The Eyalet of Rumeli, or Eyalet ofRumelia (
Ottoman Turkish: ایالت روم ایلی, Eyālet-i Rūm-ėli),[2] known as the Beylerbeylik of Rumeli until 1591,[3] was a first-level province (beylerbeylik or eyalet) of the
Ottoman Empire encompassing most of the
Balkans ("
Rumelia"). For most of its history, it was the largest and most important province of the Empire, containing key cities such as
Edirne, Yanina (
Ioannina),
Sofia, Filibe (
Plovdiv), Manastır/Monastir (
Bitola), Üsküp (
Skopje), and the major seaport of Selânik/Salonica (
Thessaloniki). It was also among the oldest Ottoman eyalets, lasting more than 500 years with several territorial restructurings over the long course of its existence.
The capital was in Adrianople (
Edirne),
Sofia, and finally Monastir (
Bitola). Its reported area in an 1862 almanac was 48,119 square miles (124,630 km2).[4]
History
Initially termed beylerbeylik or generically vilayet ("province") of Rumeli, only after 1591 was the term eyalet used.[3]
The first beylerbey of
Rumelia was
Lala Shahin Pasha, who was awarded the title by Sultan
Murad I as a reward for his
capture of Adrianople (
Edirne) in the 1360s, and given military authority over the Ottoman territories in Europe, which he governed effectively as the Sultan's deputy while the Sultan returned to
Anatolia.[3][5][6] Also,
Silistra Eyalet was formed in 1593.
From its foundation, the province of Rumelia encompassed the entirety of the Ottoman Empire's European possessions, including the trans-
Danubian conquests like
Akkerman, until the creation of further eyalets in the 16th century, beginning with the
Archipelago (1533),
Budin (1541) and
Bosnia (1580).[5][6]
The first capital of Rumelia was probably Edirne (Adrianople), which was also, until the
Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottomans' capital city. It was followed by
Sofia for a while and again by Edirne until 1520, when Sofia once more became the seat of the beylerbey.[6] At the time, the beylerbey of Rumelia was the commander of the most important military force in the state in the form of the
timariotsipahi cavalry, and his presence in the capital during this period made him a regular member of the
Imperial Council (divan). For the same reason, powerful
Grand Viziers like
Mahmud Pasha Angelovic or
Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha held the beylerbeylik in tandem with the grand vizierate.[5]
In the 18th century,
Monastir emerged as an alternate residence of the governor, and in 1836, it officially became the capital of the eyalet. At about the same time, the Tanzimat reforms, aimed at modernizing the Empire, split off the new eyalets of
Üsküb,
Yanya and
Selanik and reduced the Rumelia Eyalet to a few provinces around Monastir. The rump eyalet survived until 1867, when, as part of the transition to the more uniform vilayet system, it became part of the
Salonica Vilayet.[5][7][8]
Governors
The governor of the Rumelia Eyalet was titled "Beylerbey of Rumelia" (Rumeli beylerbeyi) or "Vali of Rumelia" (Rumeli vali).
Another list, dating to the early reign of
Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520–1566), lists the sanjakbeys of that period, in approximate order of importance.:[5]
The Çingene, Müselleman-i Kirk Kilise and Voynuks were not territorial circumscriptions, but rather represented merely a sanjakbey appointed to control these scattered and often nomadic groups, and who acted as the commander of the military forces recruited among them.[5] The Pasha-sanjak in this period comprised a wide area in western
Macedonia, including the towns of Üskub (
Skopje), Pirlipe (
Prilep), Manastir (
Bitola) and Kesriye (
Kastoria).[5]
A similar list compiled c. 1534 gives the same sanjaks, except for the absence of Sofia, Florina and Inebahti (among the provinces transferred to the new Archipelago Eyalet in 1533), and the addition of Selanik (
Salonica).[5]
1538
In 1538 there are listed 29 liva (sanjaks) during the reign of Sultan Suleiman I.[38]
Further sanjaks were removed with the progressive creation of new eyalets, and an official register c. 1644 records only fifteen sanjaks for the Rumelia Eyalet:[5]
According to the state yearbook (salname) of the year 1847, the reduced Rumelia Eyalet, centred at Manastir, encompassed also the sanjaks of Iskenderiyye (Scutari), Ohri (Ohrid) and Kesrye (Kastoria).[5] In 1855, according to the French traveller A. Viquesnel, it comprised the sanjaks of Iskenderiyye, with 7 kazas or sub-provinces, Ohri with 8 kazas, Kesrye with 8 kazas and the pasha-sanjak of Manastir with 11 kazas.[41]
^
abcBirken, Andreas (1976). Die Provinzen des Osmanischen Reiches. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients (in German). Vol. 13. Reichert. p. 50.
ISBN9783920153568.
^Birken, Andreas (1976). Die Provinzen des Osmanischen Reiches. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients (in German). Vol. 13. Reichert. pp. 50, 52.
ISBN9783920153568.
^Smailagic, Nerkez (1990), Leksikon Islama, Sarajevo: Svjetlost, p. 514,
ISBN978-86-01-01813-6,
OCLC25241734, Sjedište beglerbega Rumelije ...prvi namjesnik, Lala Šahin-paša,...
^Afyoncu, Erhan (2010). "ŞEMSİ AHMED PAŞA". Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish). Vol. 38. TDV İslâm Araştırmaları Merkezi. pp. 527–529.
^Mantran, R. (2000). "Ṭopal ʿOt̲h̲mān Pas̲h̲a, 1. Grand Vizier (1663-1733)". The Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume X: T–U. Leiden and New York: BRILL. pp. 564–565.
ISBN90-04-11211-1.
^Osmanlı Yer Adları I: Rumeli Eyaleti (1514-1550). Ankara: Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü Osmanlı Arşivi Daire Başkanlığı. 2013. pp. 17–32.
^Orhan Kılıç, XVII. Yüzyılın İlk Yarısında Osmanlı Devleti'nin Eyalet ve Sancak Teşkilatlanması, Osmanlı, Cilt 6: Teşkilât, Yeni Türkiye Yayınları, Ankara, 1999,
ISBN975-6782-09-9, p. 91. (in Turkish)