The Eyalet of Bosnia ( ota, ایالت بوسنه ,Eyālet-i Bōsnâ; By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters ; sh, Bosanski pašaluk), was an eyalet (administrative division, also known as a ''beylerbeylik'') 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) ...

, mostly based on the territory of the present-day state of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. Prior to the Great Turkish War, it had also included most of

Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baran ...

, Lika, and Dalmatia in present-day

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. Its reported area in 1853 was .

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 Sanjak of Bosnia ( tr, Bosna Sancağı, sh, Bosanski sandžak / Босански санџак) was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire established in 1463 when the lands conquered from the Bosnian Kingdom were transformed into a sanjak and ...

. The Duchy of Herzegovina was added in 1483.

History

Establishment

In 1580,

Ferhad Pasha Sokolović Ferhad Pasha Sokolović ( tr, Sokollu Ferhad Paşa, sh, Ferhad-paša Sokolović) (died 1586) was an Ottoman general and statesman from Bosnia. He was the last sanjak-bey of Bosnia and first beylerbey of Bosnia. Origin Born into the Sokolović ...

became the first governor of the Bosnia Eyalet, as beylerbey (also referred to as "

pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitar ...

"). The Bosnia Eyalet (or Pashaluk) included the

Sanjak of Bosnia Sanjak of Bosnia ( tr, Bosna Sancağı, sh, Bosanski sandžak / Босански санџак) was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire established in 1463 when the lands conquered from the Bosnian Kingdom were transformed into a sanjak and ...

(central province),

Sanjak of Herzegovina The Sanjak of Herzegovina ( tr, Hersek Sancağı; sh, 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 ...

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

Sanjak of Prizren The Sanjak of Prizren or Priştine ( tr, Prizren Sancağı, sq, Sanxhaku i Prizrenit, sr, Призренски санџак / ''Prizrenski sandžak'') was one of the sanjaks in the Ottoman Empire with Prizren as its administrative centre. It was ...

Sanjak of Klis The Sanjak of Klis ( tr, Kilis Sancağı; sh, Kliški sandžak) was a sanjak of the Ottoman Empire which seat was in the Fortress of Klis in Klis (modern-day Croatia) till capture by Republic of Venice in 1648, latterly in Livno between 1648-18 ...

Sanjak of Krka Sanjak of Krka ( tr, liva Krka, sh, Krčki sandžak) was a frontier sanjak (''serhad'') of the Ottoman Empire. History In 1580, Ferhad Pasha Sokolović became the first governor (beylerbey or simply pasha) of the Beylerbeylik of Bosnia. The Bos ...

, and

Sanjak of Pakrac The Sanjak of Pakrac ( hr, Pakrački sandžak) or Sanjak of Čazma or Sanjak of Cernica was one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman Empire whose capital was first Zaçasna and then Pakrac and Cernik in Ottoman Slavonia. It was established after the ...

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

n 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 Treaty of Karlowitz was signed in Karlowitz, Military Frontier of Archduchy of Austria (present-day Sremski Karlovci, Serbia), on 26 January 1699, concluding the Great Turkish War of 1683–1697 in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated by th ...

, the province was down to four sanjaks (three of them diminished in size as well) and twelve captaincies. Before the

Treaty of Passarowitz The Treaty of Passarowitz, or Treaty of Požarevac, was the peace treaty signed in Požarevac ( sr-cyr, Пожаревац, german: Passarowitz), a town that was in the Ottoman Empire but is now in Serbia, on 21 July 1718 between the Ottoman ...

, 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 The Military Frontier (german: Militärgrenze, sh-Latn, Vojna krajina/Vojna granica, Војна крајина/Војна граница; hu, Katonai határőrvidék; ro, Graniță militară) was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and ...

on the other side of the same border. In 1703 the seat of the pasha was moved from Sarajevo to

Travnik Travnik is a town and a municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the administrative center of Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, west of Sarajevo. As of 2 ...

, because Sarajevo had been destroyed by fire in the war; it wouldn't be moved back until 1850. By Mladen Klemenčić

Bosnian uprising

At the beginning of the 19th century, Bosnia was one of the least developed and more autonomous provinces of the Empire. By Mitja Velikonja In 1831, Bosnian kapudan

Husein Gradaščević Husein Gradaščević (''Husein-kapetan'') (31 August 1802 – 17 August 1834) was a Bosnian military commander who later led a rebellion against the Ottoman government, seeking autonomy for Bosnia. Born into a Bosnian noble family, Gradaš� ...

, after meeting in

Tuzla Tuzla (, ) is the third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inhabitants. Tuzla is the economic, cultural, e ...

with Bosnian aristocrats from 20 January to 5 February for preparations, finally occupied

, 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 A vilayet ( ota, , "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, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated ...

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: *

(1553; 1697–1833; 1839/40–1851) *

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

(Banyaluka or Banaluka) (1553–1638) *

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

(Saray Bosna) (1639–1697; 1833–1839/40; Ahmed Aličić ''Uređenje bosanskog ejaleta od 1789. do 1878.'', Orijentalni Institut u Sarajevu, Sarajevo, 1983, p 35.Šabanović, H. ''Bosanski pašaluk'', ND BiH, Sarajevo, 1959. 1851–1878)

Governors

Sarı Süleyman Pasha Sarı Süleyman Paşa ( sh, Sari Sulejman-paša; died 14 October 1687) was the grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 18 November 1685 to 18 September 1687.İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 197 ...

Osman Gradaščević Osman Gradaščević ( 1765–1812) or Captain Osman (''Osman-kapetan'') was an Ottoman Bosnian captain of the military captaincy of Gradačac, which he was in control of since 1765. During his rule he was one of the most powerful and richest c ...

Abaza Mehmed Pasha Abaza Mehmed Pasha ( tr, Abaza Mehmed Paşa, ab, Меҳмеҭ Росҭом-иԥа Лакырба, ма Кыржәаа); 1576 – August 23, 1634) was a statesman and military commander of the Ottoman Empire, the namesake of the Abaza rebellion. ...

Hasan Predojević Hasan Predojević ( 1530 – 22 June 1593), also known as Telli Hasan Pasha ( tr, Telli Hasan Paşa), was the fifth Ottoman beylerbey ( vali) of Bosnia and a notable Ottoman Bosnian military commander, who led an invasion of the Habsburg King ...

* Husein Boljanić * Ali-paša Rizvanbegović * Mehmed-beg Kulenović *

Bekir Pasha Bekir Pasha ( tr, Bekir Paşa, sh, Bekir-paša) or Beshir, was an Ottoman governor (Pasha) with the title of Vizier, governing the Bosnia Eyalet from 1800 to 1801, and the Sanjak of Smederevo The Sanjak of Smederevo ( tr, Semendire Sancağı; sr ...

(1800–01)

References

Sources

* {{Authority control Eyalets of the Ottoman Empire in Europe * * Ottoman Serbia Ottoman period in the history of Montenegro Ottoman period in the Balkans 1580 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1867 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire Eyalet Eyalet Eyalet Eyalet States and territories established in 1580 States and territories disestablished in 1867 1580 establishments in Europe 1867 disestablishments in Europe Former subdivisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina during Ottoman period