Danube vilayet

Vilayet of the Danube
ولايت طونه
Vilâyet-i Tûna
Bulgarian: Дунавска област
Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire
1864–1878
Flag of Danube Vilayet
Flag

The Danube Vilayet in 1877
CapitalRusçuk
Area
 • Coordinates43°0′N 25°0′E / 43.000°N 25.000°E / 43.000; 25.000
Population 
• 1864
1,995,000[1]
Government
Governor 
• 1864-1868
Hafiz Ahmed Midhat Shefik Pasha
• 1876-1877
Oman Mazhar Ahmed
History 
1864
1878
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Nis Eyalet
Vidin Eyalet
Ozu Eyalet
Principality of Bulgaria
Principality of Serbia
Kingdom of Romania
Eastern Rumelia
Today part ofRomania
Serbia
Bulgaria

The Vilayet of the Danube or Danubian Vilayet (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت طونه, romanized: Vilâyet-i Tuna;[2] Bulgarian: Дунавска област, Dunavska(ta) oblast,[3] more commonly Дунавски вилает, Danube Vilayet) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire from 1864 to 1878.[4] In the late 19th century it reportedly had an area of 34,120 square miles (88,400 km2).[5]

The vilayet was created from the northern parts of Silistra Province along the Danube River and eyalets of Niš, Vidin and Silistra. This vilayet was meant to become a model province, showcasing all the progress achieved by the Porte through the modernising Tanzimat reforms.[6] Other vilayets modelled on the vilayet of the Danube were ultimately established throughout the empire by 1876, with the exception of the Arabian Peninsula and the by then semi-independent Egypt.[6] Rusçuk, today Ruse in Bulgaria, was chosen as the capital of the vilayet due to its position as a key Ottoman port on the Danube.[6]

The province disappeared after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, when its north-eastern part (Northern Dobruja) was incorporated into Romania, some of its western territories into Serbia, while the central and southern regions made up most of the autonomous Principality of Bulgaria and a part of Eastern Rumelia.

Borders and administrative divisions

Upon its establishment in 1864, the Danube Vilayet included the following sanjaks:[7]

  1. Sanjak of Tulcea
  2. Sanjak of Varna
  3. Sanjak of Ruse
  4. Sanjak of Tărnovo
  5. Sanjak of Vidin
  6. Sanjak of Sofia
  7. Sanjak of Niš

In 1868, the Sanjak of Niš was detached and made part of the Prizren Vilayet.[8]

In 1876, the Sanjak of Niš and the Sanjak of Sofia were spun off into the short-lived Sofia Vilayet but were subsequently annexed to the Vilayets of Adrianople and Kosovo Vilayets only a year later, in 1877.[9]

Government

Midhat Pasha was the first governor of the vilayet (1864–1868).[6] During his time as a governor, steamship lines were established on the Danube River; the Ruse-Varna railroad was completed; agricultural credit cooperatives providing farmers with low-interest loans were introduced; tax incentives were also offered to encourage new industrial enterprises.[6]

The first official vilayet newspaper in the Ottoman Empire, Tuna/Dunav, was published in both Ottoman Turkish and Bulgarian and had both Ottoman and Bulgarian editors. Its editors in chief included Ismail Kemal and Ahmed Midhat Efendi.[6]

The vilayet had an Administrative Assembly that included state officials appointed by the Ottoman government as well as six representatives (three Muslims and three non-Muslims) elected from among the inhabitants of the province.[6] Non-Muslims also participated in the provincial criminal and commercial courts that were based on a secular code of law and justice.[6] Mixed Muslim-Christian schools were also introduced, but this reform was abolished after it was met by strong opposition by the populace.[6]

Governors

Ottoman Turkish version of the "Constitutive law of the department formed under the name of vilayet of the Danube" (Bulgarian: Органически устав на департамента, създаден под наименование Дунавски вилает[10]) as published in the Takvim-i Vekayi

Governors of the Vilayet:[11]

Demographics

In 1865, 658,600 (40.51%) Muslims and 967,058 (59.49%) non-Muslims, including females, were living in the province (excluding Niş sanjak); some 569,868 (34.68%) Muslims, apart from the immigrants and 1.073.496 (65,32%) non-Muslims in 1859–1860.[12] Some 250000-300000 Muslim immigrants from Crimea and Caucasus had been settled in this region from 1855 to 1864.[13]

Male population of the Danube Vilayet (exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš) in 1865 according to Kuyûd-ı Atîk (the Danube Vilayet printing press):[14]

Ethnoconfessional Groups in the Danube Vilayet as per 1865 Population Register[14]

  Bulgarians (56.22%)
  Muslims (40.31%)
  Vlachs (0.92%)
  Armenians (0.86%)
  Greeks (0.60%)
  Jews (0.44%)
  Christian Romani (0.44%)
  Muslim Romani (0.20%)
Ethnoconfessional Groups in the Danube Vilayet as per the 1865 Population Register[14]
Community Rusçuk Sanjak Vidin Sanjak Varna Sanjak Tırnova Sanjak Tulça Sanjak Sofya Sanjak Danube Vilayet
Islam Millet 138,017 (61%) 14,835 (13%) 38,230 (74%) 77,539 (40%) 38,479 (65%) 20,612 (12%) 327,712 (40%)
Muslim Roma 312 (0%) 245 (0%) 118 (0%) 128 (0%) 19 (0%) 766 (0%) 1,588 (0%)
Bulgar Millet 85,268 (38%) 93,613 (80%) 9,553 (18%) 113,213 (59%) 12,961 (22%) 142,410 (86%) 457,018 (56%)
Ullah Millet 0 (0%) 7,446 (6%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 7,446 (1%)
Ermeni Millet 926 (0%) 0 (0%) 368 (1%) 0 (0%) 5,720 (10%) 0 (0%) 7,014 (1%)
Rum Millet 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 2,639 (5%) 0 (0%) 2,215 (4%) 0 (0%) 4,908 (1%)
Non-Muslim Romani people 145 (0%) 130 (0%) 999 (2%) 1,455 (1%) 92 (0%) 786 (0%) 3,607 (0%)
Yahudi Millet 1,101 (0%) 630 (1%) 14 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (0%) 1,790 (1%) 3,536 (0%)
TOTAL 225,769 (100%) 116,899 (100%) 51,975 (100%) 192,335 (100%) 59,487 (100%) 166,364 (100%) 812,829 (100%)
Loi constitutive du département formé sous le nom de vilayet du Danube ("Constitutive law of the department formed under the name of vilayet of the Danube") in French

Male Muslim & Non-Muslim population in the Danube Vilayet according to the Ottoman Salname for 1868:[15][13]

Male Muslim & Non-Muslim Population in the Danube Vilayet as per the 1868 Ottoman Salname[13][15]
Sanjak Muslims Non-Muslims Total
Number % Number %
Rusçuk 138,692 59.14% 95,834 40.86% 234,526
Varna 58,689 73.86% 20,769 26.14% 79.458
Vidin 25,338 16.90% 124,567 83.10% 149,905
Sofya 24,410 14.23% 147,095 85.77% 171,505
Tirnova 71,645 40.73% 104,273 59.27% 175,918
Tulça 39,133 68.58% 17,929 41.42% 57,062
Niş 54,510 35.18% 100,425 64.82% 154,935
Grand Total 412,417 40.30% 610,892 59.70% 1,023,309

Male Population of the Danube Vilayet (exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš) in 1866-1873 according to the editor of the Danube newspaper Ismail Kemal:[16]

Male Population of the Danube Vilayet1 in 1873
Community Population
Muslims 481,798 (42%)
—Established Muslims 392,369 (34%)
—Muslim settlers 64,398 (6%)
—Muslim Roma 25,031 (2%)
Christians 646,215 (57%)
—Bulgarians 592,573 (52%)
—Greeks 7,655 (1%)
—Armenians 2,128 (0%)
—Catholics 3,556 (0%)
—other Christians 40,303 (4%)
Non-Muslims Romani people 7,663 (1%)
Jews 5,375 (0%)
TOTAL Danube Vilayet 1,141,051 (100%)
1 Exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš.

Male Population of the Danube Vilayet (exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš) in 1868 according to Kemal Karpat:[13]

Group Population
Christian Bulgarians 490.467
Muslims 359.907

According to the 1874 census, there were 963596 (42,22%) Muslims and 1318506 (57,78%) non-Muslims in the Danube Province excluding Nış sanjak. Together with the sanjak of Nish the population consisted of 1055650 (40,68%) Muslims and 1539278 (59,32%) non-Muslims in 1874. Muslims were the majority in the sanjaks of Rusçuk, Varna and Tulça, while the non-Muslims were in majority in the rest of the sanjaks.[9]

Ethnoconfessional Groups in the Danube Vilayet as per 1873-74 Vilayet Census[17]

  Bulgarians (52.02%)
  Establ. Muslims (34.44%)
  Circassian Muhacir (5.65%)
  Misc. Christians (3.53%)
  Muslim Romani (2.19%)
  Christian Romani (0.68%)
  Greeks (0.67%)
  Jews (0.48%)
  Roman Catholics (0.31%)

Total population of the Danube Vilayet by ethnoconfessional group according to French orientalist Ubicini on the basis of the official Ottoman Census of the Danube Vilayet of 1873-1874 (exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš) , then part of the Prizren Vilayet:[17]

Ethnoconfessional Groups in the Danube Vilayet1 as per the 1873-74 Census[17]
Community Number Percentage
Muslims 963,596 42.28%
—Established Muslims 784,731 34.44%
—Circassian Muhacir 128,796 5.65%
—Muslim Romani 50.069 2.19%
Christians 1,303,944 57.23%
—Bulgar millet 1,185,146 52.02%
—Rum millet 15,310 0.67%
—Ermeni millet 450 0.02%
—Roman Catholics 7,112 0.31%
—Christian Romani 15,524 0.68%
—Miscellaneous Christians2 80,402 3.53%
Yahudi millet 10,752 0.48%
GRAND TOTAL 2,278,290 100%
1 Exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš.
2 Vlachs, Lipovans, Cossacks, Germans, etc., mostly in Sanjak of Tulça.

Male Population of the Danube Vilayet (exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš) in 1875 according to Tahrir-i Cedid (the Danube Vilayet printing press):[18]

Ethnoconfessional Groups in the Danube Vilayet as per 1875 Ottoman Salname[18]

  Bulgarians (54.04%)
  Establ. Muslims (36.23%)
  Misc. Christians (2.74%)
  Çerkes Muhacir (2.73%)
  Muslim Romani (2.22%)
  Christian Romani (0.68%)
  Armenians (0.51%)
  Jews (0.44%)
  Greeks (0.37%)
Male Population of the Danube Vilayet (exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš) in 1875[18]
Community Rusçuk Sanjak Vidin Sanjak Varna Sanjak Tırnova Sanjak Tulça Sanjak Sofya Sanjak Danube Vilayet
Islam Millet 164,455 (53%) 20,492 (11%) 52,742 (61%) 88,445 (36%) 53,059 (61%) 27,001 (13%) 406,194 (36%)
Circassian Muhacir 16,588 (5%) 6,522 (4%) 4,307 (5%) 0 (0%) 2,954 (3%) 202 (0%) 30,573 (3%)
Muslim Roma 9,579 (3%) 2,783 (2%) 2,825 (3%) 6,545 (3%) 139 (0%) 2,964 (1%) 24,835 (2%)
Bulgar Millet 114,792 (37%) 131,279 (73%) 21,261 (25%) 148,713 (60%) 10,553 (12%) 179,202 (84%) 605,800 (54%)
Vlachs, Catholics, etc. 500 (0%) 14,690 (8%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 15,512 (18%) 0 (0%) 30,702 (3%)
Ermeni Millet 991 (0%) 0 (0%) 808 (1%) 0 (0%) 3,885 (4%) 0 (0%) 5,684 (1%)
Rum Millet 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 3,421 (4%) 494 (0%) 217 (0%) 0 (0%) 4,132 (0%)
Non-Muslims Romani people 1,790 (1%) 2,048 (1%) 331 (0%) 1,697 (1%) 356 (0%) 1,437 (1%) 7,659 (1%)
Yahudi Millet 1,102 (0%) 1,009 (1%) 110 (0%) 0 (0%) 780 (1%) 2,374 (1%) 5,375 (0%)
TOTAL 309,797 (100%) 178,823 (100%) 85,805 (100%) 245,894 (100%) 87,455 (100%) 213,180 (100%) 1,120,954 (100%)

Total population of the Danube Vilayet according to Russian diplomat Vladimir Cherkassky from the Ottoman population register:[19]

Total Population of the Danube Vilayet according to Cherkassky from the register, ca. 1876:[19]
Sanjak Muslims Bulgarians Others Total
Number % Number % Number %
Rusçuk 381,224 61.53% 233,164 37.63% 5,186 0.84% 619,574
Vidin 59,654 17.66% 246,654 73.04% 31,398 9.30% 337,706
Tirnova 189,980 38.71% 300,820 61.29% 0 - 490,800
Tulça 112,300 63.34% 26,212 14.78% 38,788 21.88% 177,300
Varna 119,754 69.78% 43,180 25.16% 8,678 5.06% 171,612
Sofya 59,930 14.02% 362,714 84.87% 4,748 1.11% 427,392
Niş 77,500 21.63% 270,000 75.36% 10,800 3.01% 358,300
Danube Vilayet Total 1,000,342 38.73% 1,482,744 57.41% 99,598 3.86% 2,582,684

Male population of the Danube Vilayet in 1876 according to the Ottoman officer Stanislas Saint Clair:[16]

Community Population
Turk Muslims 457,018 (36%)
Other Muslims 104,639 (8%)
Bulgarian Christians 639,813 (50%)
Armenian Christians 2,128 (0%)
Vlach and Greek Christians 56,647 (4%)
Gypsies 8,220 (1%)
Jews 5,847 (0%)
TOTAL Danube Vilayet 1,274,282 (100%)

Total population of the Danube Vilayet (including Niş and Sofia sanjaks) according to the 1876 edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica:[20]

Group Population
Bulgarians 1,500,000 (63%)
Turks 500,000 (21%)
Tatars 100,000 (4%)
Circassians 90,000 (4%)
Albanians 70,000 (3%)
Romanians 40,000 (2%)
Gypsies 25,000 (1%)
Russians 10,000 (0%)
Armenians 10,000 (0%)
Jews 10,000 (0%)
Greeks 8,000 (0%)
Serbs 5,000 (0%)
Germans, Italians, Arabs and others 1,000 (0%)
TOTAL Danube Vilayet 2,369,000 (100%)

Total Population of the Danube Vilayet (excluding Niş sanjak) in 1876 estimated by the French counsel Aubaret from the register:[21][22]

Community Population
Muslims 1,120,000 (48%)
incl. Turks 774,000 (33%)
incl. Circassians 200,000 (8%)
incl. Tatars 110,000 (5%)
incl. Gypsies 35,000 (1%)
Non-Muslims 1,233,500 (52%)
incl. Bulgarians 1,130,000 (48%)
incl. Gypsies 12,000 (1%)
incl. Greeks 12,000 (1%)
incl. Jews 12,000 (1%)
incl. Armenians 2,500 (0%)
incl. Vlachs and others 65,000 (3%)
TOTAL Danube Vilayet 2,353,000 (100%)

References

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