First-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire
For other administrative divisions in Muslim countries using variants of the word, see wilayah.
A vilayet (Ottoman Turkish: ولایت, "province"), also known by various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867,[1] part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated by the Ottoman Reform Edict of 1856. The Danube Vilayet had been specially formed in 1864 as an experiment under the leading reformer Midhat Pasha. The Vilayet Law expanded its use, but it was not until 1884 that it was applied to all of the empire's provinces.[1] Writing for the Encyclopaedia Britannica in 1911, Vincent Henry Penalver Caillard claimed that the reform had intended to provide the provinces with greater amounts of local self-government but in fact had the effect of centralizing more power with the sultan and local Muslims at the expense of other communities.[2]
^ abBirken, Andreas (1976). Die Provinzen des Osmanischen Reiches. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients (in German). Vol. 13. Reichert. p. 22. ISBN 9783920153568.
^Cite error: The named reference 1911-turk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
The Vilayet of Kosovo (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت قوصوه, Vilâyet-i Kosova; Turkish: Kosova Vilayeti; Albanian: Vilajeti i Kosovës; Macedonian: Косовски вилает...
Vilayet of Beirut (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت بيروت, romanized: Vilâyet-i Beyrut; Arabic: ولاية بيروت) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet)...
The Vilayet of Aidin or Aydin (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت ايدين, romanized: Vilâyet-i Aidin, French: vilayet d'Aïdin) also known as Vilayet of Smyrna or Izmir...
The Vilayet of Syria (Arabic: ولاية سوريا; Ottoman Turkish: ولايت سوريه, romanized: Vilâyet-i Sûriye), also known as Vilayet of Damascus, was a first-level...
The Vilayet of the Hejaz (Arabic: ولاية الحجاز Wilayat al-Ḥijāz; Ottoman Turkish: ولايت حجاز Vilâyet-i Hicaz) refers to the Hejaz region of Arabia when...
The Vilayet of Manastir (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت مناستر, romanized: Vilâyet-i Manastır) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman...
The Vilayet of the Danube or Danubian Vilayet (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت طونه, romanized: Vilâyet-i Tuna; Bulgarian: Дунавска област, Dunavska(ta) oblast...
The Bosnia Vilayet was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire, mostly comprising the territory of the present-day state...
The Six Vilayets (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت سته, Vilâyat-ı Sitte), the Six Provinces, or the Six Armenian Vilayets (Armenian: Վեց Հայկական Վիլայեթները Vets'...
Yemen Vilayet (Arabic: ولاية اليمن; Ottoman Turkish: ولايت یمن, romanized: Vilâyet-i Yemen) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the...
The Vilayet of Baghdad (Arabic: ولاية بغداد; Ottoman Turkish: ولايت بغداد, romanized: 'Vilâyet-i Bagdad; Modern Turkish: Bağdat Vilâyeti) was a first-level...
The Vilayet of Janina, Yanya or Ioannina (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت يانیه, romanized: Vilâyet-i Yanya) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of...
Basra Vilayet (Arabic: ولاية البصرة, Ottoman Turkish: ولايت بصره, romanized: Vilâyet-i Basra) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the...
The Vilayet of Salonica (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت سلانيك, romanized: Vilâyet-i Selânik) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman...
the Muslims in the Danube Vilayet and most of them in the Adrianople Vilayet and Salonika Vilayet. In the more western vilayets, the Muslims were a majority...
The Vilayet of Adrianople or Vilayet of Edirne (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت ادرنه; Vilâyet-i Edirne) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of...
Syrian eyalets were later transformed into the Syria Vilayet, the Aleppo Vilayet and the Beirut Vilayet, following the 1864 Tanzimat reforms. Finally, in...
from an eyalet to a vilayet after an administrative reform in 1865, and by 1867 it had been reformed into the Tripolitania Vilayet. The Ottoman sultan...
Adana Vilayet bordered with Konya Vilayet (in west), Ankara Vilayet and Sivas Vilayet (in north), and Haleb Vilayet (in east and south). Adana Vilayet corresponds...
Mosul Vilayet (Arabic: ولاية الموصل; Ottoman Turkish: ولايت موصل, romanized: Vilâyet-i Musul) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the...
The 1864 Vilayet Law (Ottoman Turkish: ولایت نظامنامهسی, Vilâyet Nizamnâmesi; French: Loi des vilayets), also known as the Provincial Reform Law, was...
The Vilayet of Van (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت وان, romanized: Vilâyet-i Van; Armenian: Վանի վիլայեթ, romanized: Vani vilayet) was a first-level administrative...
four Ottoman vilayets with substantial ethnic Albanian populations: Kosovo Vilayet, Scutari Vilayet, Manastir Vilayet, and Janina Vilayet. In some proposals...
The Vilayet of Aleppo (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت حلب, romanized: Vilâyet-i Halep; Arabic: ولاية حلب[citation needed]) was a first-level administrative division...
The Vilayet of Scutari, Shkodër or Shkodra (Turkish: İşkodra Vilayeti or Vilayet-i İşkodra; Albanian: Vilajeti i Shkodrës) was a first-level administrative...
The Vilayet of Constantinople or Istanbul (Turkish: Vilâyet-i İstanbul, French: Vilayet de Constantinople) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet)...