Kars Eyalet Explained

Native Name:Eyālet-i Ḳarṣ
Common Name:Kars Eyalet
Subdivision:Eyalet
Nation:the Ottoman Empire
Year Start:1580
Year End:1875
P1:Safavid dynasty
Flag P1:Safavid Flag.svg
S1:Erzurum Vilayet
Flag S1:Flag of the Ottoman Empire.svg
Image Map Caption:The Kars Eyalet in 1609
Capital:Kars

The Eyalet of Kars[1] (Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928);: ایالت قارص|translit=Eyālet-i Ḳarṣ)[2] was an eyalet (province) of the Ottoman Empire. Its reported area in the 19th century was 6212sqmi.

The town of Kars, which had been levelled to the ground by the Timur in 1368, was rebuilt as an Ottoman fortress in 1579 (1580 according to other sources) by Lala Mustafa Pasha, and became capital of an eyalet of six sanjaks and also a place of pilgrimage.[3] It was conquered by Shah Abbas in 1604 and rebuilt by the Turks in 1616.[3]

The size of the Kars garrison in 1640s was 1,002 Janissaries and 301 local recruits. Total 1,303 garrison.[4]

Administrative divisions

Sanjaks of Kars Eyalet in the 17th century:[5]

  1. Little Erdehan Sanjak (Göle)
  2. Hujujan Sanjak (Çıldır)
  3. Zarshad Sanjak (Arpaçay)
  4. Kechran Sanjak (Tunçkaya (Keçivan))
  5. Kaghizman Sanjak (Kağızman)
  6. Kars Sanjak, the seat of the Pasha

Notes and References

  1. By Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
  2. Web site: Some Provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Geonames.de. 25 February 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130928180044/http://www.geonames.de/coutr-ota-provinces.html. 28 September 2013. dead.
  3. By M. Th. Houtsma
  4. Ottoman Warfare 1500-1700, Rhoads Murphey, 1999, p.226
  5. By Evliya Çelebi, Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall