The Sanjak of Herzegovina (Turkish: Hersek Sancağı; Serbo-Croatian: Hercegovački sandžak) was an Ottoman administrative unit established in 1470. The seat was in Foča until 1572 when it was moved to Taşlıca (Pljevlja). The sanjak was initially part of the Eyalet of Rumelia but was administrated into the Eyalet of Bosnia following its establishment in 1580.

History

15th century

In November 1481 Ayas, an Ottoman general, attacked Novi and captured it probably at the end of January 1482. The sanjak was established between 1483 and 1485. In 1485, Novi was established as a kadiluk of the sanjak of Herzegovina.

16th century

In 1572, the seat of the sanjak was moved from Foča to Pljevlja.

The Banat Uprising (1594) had been aided by Serbian Orthodox metropolitans Rufim Njeguš of Cetinje and Visarion of Trebinje (s. 1590–1602). In 1596 revolts spread into Ottoman Montenegro and the neighbouring tribes in Herzegovina, especially under influence of Metropolitan Visarion. A Ragusan document from the beginning of 1596 claims that many Herzegovinian chieftains with the metropolitan gathered in the Trebjesa Monastery where they swore oath "to give up and donate 20,000 heroes to the emperors' light." In 1596, Grdan, vojvoda of Nikšić, and Serbian Patriarch Jovan Kantul (s. 1592–1614) led rebels against the Ottomans but were defeated on the Gacko Field in 1597 (see Serb Uprising of 1596–97). However, Grdan and Patriarch Jovan would continue to plan revolts against the Ottomans in the coming years.

18th century

In 1737, Bogić Vučković and his brothers organized an uprising in Herzegovina during the Austro-Turkish War (1737–39).

19th century

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Bosnia Eyalet was one of the least developed and more autonomous provinces of the Empire. In 1831, Bosnian kapudan Husein Gradaščević occupied Travnik, demanding autonomy and the end of military reforms in Bosnia. Ultimately, exploiting the rivalries between beys and kapudans, the grand vizier succeeded in detaching the Herzegovinian forces, led by Ali-paša Rizvanbegović, from Gradaščević's. The revolt was crushed, and in 1833, a new Herzegovina Eyalet was created from the southern part of the Bosnia Eyalet and given to Rizvanbegović as a reward for his contribution in crushing the uprising. This new entity lasted only for a few years, being re-integrated into the Bosnia Eyalet after Rizvanbegović's death (1851).

In March 1852, Ottoman general Omar Pasha decided to disarm the Herzegovinians, which sparked an outrage in the region. The chieftain of the Herzegovinians was Luka Vukalović. The refusal of giving up arms resulted in minor fights between Herzegovinians and Turks (local Slavic Muslims), which in turn resulted in an uprising, which Vukalović would lead.

In 1875, an uprising broke out in Herzegovina, led by local Serbs against their Ottoman Bosnian lords who treated them harshly and ignored the new reforms announced by Sultan Abdülmecid I. The rebels were aided with weapons and volunteers from the Principalities of Montenegro and Serbia, whose governments eventually jointly declared war on the Ottomans on 18 June 1876, leading to the Serbo-Turkish War (1876–78) and Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–78), which in turn led to the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) and Great Eastern Crisis. A result of the uprisings and wars was the Berlin Congress in 1878, which gave Montenegro and Serbia independence and territorial expansion, while Austro-Hungary occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina for 30 years, while it still was de jure Ottoman territory. The Austro-Hungarian occupation and Montenegrin expansion of Old Herzegovina marks the end of the Sanjak of Herzegovina.

Governors

• Ayas, conqueror (1478–83)
• Hadim Sinan Pasha, sanjak-bey (1504–06)
• Kasim Bey
• Kara Osman-beg
• Sinan Pasha, sanjak-bey (1547–50)
• Mehmed Bey Obrinović, sanjak-bey (fl. 1550)
• Malkoč-beg, sanjak-bey (1561–63)
• Sinan-beg Boljanić, sanjak-bey between the 1550s and 1570s
• Hüseyin Pasha Boljanić, sanjak-bey (1567–69)
• Sultanzade Mehmed-bey (1586–93)
• Ali Paša Čengić (1654)
• Arnaut Mustafa Pasha (1664)
• Muharem Pasha (1664)
• Sohrab Mehmed Pasha (1665)
• Ćose Ali Pasha (1666)
• Ibrahim Pasha Tešnjak (1667)
• Mustafa-beg (fl. 1702)
• Alija, sanjak-bey (fl. 1718–19)
• Ali-paša Rizvanbegović, Vizier of Herzegovina (1833–51)

See also

• History of Herzegovina
• History of Bosnia and Herzegovina

References

Sources

• Ingrao, Charles; Samardžić, Nikola; Pešalj, Jovan, eds. (2011). The Peace of Passarowitz, 1718. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press. ISBN 9781557535948.

External links

• "Unnamed map" (in Hungarian).
• 1477 defter of Ottoman Herzegovina - part

The Eyalet of Bosnia (Ottoman Turkish: ایالت بوسنه ,Eyālet-i Bōsnâ; Turkish: Bosna Eyaleti; Serbo-Croatian: Bosanski pašaluk), was an eyalet (administrative division, also known as a beylerbeylik) of the Ottoman Empire, mostly based on the territory of the present-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prior to the Great Turkish War, it had also included most of Slavonia, Lika, and Dalmatia in present-day Croatia. Its reported area in 1853 was 52,530 square kilometres (20,281 sq mi).

Background

After the execution of King Stephen Tomašević in 1463, the central part of the Kingdom of Bosnia was transformed into the sanjak of Bosnia. The Duchy of Herzegovina was added in 1483.

History

Establishment

In 1580, Ferhad Pasha Sokolović became the first governor of the Bosnia Eyalet, as beylerbey (also referred to as "pasha"). The Bosnia Eyalet (or Pashaluk) included the Sanjak of Bosnia (central province), Sanjak of Herzegovina, Sanjak of Viçitrina, Sanjak of Prizren, Sanjak of Klis, Sanjak of Krka, and Sanjak of Pakrac.

The Ottoman wars in Europe continued throughout the period, and the province reached its territorial peak in 1683.

Decline

The Great Turkish War that ended in Ottoman defeat in 1699 led to a significant decrease in the territory of the Eyalet, losing all the Slavonian sanjaks ("Požeški sandžak" and "Pakrački sandžak"), the sanjak of Lika and big parts of the Dalmatian coast from the sanjaks of Klisa and Herzegovina. The Eyalet lost three sanjaks and suppressed one (the sanjak of Bihać): after the Treaty of Karlowitz, the province was down to four sanjaks (three of them diminished in size as well) and twelve captaincies. Before the Treaty of Passarowitz, another 28 military captaincies were formed, more than half of them along the frontier. This kind of intensive military administration corresponded to the Austrian Military Frontier on the other side of the same border. In 1703 the seat of the pasha was moved from Sarajevo to Travnik, because Sarajevo had been destroyed by fire in the war; it wouldn't be moved back until 1850.

Bosnian uprising

At the beginning of the 19th century, Bosnia was one of the least developed and more autonomous provinces of the Empire. In 1831, Bosnian kapudan Husein Gradaščević, after meeting in Tuzla with Bosnian aristocrats from 20 January to 5 February for preparations, finally occupied Travnik, demanding autonomy and the end of military reforms in Bosnia. Ultimately, exploiting the rivalries between beys and kapudans, the grand vizier succeeded in detaching the Herzegovinian forces, led by Ali-paša Rizvanbegović, from Gradaščević's. The revolt was crushed, and in 1833, a new eyalet of Herzegovina was created from the southern part of the eyalet of Bosnia and given to Ali-paša Rizvanbegović as a reward for his contribution in crushing the uprising. This new entity lasted only for a few years: after Rizvanbegović's death, it was reintegrated into the Bosnia eyalet.

It was one of the first Ottoman provinces to become a vilayet after an administrative reform in 1865, and by 1867 it had been reformed into the Bosnia Vilayet.

Administration

Administrative divisions

Capitals

Bosnia Eyalet's capital city moved several times:

• Travnik (1553; 1697–1833; 1839/40–1851)
• Banja Luka (Banyaluka or Banaluka) (1553–1638)
• Sarajevo (Saray Bosna) (1639–1697; 1833–1839/40; 1851–1878)

Governors

• Sarı Süleyman Pasha
• Osman Gradaščević
• Abaza Mehmed Pasha
• Hasan Predojević
• Husein Gradaščević
• Husein Boljanić
• Ali-paša Rizvanbegović
• Mehmed-beg Kulenović
• Bekir Pasha (1800–01)

See also

• List of Ottoman governors of Bosnia
• Ottoman Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Pashaluk of Herzegovina
• Sanjak of Novi Pazar

References

Sources

• Ibrahimagić, Omer (1998). Constitutional development of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PDF). Sarajevo: Vijeće kongresa bošnjačkih intelektualaca. ISBN 9958-47-030-6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-04-17. Retrieved 2013-01-10.

Kırklareli (Turkish pronunciation: [kɯɾkˈɫaɾeli]) is a city in the European part of Turkey. It is the seat of Kırklareli Province and Kırklareli District. Its population is 85,493 (2022).

Name

It is not known when the city was founded, nor under what name. The Byzantine Greeks called it Saranta Ekklisies (Greek: Σαράντα Εκκλησιές, meaning "forty churches"). In modern Greek it is known with the same name, too. In the 14th century this was translated to Turkish and called Kırk Kilise (40 churches). Following the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, sanjaks became cities and on December 20, 1924, Kırk Kilise's name was changed to Kırklareli, meaning The Place of the Forties. The denomination Kırklareli was already used years before 1924, for example in the contemporary literature concerning the Balkan Wars of 1912–13. The Bulgarian name of the town is Lòzengrad (Лозенград) which means Vineyard Town. (see also its other names)

History

Ongoing archeological excavations in the city support the claim that the area was the location of one of the first organized settlements on the European continent, with artifacts from the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods.

The settlement and its surrounding areas were conquered by the Persians in 513–512 BC, during the reign of King Darius I.

In 914 during the Bulgarian invasion in Adrianople led by Simeon I, the settlement was captured by the Bulgarians and was under Bulgarian rule until 1003 when it was lost to the Byzantines.

The Ottoman Turks took the city and its region from the Byzantines in 1363, during the reign of Sultan Murad I.

The city was damaged during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829).

According to the 1878 record "Ethnography of the Wilayahs Adrianopol, Monastir and Thessaloniki" Kırk Kilise was inhabited by 6,700 Bulgarians, 2,850 Greeks, and 2,700 belonging to other ethnic groups.

In 1906, the Diocese of Saranda Ekklisies was detached from the Metropolis of Adrianople and was elevated to the status of Metropolis.

According to the official Ottoman census of 1906–1907 (published in "The Ottoman Population 1830–1914: Demographic and Social Characteristics" by Kemal H. Karpat), the ethnic-religious breakdown in the Sanjak of Kırk Kilise was: 22,022 Muslims; 14,154 Greek Orthodox; 1,599 Bulgarian Orthodox; and 789 Jews.

During the Balkan Wars (1912–1913) Kırk Kilise was occupied by Bulgaria, and then by Greece in the aftermath of World War I (1914–1918) prompting the exodus of its Bulgarian population (there were a large number of journalists who reported on the actions at Kırk Kilise). Following the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1923) the city was retaken by the Turks on November 10, 1922. According to the 1923 population exchange agreement between Greece and Turkey, the Greeks of the city were exchanged for the Muslims (Turks, Pomaks, Karadjaovalides and Albanians) living in Greece.

Most of the inhabitants of the city are Turks who formerly lived in Thessaloniki until the First Balkan War of 1912. The Treaty of Lausanne (1923) which defines Turkey's western border in Thrace also resulted in a Kırklareli Province within Turkey.

The Megleno-Romanians of Kırklareli

In 1923 most of the 3700 inhabitants of Notia, the only Muslim village of the Megleno-Romanians in northern Greece, settled in the Edirne area (mainly in Kırklareli) and became known as Karadjovalides after the Turkish name of Moglena.

The number of these Megleno-Romanian families settled in Kırklareli were more than 110, while those settled in small villages were around 400: in total, nearly 2000 Megleno-Romanians. Currently, their number only 500, concentrated in Kırklareli and culturally assimilated into the Turks. Most of them speak the Turkish language, but are still bilingual at home.

Cultural assets

• Hızır Bey Külliye: This külliye (religious complex) consists of the Hızır Bey Mosque, Hızır Bey Bath and Arasta (Bazaar.)
  • Hızır Bey Mosque: Located at the center of the city, it was built on a square plan by Köse Mihalzade Hızır Bey in 1383. Built of cut stone and having one minaret, it was restored by Yusuf Pasha of Aydost in 1824. Still used today, the final praying place and garden walls of the mosque were built afterwards.
  • Hızır Bey Bath: Also located at the center of the city and built adjacent to Bath and Arasta by Köse Mihalzade Hızır Bey in 1383. There are two entrances, one each for women and men, which are also called the "Paired Baths". According to an inscription in the women's bath, Hacı Hüseyin Ağa restored it between 1683 and 1704. Still used today, the outer walls are regular and built from coarse sandstone. It's a Turkish Bath in the traditional Ottoman architecture style.
  • Arasta (Bedesten): Built adjacent to the Hızır Bey Bath in a "T" form, it has arch-type walls. The upper cover is a vault 15 m long. There were 12 shops inside formed by three beams. It was restored in 1704.
• Kırklareli Museum: A natural history, ethnography and archaeology museum.
• Dupnisa Cave: Kırklareli Province is also host to the only cave that is open to tourists in Thrace, the Dupnisa Cave near the village of Sarpdere, which is believed to have formed circa 4 million years ago. The Dupnisa Cave was used for Dionysian Rituals (Sparagmos) in ancient times. Even the name of Dionysus is associated with Mount Nisa right above the cave of Dupnisa; as, according to ancient Greek mythology, Dionysus "discovered wine while playing at Mount Nisa." The Bulgarian name of Kırklareli, Lozengrad (Лозенград) which means Vineyard Town may also have its origins in this ancient Greek myth.
• Demirköy Foundry: Archaeological site of a historic iron foundry, where cannonballs fired during the Conquest of Constantinople in 1453 were manufactured.

Climate

Kırklareli has a borderline Mediterranean and humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa/Cfa, Trewartha climate classification: Do). Summers are hot and humid whilst winters are cool, cloudy and damp. Rainfall is somewhat common throughout the year, but is lower in amount and intensity than in coastal cities, largely due to the rain shadow caused by the Istranca massif to the immediate northeast. Snowfall is somewhat common between the months of December and March, snowing for a week or two.

Sister cities

Kırklareli is twinned with:

• Manisa, Turkey

Notable natives

• Anthim I (1816-1888), first head of the Bulgarian Exarchate
• Nikola Aslanov (1875-1905), Bulgarian revolutionary
• Candan Erçetin, (born 1961), female singer, songwriter and Vice-President of Galatasaray SK
• Şaban Erden (born 1949), Deputy Secretary General of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality
• Barış Hersek (born 1988), professional basketball player
• Seda Kaçan (born 1994), racing driver
• Nikolaos Mavridis (1869-1927), wine merchant
• Ayşenur Taşbakan (born 1982), European champion female taekwondo practitioner
• Burak Akkul (born 1972) humorist
• Serap Belet (born 1978) anchorwomen
• Burhan Öçal (born 1959) percussion artist

See also

• Battle of Kirk Kilisse

References

External links

• Kırklareli News
• Kırklareli Photos