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Ottoman Syria - Wikipedia

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Ottoman territories which correspond with the Syrian provinces are shown in purple

Ottoman Syria refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the Levant, usually defined as the
region east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and
south of the Taurus Mountains.[1]

Ottoman Syria became organized by the Ottomans upon conquest from the Mamluks 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]
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]
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:

The Eyalet of Aleppo (Arabic: ‫)إﯾﺎﻟﺔ ﺣﻠﺐ‬

The Sanjak of Aleppo (‫)ﺣﻠﺐ‬
 The Sanjak of Adana (‫)أﺿﻨﺔ‬
The Sanjak of Ablistan (Marash (‫))ﻣﺮﻋﺶ‬
The Sanjak of Aintab (‫)ﻋﯿﻨﺘﺎب‬
The Sanjak of Birejik (‫( )اﻟﺒﯿﺮة‬Urfa (‫))أورﻓﺔ‬
The Sanjak of Kilis (‫)ﻛﻠﺰ‬
The Sanjak of Ma'arra (‫)ﻣﻌﺮة اﻟﻨﻌﻤﺎن‬
The Sanjak of Hama (‫)ﺣﻤﺎة‬
The Sanjak of Salamiyah (‫)ﺳﻠﻤﯿﺔ‬
The Sanjak of Homs (‫)ﺣﻤﺺ‬
The Eyalet of Damascus (Arabic: ‫)إﯾﺎﻟﺔ 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:Trablusşam)
(Arabic: ‫)ﻃﺮاﺑﻠﺲ اﻟﺸﺎم‬. At this time, the eyalets became as follows:
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, 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.

1833–1840[edit]
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 Lebanon conflict, and
under growing European pressure, mainly from France, an Ottoman edict issued in 1861 transformed
"Al Kaimaqumyateen", 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 imperial Porte but with new provincial assemblies participating in
administration.

1872–1918[edit]

"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.

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: ‫)وﻻﯾﺔ ﺣﻠﺐ‬

Sanjak of Zor (Arabic: ‫)ﺳﻨﺠﻖ دﯾﺮ اﻟﺰور‬
Beirut Vilayet (Arabic: ‫)وﻻﯾﺔ ﺑﯿﺮوت‬
Syria Vilayet (Arabic: ‫)وﻻﯾﺔ ﺳﻮرﯾﺔ‬
Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon (Arabic: ‫)ﻣﺘﺼﺮﻓﯿﺔ ﺟﺒﻞ ﻟﺒﻨﺎن‬
Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem (Arabic: ‫)ﻣﺘﺼﺮﻓﯿﺔ اﻟﻘﺪس اﻟﺸﺮﯾﻒ‬
Mutasarrifate of Karak (from 1895) (Arabic: ‫)ﻣﺘﺼﺮﻓﯿﺔ 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]
Contemporary maps, showing Eyalets (pre-Tanzimat reforms)
[edit]
Maps of Contemporary Ottoman Syria showing Eyalets (pre 1864 Vilayet Law)

1707
 1842, showing "Pashalics"

1851

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
 1909

1911

See also[edit]
Arab Kingdom of Syria
French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon
History of Syria
Southern Syria
Sykes–Picot Agreement
Syria (Roman province)

References[edit]
 1. ^ The Middle East and North Africa: 2004, Routledge, page 1015: "Syria"
2. ^ The Syrian Question, 1841
3. ^ Benny Morris, Excerpt from Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881–1999,
accessed 27 September 2015
4. ^ Geographical Dictionary of the World in the early 20th Century. Logos Press, New Delhi, 1906.
ISBN 8172680120
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 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
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]
Ottoman History Podcast: History of Ottoman Syria