The Eyalet of Kars ( ota, ایالت قارص; Eyālet-i Ḳarṣ) was an eyalet (province) of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Its reported area in the 19th century was . The town of Kars, which had been levelled to the ground by the

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...

in 1368, was rebuilt as an Ottoman fortress in 1579 (1580 according to other sources) by

Lala Mustafa Pasha Lala Mustafa Pasha ( – 7 August 1580), also known by the additional epithet ''Kara'', was an Ottoman Bosnian general and Grand Vizier from the Sanjak of Bosnia. Life He was born around 1500, near the Glasinac in Sokolac Plateau in Bosnia t ...

, and became capital of an eyalet of six sanjaks and also a place of pilgrimage. By M. Th. Houtsma It was conquered by Shah Abbas in 1604 and rebuilt by the Turks in 1616. The size of the Kars garrison in 1640s was 1,002 Janissaries and 301 local recruits. Total 1,303 garrison.Ottoman Warfare 1500-1700, Rhoads Murphey, 1999, p.226

Administrative divisions

Sanjaks Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ) * Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province") * Bulgarian: окръг (''okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region") * el, Διοίκησις (''dioikēsis'', meaning "province" ...

of Kars Eyalet in the 17th century: By

Evliya Çelebi Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years, recording ...

Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall (9 June 1774 – 23 November 1856) was an Austrian orientalist and historian. He is considered one of the most accomplished Orientalists of his time. He was critical of the trend of ascribing classical or a ...

# Little Erdehan Sanjak (

Göle Göle ( hy, Կող, translit=Kogh; ka, კოლა, tr; ku, Mêrdînik) is a small city and surrounding district in Ardahan Province of Turkey. The city was formerly known as ''Merdenik'', ''Merdinik'' or ''Ardahan-ı Küçük'' ("Little Ardaha ...

) # Hujujan Sanjak (

Çıldır Çıldır ( hy, Հիւսիսեան, Husenian; meaning "North"; ka, ჩრდილი, Chrdili; meaning "Shadow") is a district of Ardahan Province of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cu ...

) # Zarshad Sanjak (

Arpaçay Arpaçay is a town and a district of Kars Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The population is 2,503 as of 2010. The mayor is Erçetin Altay ( AKP). Azerbaijanis and their subgroups of Terekemes and Karapapaks make up the majo ...

) # Kechran Sanjak ( Tunçkaya (Keçivan)) # Kaghizman Sanjak (

Kağızman Kağızman ( ku, Qaxizman), formerly Kaghzvan (), is a town and district of Kars Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The population was 23,100 in 2012. The current mayor is Nevzat Yıldız ( MHP), and the Kaymakam is İshak Çınar ...

) #

Kars Sanjak Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography ( Strabo), part of ...

, the seat of the Pasha

References

Eyalets of the Ottoman Empire in Anatolia 1604 disestablishments History of Ardahan Province History of Artvin Province History of Kars Province 1580 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1875 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire {{Ottoman-stub