultanate.

Administrative divisions edit

See also: Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire

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 or eyalet named Şam (Arabic/Turkish for "Syria"). The eyalet was subdivided into several districts or sanjaks.

1549–1663 edit

In 1549, Syria was reorganized into two eyalets. The northern Sanjak of Aleppo became the center of the new Eyalet of Aleppo. At this time, the two Syrian Eyalets were subdivided as follows:

In 1579, the Eyalet of Tripoli was established under the name of Tripoli of Syria (Turkish: Trablusşam; Arabic: طرابلس الشام). At this time, the eyalets became as follows:

 
Tartus in Ottoman Syria, from an 1810 illustration by Luigi Mayer.

The Eyalet of Aleppo included the Sanjaks of Aleppo, Adana, Marash, Aintab, and Urfa.

The Eyalet of Tripoli included the Sanjaks of Tripoli, Latakia, Hama and Homs.

The Eyalet of Damascus included the Sanjaks of Damascus, Beirut, Sidon (Sidon-Beirut), Acre, Safad, Nablus, Jerusalem, Gaza, Hauran and Ma'an.

In 1660, the Eyalet of Safad was established. It was later renamed the Eyalet of Sidon, and later, the Eyalet of Beirut.

1831–1841 edit

 
1851 map of Ottoman Syria, showing the Eyalets of Aleppo, Damascus, Tripoli, Acre and Gaza.

In 1833, the Syrian provinces were ceded to Muhammed Ali of Egypt in the Convention of Kutahya. The firman stated that "The governments of Candia and Egypt 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. 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]

1861 edit

Following the massacre of thousands of Christian civilians during the 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus, and under growing European pressure, mainly from France, an Ottoman edict issued in 1861 transformed the "Double Kaymakamate", the former regime based on religious rule that led to civil war, into the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, governed by a mutasarrıf who, according to law, had to be a non-Lebanese Christian.

1864 edit

As part of the Tanzimat reforms, an Ottoman law passed in 1864 provided for a standard provincial administration throughout the empire with the eyalets becoming smaller vilayets, governed by a vali (governor) still appointed by the Sublime Porte but with new provincial assemblies participating in administration.

 
A map showing the administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire in 1317 Hijri, 1899 Gregorian, Including Ottoman Syria.

1872–1918 edit

In 1872 Jerusalem and the surrounding towns became the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, gaining a special administrative status.

From 1872 until World 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 the Taurus, to the frontiers of Egypt (Isthmus of Suez) It lies between the parallels of 31° and 37° [north latitude]. It comprises the vilayet 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 the mutessarriflik 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 the Zor Sanjak, a large part of Mesopotamia 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]

  •  
    "Independent" Sanjak of Jerusalem shown within Ottoman administrative divisions in the Eastern Mediterranean coast after the reorganisation of 1887–88
  •  
    Ottoman Syria until World War I. Present borders in grey.

Contemporary maps, showing Eyalets (pre-Tanzimat reforms) edit

Maps of Contemporary Ottoman Syria showing Eyalets (pre 1864 Vilayet Law)

Contemporary maps, showing Vilayets (post-Tanzimat reforms) edit

Maps of Contemporary Ottoman Syria showing Vilayets (post-Tanzimat reforms)
  •  
    1855, showing sanjaks
  •  
    1862
  •  
    1873
  •  
    1893
  •  
    1896
  •  
    1897
  •  
    1900 (Stanford), showing Vilayets
  •  
    1909
  •  
    1911
  •  
    1915 ethnographic map
  •  
    1918, the last official Ottoman map of Palestine

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ The Middle East and North Africa: 2004, Routledge, page 1015: "Syria"
  2. ^ The Syrian Question, 1841
  3. ^ "Righteous Victims". archive.nytimes.com.
  4. ^ Geographical Dictionary of the World in the early 20th Century. Logos Press, New Delhi, 1906. ISBN 978-81-7268-012-1
  5. ^ Report of a Committee set up to consider certain correspondence between Sir Henry McMahon (his majesty's high commissioner in egypt) and the Sharif of Mecca in 1915 and 1916 21 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine, ANNEX A, para. 3. British Secretary of State for the Colonies, 16 maart 1939 (doc.nr. Cmd. 5974). unispal 24 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine

Sources edit

  • Bayyat, Fadil, The Ottoman State in the Arab Scope (in Arabic; 2007)
  • Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, Travels in Syria and the Holy Land, Appendix II: On the Political Divisions of Syria

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ottoman Syria.
  • Ottoman History Podcast: History of Ottoman Syria

January 17, 2024
ottoman, syria, help, expand, this, article, with, text, translated, from, corresponding, article, arabic, click, show, important, translation, instructions, machine, translation, like, deepl, google, translate, useful, starting, point, translations, translato. You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Arabic Click show for important translation instructions Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Arabic Wikipedia article at ar سوريا العثمانية see its history for attribution You should also add the template Translated ar سوريا العثمانية to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation Ottoman Syria Arabic سوريا العثمانية refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of Syria usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea west of the Euphrates River north of the Arabian Desert and south of the Taurus Mountains 1 Ottoman SyriaRegion of the Ottoman Empire1516 18311841 1918Flag of the Ottoman EmpireOttoman territories which correspond with the Syrian provinces are shown in purpleCapitalAdministered from IstanbulArea Coordinates34 N 37 E 34 N 37 E 34 37 TypeMonarchyHistory Battle of Marj Dabiq1516 First Egyptian Ottoman War1831 1833 Second Egyptian Ottoman War1839 1841 Sinai and Palestine campaign1918Preceded by Succeeded by1516 Mamluk Sultanate1841 Pashalik of Egypt 1831 Pashalik of Egypt1918 Occupied Enemy Territory AdministrationOttoman Syria became organized by the Ottomans upon conquest from the Mamluk Sultanate in the early 16th century as a single eyalet province of Damascus Eyalet In 1534 the Aleppo Eyalet was split into a separate administration The Tripoli Eyalet was formed out of Damascus province in 1579 and later the Adana Eyalet was split from Aleppo In 1660 the Eyalet of Safed was established and shortly afterwards renamed Sidon Eyalet in 1667 the Mount Lebanon Emirate was given special autonomous status within the Sidon province but was abolished in 1841 and reconfigured in 1861 as the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate The Syrian eyalets were later transformed into the Syria Vilayet the Aleppo Vilayet and the Beirut Vilayet following the 1864 Tanzimat reforms Finally in 1872 the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem was split from the Syria Vilayet into an autonomous administration with special status Contents 1 History 2 Administrative divisions 2 1 1549 1663 2 2 1831 1841 2 3 1861 2 4 1864 2 5 1872 1918 3 Contemporary maps showing Eyalets pre Tanzimat reforms 4 Contemporary maps showing Vilayets post Tanzimat reforms 5 See also 6 References 7 Sources 8 External linksHistory editFor a chronological guide see Timeline of Ottoman Syria nbsp Mosque at Latakia from Views in the Ottoman Dominions in Europe in Asia and some of the Mediterranean islands 1810 illustrated by Luigi Mayer 1755 1803 nbsp Town of Bethlehem Ottoman Syria from an 1810 illustration by Luigi Mayer Before 1516 Syria region was part of the Mamluk Empire centered in Lower Egypt The Ottoman Sultan Selim I conquered Syria in 1516 after defeating the Mamlukes at the Battle of Marj Dabiq near Aleppo in northern Syria Selim carried on his victorious campaign against the Mamlukes and conquered Egypt in 1517 following the Battle of Ridanieh bringing an end to the Mamluk Sultanate Administrative divisions editSee also Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire 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 or eyalet named Sam Arabic Turkish for Syria The eyalet was subdivided into several districts or sanjaks 1549 1663 edit In 1549 Syria was reorganized into two eyalets The northern Sanjak of Aleppo became the center of the new Eyalet of Aleppo At this time the two Syrian Eyalets were subdivided as follows The Eyalet of Aleppo Arabic إيالة حلب The Sanjak of Aleppo حلب The Sanjak of Adana أضنة The Sanjak of Ablistan Marash مرعش The Sanjak of Aintab عينتاب The Sanjak of Birejik البيرة Urfa أورفة The Sanjak of Kilis كلز The Sanjak of Ma arra معرة النعمان The Sanjak of Hama حماة The Sanjak of Salamiyah سلمية The Sanjak of Homs حمص The Eyalet of Damascus Arabic إيالة دمشق The Sanjak of Damascus دمشق The Sanjak of Tripoli طرابلس The Sanjak of Acre عكا The Sanjak of Safad صفد The Sanjak of Nablus نابلس The Sanjak of Jerusalem القدس The Sanjak of Lajjun اللجون The Sanjak of Salt السلط The Sanjak of Gaza غزة In 1579 the Eyalet of Tripoli was established under the name of Tripoli of Syria Turkish Trablussam Arabic طرابلس الشام At this time the eyalets became as follows nbsp Tartus in Ottoman Syria from an 1810 illustration by Luigi Mayer The Eyalet of Aleppo included the Sanjaks of Aleppo Adana Marash Aintab and Urfa The Eyalet of Tripoli included the Sanjaks of Tripoli Latakia Hama and Homs The Eyalet of Damascus included the Sanjaks of Damascus Beirut Sidon Sidon Beirut Acre Safad Nablus Jerusalem Gaza Hauran and Ma an In 1660 the Eyalet of Safad was established It was later renamed the Eyalet of Sidon and later the Eyalet of Beirut 1831 1841 edit nbsp 1851 map of Ottoman Syria showing the Eyalets of Aleppo Damascus Tripoli Acre and Gaza In 1833 the Syrian provinces were ceded to Muhammed Ali of Egypt in the Convention of Kutahya The firman stated that The governments of Candia and Egypt 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 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 1861 edit Following the massacre of thousands of Christian civilians during the 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus and under growing European pressure mainly from France an Ottoman edict issued in 1861 transformed the Double Kaymakamate the former regime based on religious rule that led to civil war into the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate governed by a mutasarrif who according to law had to be a non Lebanese Christian 1864 edit As part of the Tanzimat reforms an Ottoman law passed in 1864 provided for a standard provincial administration throughout the empire with the eyalets becoming smaller vilayets governed by a vali governor still appointed by the Sublime Porte but with new provincial assemblies participating in administration nbsp A map showing the administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire in 1317 Hijri 1899 Gregorian Including Ottoman Syria 1872 1918 edit In 1872 Jerusalem and the surrounding towns became the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem gaining a special administrative status From 1872 until World War I subdivisions of Ottoman Syria were Aleppo Vilayet Arabic ولاية حلب Sanjak of Zor Arabic سنجق دير الزور Beirut Vilayet Arabic ولاية بيروت Syria Vilayet Arabic ولاية سورية Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon Arabic متصرفية جبل لبنان Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem Arabic متصرفية القدس الشريف Mutasarrifate of Karak from 1895 Arabic متصرفية الكرك 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 the Taurus to the frontiers of Egypt Isthmus of Suez It lies between the parallels of 31 and 37 north latitude It comprises the vilayet 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 the mutessarriflik 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 the Zor Sanjak a large part of Mesopotamia 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 nbsp Independent Sanjak of Jerusalem shown within Ottoman administrative divisions in the Eastern Mediterranean coast after the reorganisation of 1887 88 nbsp Ottoman Syria until World War I Present borders in grey Contemporary maps showing Eyalets pre Tanzimat reforms editMaps of Contemporary Ottoman Syria showing Eyalets pre 1864 Vilayet Law nbsp 1696 Jaillot showing Eyalets nbsp 1707 nbsp 1740 Seutter showing Eyalets nbsp 1787 map nbsp 1803 from Cedid Atlas nbsp 1835 map by Heinrich Berghaus nbsp 1830 map by Sidney Hall nbsp 1841 Kiepert map of Palestine showing Ottoman subdivisions nbsp 1842 showing Pashalics nbsp 1851Contemporary maps showing Vilayets post Tanzimat reforms editMaps of Contemporary Ottoman Syria showing Vilayets post Tanzimat reforms nbsp 1855 showing sanjaks nbsp 1862 nbsp 1873 nbsp 1893 nbsp 1896 nbsp 1897 nbsp 1900 Stanford showing Vilayets nbsp 1909 nbsp 1911 nbsp 1915 ethnographic map nbsp 1918 the last official Ottoman map of PalestineSee also editArab Kingdom of Syria Bilad al Sham French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon History of Syria Occupied Enemy Territory Administration Southern Syria Sykes Picot Agreement Syria Roman province References edit The Middle East and North Africa 2004 Routledge page 1015 Syria The Syrian Question 1841 Righteous Victims archive nytimes com Geographical Dictionary of the World in the early 20th Century Logos Press New Delhi 1906 ISBN 978 81 7268 012 1 Report of a Committee set up to consider certain correspondence between Sir Henry McMahon his majesty s high commissioner in egypt and the Sharif of Mecca in 1915 and 1916 Archived 21 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine ANNEX A para 3 British Secretary of State for the Colonies 16 maart 1939 doc nr Cmd 5974 unispal Archived 24 October 2015 at the Wayback MachineSources editBayyat Fadil The Ottoman State in the Arab Scope in Arabic 2007 Johann Ludwig Burckhardt Travels in Syria and the Holy Land Appendix II On the Political Divisions of SyriaExternal links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ottoman Syria Ottoman History Podcast History of Ottoman Syria Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ottoman Syria amp oldid 1183142972, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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