The Croatian Vilayet (, ) was a temporary borderland entity in Dalmatia in the 16th century. Its capital was

Sinj Sinj () is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, town in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. As of the 2021 Croatian census, 2021 census, the population was 23,500 people, of which 10,800 inhabited its urban core. Sinj is k ...

Establishment and territory

Immediately after the Ottoman capture of the

Dalmatian hinterland The Dalmatian Hinterland () is the southern inland hinterland in the historical Croatian region of Dalmatia. The name means 'beyond (the) hills', which is a reference to the fact that it is the part of Dalmatia that is not coastal and the existe ...

and

Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by t ...

from the Kingdom of Croatia and the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

in the 1520s, they organized it as a borderland entity and named it the Vilayet of "Croats" (, ). The southern border of the territory of this vilayet was river Cetina while north-western border was

and river

Zrmanja Zrmanja (, ) is a river in southern Lika and northern Dalmatia, Croatia. It is long and its basin covers an area of . It was known to the ancient Romans as ''Tedanius''. The spring of Zrmanja is located in southern part of Lika under Postak - th ...

. It also included region around river Krka. This territory was administratively governed as the Croatian vilayet which belonged to the

Sanjak of Bosnia Sanjak of Bosnia (, / 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 Isa-Beg Isaković was appointed its fi ...

and listed as such in its 1530 ''

defter A ''defter'' was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire. Etymology The term is derived from Greek , literally 'processed animal skin, leather, fur', meaning a book, having pages of goat parchment used along with papyrus ...

'' (tax registry).

Administration

The capital of the vilayet was

. Its territory was under the jurisdiction of the Skradin ''

kadiluk A kadiluk (, ) was the jurisdiction of a kadi, an Islamic judge under the Ottoman Empire. They typically consisted of a major city and its surrounding villages, although some kadis occupied other positions within the imperial administration. ...

''. Aličić claimed that territories of the Croatian vilayet and Skradin kadiluk were the same and that the official Ottoman administrative unit, Croatian vilayet, was under administrative-judicial jurisdiction of Skradin. In 1528 the Croatian vilayet and ''kadiluk'' of Skradin had the following nahiyahs: *

and

Cetina The Cetina () is a river in southern Croatia. It has a length of and its basin covers an area of . From its source, Cetina descends from an elevation of above sea level to the Adriatic Sea. It is the most water-rich river in Dalmatia.Naklada Nap ...

Dicmo Dicmo is a municipality in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County. Population In the 2011 census, it had a total population of 2,802, in the following settlements: * Ercegovci, population 143 * Kraj, population 514 * Krušvar, population 490 * ...

* Zminje Polje * Vrhrika * Petrovo Polje and Petrova Gora (with seat in

Drniš Drniš is a town in the Šibenik-Knin County, Croatia. Located in the Dalmatian Hinterland, it is about halfway between Šibenik and Knin. History The name Drniš was mentioned for the first time in a contract dated March 8, 1494. However, the ...

) *

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

* Nečven * Strmica * Plavna Popina *

Knin Knin () is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka (Croatia), Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagreb and Split, Croatia, Split. ...

* Grahovo *

Zečevo Zečevo may refer to: * Zečevo Rogozničko, a village in Croatia * Zečevo, Kistanje, a village in Croatia {{geodis ...

Skradin Skradin is a small town in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia. It is located near the Krka (Croatia), Krka river and at the entrance to the Krka National Park, from Šibenik and from Split, Croatia, Split. The main attraction of the park, Slapo ...

* Ostrovica *

Benkovac Benkovac () is a town and municipality in the Zadar County, Croatia. Geography Benkovac is located where the plain of Ravni Kotari and the karstic plateau of Bukovica, Croatia, Bukovica meet, 20 km from the town of Biograd na Moru and 30&n ...

Bukovica Bukovica may refer to: Croatia *Bukovica, Dalmatia, a geographical region in Croatia *Bukovica, Sisak-Moslavina County, a village near Topusko * Bukovica, Brod-Posavina County, a village near Rešetari * Nova Bukovica, a village and municipality ...

* Kličevac * Karin *

Nadin Nadin is a surname and a given name. It may refer to: Surname * Bob Nadin (born 1933), Canadian ice hockey referee * Joanna Nadin, English writer, Labour Party policy writer and special adviser to Tony Blair * Mihai Nadin (born 1938), Romanian co ...

* Obrovac * Podgorje The first governor of the Croatian vilayet was Malkoč-beg. Around 1537 the governor of the Croatian vilayet was Mahmud Bey. Many soldiers from the vilayet participated at the

Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; , ) took place on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was fought between the forces of Hungary, led by King Louis II of Hungary, Louis II, and the invading Ottoman Empire, commanded by Suleima ...

. Most of the Ottoman soldiers registered before the battle were labelled as Bosnians or Croats, designating the territory they were recruited at. All of them had Muslim names, which proves that the process of

Islamization The spread of Islam spans almost 1,400 years. The early Muslim conquests that occurred following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE led to the creation of the caliphates, expanding over a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted ...

of the newly conquered population was much faster than earlier assumed. The Croatian vilayet was disestablished when it was annexed by the newly established Sanjak of Klis in 1537.

Annotations

References

Sources

* *

Establishment and territory

Administration

Annotations

References

Sources

Further reading