Budin Eyalet (also known as

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Budin/Buda or

Pashalik Eyalets (Ottoman Turkish: ایالت, , English: State), also known as beylerbeyliks or pashaliks, were a primary administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ottoman local government ...

of Budin/Buda, ota, ایالت بودین, Eyālet-i Budin) was an administrative territorial entity 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) ...

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

and the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. It was formed on the territories that Ottoman Empire conquered from the medieval

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

and

Serbian Despotate The Serbian Despotate ( sr, / ) was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is generally considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and ...

. The capital of the Budin Province was Budin (Hungarian: Buda). Population of the province was ethnically and religiously diverse and included

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, ...

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

, Bosniaks, Slovaks,

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

of various ethnic origins (living mainly in the cities) and others (

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, Romani, etc.). The city of Buda itself became majority Muslim during the seventeenth century, largely through the immigration of Balkan Muslims.

History

In the 16th century the Ottoman Empire had conquered the southern "line of fortresses" (végvár) of the Kingdom of Hungary. After the

Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; hu, mohácsi csata, tr, Mohaç Muharebesi or Mohaç Savaşı) was fought on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, Kingdom of Hungary, between the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary and its allies, led by Louis II, and thos ...

where the

was heavily defeated, and the turmoil caused by the defeat, the influence was spread on the middle part of the Kingdom of Hungary. While Ottoman troops invaded Buda in 1526 and 1529, Suleyman I used the Buda area as a territory of the allied kingdom and did not annex it fully to the Empire. In 1541, Suleyman decided to consolidate the conquered Buda area and to set it up as an organic part of the Empire. He drove away the Austrian commander

Wilhelm von Roggendorf Wilhelm Freiherr von Roggendorf (1481 – 25 August 1541) was an Austrian military commander and Hofmeister (office), Hofmeister. He was a son of , and thus member of the ancient family from Styria, which ruled in Lower Austria since the middle o ...

, besieging the city, and on 29 August 1541 he took control of the city, together with the city on the other side of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

, Pest. He immediately organised the first Central European eyalet (province) with its capital in Buda (''Budin'' in Turkish). The same year, several other cities fell under Ottoman rule:

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also other alternative names) is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat of Csongrád-Csanád county. The University of Szeged is one of the m ...

Kalocsa Kalocsa (; hr, Kaloča or ''Kalača''; sr, Kaloča or Калоча; german: Kollotschau) is a town in Bács-Kiskun county, Hungary. It lies south of Budapest. It is situated in a marshy but highly productive district, near the left bank of the ...

and Szabadka (Serbian: Subotica). In the years 1543–44, the Ottomans conquered the fortresses of

Nógrád Nógrád ( sk, Novohrad; german: Neuburg) is a village in Nógrád County, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, ...

Vác Vác (; german: Waitzen; sk, Vacov; yi, ווייצען) is a town in Pest county in Hungary with approximately 35,000 inhabitants. The archaic spelling of the name is ''Vácz''. Location Vác is located north of Budapest on the eastern bank o ...

, Fehérvár,

Pécs Pécs ( , ; hr, Pečuh; german: Fünfkirchen, ; also known by other #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the countr ...

and

Siklós Siklós ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Šikloš, Шиклош) is the 4th largest town in Baranya county, Hungary. The Malkocs Bey Mosque was built by the order of the Malkoçoğlu family. Notable people *George Mikes, British author most famous ...

which were embedded into the new eyalet. In 1552 the eyalet was expanded with new territories in the North, and the new

Eyalet of Temeşvar Eyalets ( Ottoman Turkish: ایالت, , English: State), also known as beylerbeyliks or pashaliks, were a primary administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ottoman local governmen ...

was established. Military control of the surrounding areas was driven from Budin. The following year, the advance of the Ottomans slowed down and the territory of the Budin vilajet did not change until the ending of the Fifteen Years War and the Peace of Zsitvatorok, where the Ottomans lost territories North of Nógrád. However Eğri and

Kanije Nagykanizsa (; hr, Velika Kaniža/Velika Kanjiža, or just ''Kaniža/Kanjiža''; german: Großkirchen, Groß-Kanizsa; it, Canissa; sl, Velika Kaniža; tr, Kanije), known colloquially as Kanizsa, is a medium-sized city in Zala County in southw ...

were captured during these wars and were shortly managed as

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

in this province. The territory of the eyalet was significantly reduced in size with the establishment of the eyalets of Eğri (1596) and

(1600). By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters Nevertheless, it remained the foremost Ottoman province in Central Europe, owing to the strategic importance of Budin as a major port on the Danube. In the 17th century Kara Mustafa Pasha conquered more areas from the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary and its vassal, the Principality of Transylvania, but did not succeed in conquering

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1683. This failed attempt heralded the gradual decline of Ottoman power in Europe. On 2 September 1686 Budin was captured by the troops of the Holy League.

Military

Military clashes between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans were inevitable. They formed a border with one another, and although the European Eyalet had been established, there was a strong military presence in Buda. The number of the troops in the province at this time is difficult to estimate. There are documents to show 10,200 soldiers in the fortresses in 1546, and 12,451 soldiers in 1568. Auxiliary troops called

sipahi ''Sipahi'' ( ota, سپاهی, translit=sipâhi, label=Persian, ) were professional cavalrymen deployed by the Seljuks, and later the Ottoman Empire, including the land grant-holding (''timar'') provincial '' timarli sipahi'', which constituted ...

were also present. The cost of maintaining this large force put pressure on the budget of the province. In 1552, for example, the Porte sent 440,000 gold coins to Budin to provision the army. If the sultan or the beylerbey was not present, then the post of general commander was taken by the

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 ...

s of Budin.

Fortresses

The Ottoman Empire put all efforts to strengthen the stronghold in Budin. They built several rings of defence around Budin and defended roads for supplies to Vienna, as their aim was to crush the capital of the Habsburgs, which they did not succeed. The most important fortresses around Budin were

Esztergom Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river Dan ...

, Székesfehérvár, and also less important

and

Visegrád Visegrád (; german: Plintenburg; la, Pone Navata or ; sk, Vyšehrad) is a castle town in Pest County, Hungary. It is north of Budapest on the right bank of the Danube in the Danube Bend. It had a population of 1,864 in 2010. The town is the ...

. To the south, the most relevant fortress was

Szigetvár Szigetvár (; hr, Siget; tr, Zigetvar; English language, English: Islandcastle; german: Inselburg) is a town in Baranya (county), Baranya County in southern Hungary. History The town's Medieval fortification, fortress was the setting of the S ...

Budin

In the 145 years Ottoman era, the city of Budin was not converted to the "Italian" type of defensive fortress, which was in the fashion at that time. The old fortress was enlarged by the "Víziváros" walls and a small stronghold was built on the

Gellért hill Gellért Hill ( hu, Gellért-hegy; german: Blocksberg; la, Mons Sancti Gerhardi tr, Gürz İlyas Bayırı) is a high hill overlooking the Danube in Budapest, Hungary. It is located in the 1st and the 11th districts. The hill was named after ...

. The Budin Castle was already standing on a Medieval castle, with more or less same walls as per now. Various towers were built by Ottomans i.e. "Murad pasha tower" (Turkish: ''Murat paşa kulesi'') between 1650 and 1653. The walls were enlarged in Gellért hill, in Rózsadomb, Nap-hegy and on the side of the

. The main castle was also walled inside, where they have made small openings so that the sentry could move easily.

Administrative divisions

After 1541, province included following sanjaks:Dr Dušan J. Popović, Srbi u Vojvodini, knjiga I, Novi Sad, 1990, page 201. #Sanjak of Budin (Buda) #Sanjak of Semendire (Smederevo) #Sanjak of İzvornik (Zvornik) #Sanjak of Vulçetrin (Vushtrri) #Sanjak of Pojega (Požega) #Sanjak of Mohaç (Mohács) #Sanjak of İstolni Belgrad (Székesfehérvár) #

Sanjak of Segedin Sanjak of Segedin or Sanjak of Szeged (Turkish: Segedin Sancağı, Hungarian: Szegedi szandzsák, Serbian: Сегедински санџак) was an administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire formed in the 16th century. It was locat ...

(Szeged) #Sanjak of Sirem (Syrmia) #Sanjak of Kopan (Koppany) #Sanjak of Şikloş (Siklos) #Sanjak of Peçuy (Pécs) #

Sanjak of Vidin The Sanjak of Vidin or the Vidin Sanjak ( bg, Видински санджак, sr, Видински санџак, tr, Vidin Sancağı) was a sanjak in the Ottoman Empire, with Vidin as its administrative centre. It was established after the Batt ...

#Sanjak of Alacahisar (Kruševac) #Sanjak of Çanad (Cenad) #Sanjak of Beçkerek (Zrenjanin) #Sanjak of Hipovo In about 1566, province included following sanjaks: #Sanjak of Budin (Buda) #Sanjak of Semendire (Smederevo) #Sanjak of Pojega (Požega) #Sanjak of Mıhaç (Mohács) #Sanjak of İstolni Belgrad (Székesfehérvár) #

(Szeged) #Sanjak of Sirem (Syrmia) #Sanjak of Baboça (Babocsa) #Sanjak of Zigetvar (Szigetvar) #Sanjak of Peçuy (Pécs) #Sanjak of Estergon (Esztergom) #Sanjak of

Hatvan Hatvan is a town in Heves county, Hungary. Hatvan is the Hungarian word for "sixty". Etymology Hatvan is the Hungarian word for "sixty". It is a common urban legend that the town got this name because it is 60 km from Budapest, but in fact the na ...

#Sanjak of Filek (Filakovo) #Sanjak of Seçen (Szécsény) #Sanjak of Sonluk (Szolnok) #Sanjak of Şimontorna (Simontornya) #Sanjak of Kopan (Koppány) #Sanjak of Şikloş (Siklós) #Sanjak of Sekçay (Szekszárd) #Sanjak of Novigrad (Nograd) #Sanjak of Pespirim (Veszprém) In about 1600, province included following sanjaks: #Sanjak of Semendire (Smederevo) #Sanjak of Sirem (Syrmia) #Sanjak of

Ráckeve Ráckeve (Serbian: Српски Ковин / Srpski Kovin) is a town on Csepel Island in the county of , Hungary. Its residents are Magyars, with minority of Serbs. The Serbian Kovin Monastery, the oldest in Hungary and one of two in the Dioces ...

#Sanjak of Kopan (Koppány) #Sanjak of İstolni Belgrad (Székesfehérvár) #Sanjak of Mıhaç (Mohács) #Sanjak of Şikloş (Siklós) #Sanjak of Seçuy In 1610, province included following sanjaks: #Sanjak of Budin (Buda) #Sanjak of Sirem (Syrmia) #Sanjak of

#Sanjak of Kopan (Koppány) #Sanjak of İstolni Belgrad (Székesfehérvár) #Sanjak of Mıhaç (Mohács) Before the end of Ottoman administration (i.e. before 1699), province included following sanjaks: #Sanjak of Budin (Buda) #Sanjak of Sirem (Syrmia) #Sanjak of Semendire (Smederevo) #Sanjak of Sekçay (Szekszárd) #Sanjak of Şimontorna (Simontornya) #Sanjak of İstolni Belgrad (Székesfehérvár) #Sanjak of Estergon (Esztergom) #Sanjak of Mohaç (Mohács) #Sanjak of Peçuy (Pécs)

Notes

References

*Peter Rokai - Zoltan Đere - Tibor Pal - Aleksandar Kasaš, Istorija Mađara, Beograd, 2002. *Dr. Dušan J. Popović, Srbi u Vojvodini, knjiga 1, Novi Sad, 1990.

External links

Beylerbeys of Budin 1541 - 1686MapMapMapMapMapFortresses of the Kingdom of Hungary
{{Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire Ottoman period in the history of Bulgaria Ottoman period in the history of Croatia Ottoman period in Hungary Ottoman history of Vojvodina Ottoman Serbia Ottoman period in Slovakia Ottoman period in the history of Kosovo Eyalets of the Ottoman Empire in Europe States and territories established in 1541 1541 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1686 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire