Baghdad Eyalet (Arabic: إِيَالَةُ بَغْدَاد, Ottoman Turkish: ایالت بغداد, romanized: Eyālet-i Baġdād) was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire, with Baghdad serving as the administrative capital of Ottoman Iraq (Kürsi-i Hıtta-i Irakiyye). Its reported area in the 19th century was 62,208 square miles (161,120 km2).
History
Safavid shah Ismail I took the Baghdad region from the Aq Qoyunlu in 1508. After the Safavid takeover, Sunni Muslims, Jews and Christians became targets of persecution, and were killed for being infidels. In addition, Shah Ismail ordered the destruction of the grave of Abu Hanifa, founder of the Hanafi school of law which the Ottomans adopted as their official legal guide.
In 1534, Baghdad was captured by the Ottoman Empire, and the eyalet was established in 1535. Between 1623 and 1638, it was once again in Iranian hands. It was decisively recaptured by the Ottomans in 1638, whose possession over Iraq was agreed upon in the 1639 Treaty of Zuhab.
For a time, Baghdad had been the largest city in the Middle East. The city saw relative revival in the latter part of the 18th century under a largely autonomous Mamluk government. Direct Ottoman rule was reimposed by Ali Ridha Pasha in 1831. From 1851 to 1852 and from 1861 to 1867, Baghdad was governed, under the Ottoman Empire by Mehmed Namık Pasha. The Nuttall Encyclopedia reports the 1907 population of Baghdad as 185,000.
Administrative divisions
Sanjaks of Baghdad Eyalet in the 17th century:
Seven of the eighteen Sanjaks of this eyalet were divided into ziamets and Timars:
Sanjak of Hilla
Sanjak of Zeng-abad
Sanjak of Javazar
Sanjak of Rumahia
Sanjak of Jangula
Sanjak of Kara-tagh
[the name of the seventh sanjak is missing]
The other eleven sanjaks had no ziamets or Timars and were entirely in the power of their possessors:
Sanjak of Terteng
Sanjak of Samwat
Sanjak of
Biat
Sanjak of
Derneh
Sanjak of
Deh-balad
Sanjak of Evset
Sanjak of Kerneh-deh
Sanjak of Demir-kapu
Sanjak of Karanieh
Sanjak of Kilan
Sanjak of Al-sah
Sanjaks between 1682 and 1702:
Sanjak of Baghdad
Government (Hükümeti) of Imadiyye
Sanjak of Hille
Sanjak of Cevâzir, Aşfatara, Kasr-ı Ruhûr, Mehcer and Reventin
Sanjak of Derne and Dertenk
Sanjak of Kasr-ı Şirin
Sanjak of Semavât
Sanjak of Zaho
Sanjak of Zeng-i Abâd
Sanjak of Cêssan-Bedre
Sanjak of Ane
Sanjak of Eriha
Sanjak of Kızıl Ribat
Sanjak of Altun Köpru
Sanjak of Herîr (Government (Hükümeti) of Şehrân)
Sanjak of Mîr-Aşiret-i Baclan
Sanjaks between 1727 and 1740
Sanjak of Baghdad
Government (Hükümeti) of Imadiyye
Sanjak of Derne and Dertenk
Sanjak of Mendelcin
Sanjak of Cêssan Bedre
Sanjak of Herîr (Government (Hükümeti) of Şehrân
Sanjak of Mendemi Aşireti (Mendemi Tribe)