Diyarbekir vilayet

The Vilayet of Diyâr-ı Bekr (Armenian: Տիգրանակերտի նահանգ, Ottoman Turkish: ولايت دياربكر, Vilâyet-i Diyarbakır)[2] was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire, wholly located within what is now modern Turkey. The vilayet extended south from Palu on the Euphrates to Mardin and Nusaybin on the edge of the Mesopotamian plain.[1] After the establishment of Republic of Turkey in 1923, the region was incorporated into the newly created state.

For other uses, see Diyarbakir Province (disambiguation).
ولايت دياربكر
Vilâyet-i Diyâr-ı Bekr
Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire
1867–1922

The Diyâr-ı Bekr Vilayet in 1892
CapitalDiyarbekir[1]
History
History 
1867
• Disestablished
1922
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Kurdistan Eyalet
Diyarbakir Province
Today part ofTurkey
Syria

At the beginning of the 20th century, Diyarbekir Vilayet reportedly had an area of 18,074 square miles (46,810 km2), while the preliminary results of the first Ottoman census of 1885 (published in 1908) gave the population as 471,462.[3] The accuracy of the population figures ranges from "approximate" to "merely conjectural" depending on the region from which they were gathered.[3]

History

The Vilayet of Diyarbakir was created in 1867.[4] In 1867 or 1868 Mamuret-ul-Aziz and the Kurdistan Eyalet merged with and joined the Vilayet of Diyarbakir. In 1879–80 Mamuret-ul-Aziz was separated again from the Vilayet of Diyarbakir, and turned into the Vilayet of Mamuret-ul-Aziz.[4] It was one of the six Armenian Vilayets of the Empire.[5]

Administrative divisions
Map of subdivisions of Diyarbekir Vilayet in 1907

Sanjaks of the vilayet:[6]

  1. Diyarbekir Sanjak (Diyarbakır, Lice, Silvan, Derik, Beşiri)
  2. Mardin Sanjak (Mardin, Cizre, Midyat, Savur, Nusaybin and maybe Silopi)
  3. Ergani Sanjak (Maden, Palu)
  4. Siverek Sanjak (Split from Diyarbekir in 1907) (Siverek, Çermik, Viranşehir)

Demographics

The Vilayet was a place in which the Christian population was systematically massacred during World War I during the 1915 genocide in Diyarbekir.

Christian population in Diyarbekir vilayet in 1915–1916 according to Jacques Rhétoré[7]
Denomination Prewar population Postwar population Disappeared
Armenian Apostolic Church 60,000 2,000 58,000 (97%)
Armenian Catholic Church 12,500 1,000 11,500 (92%)
Chaldean Catholic Church 11,120 1,110 10,010 (90%)
Syriac Catholic Church 5,600 2,150 3,450 (62%)
Syriac Orthodox Church 84,725 24,000 60,725 (72%)
Protestantism 725 225 500 (69%)
Total 174,670 30,485 144,185 (83%)

See also

References
  1. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Diarbekr" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  2. Hathi Trust Digital Library - Holdings: Salname-yi Vilâyet-i Diyarbakır.
  3. Asia by A. H. Keane, page 460
  4. Klein, Janet (2012). "State, Tribe, Dynasty, and the Contest over Diyarbekir at the Turn of the 20th Century". In Jorngerden, Joost; Verheij, Jelle (eds.). Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870-1915. Brill. p. 172. ISBN 978-90-04-22518-3.
  5. Klein, Janet (2012). "State, Tribe, Dynasty, and the Contest over Diyarbekir at the Turn of the 20th Century". In Jongerden, Joost; Verheij, Jelle (eds.). Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870-1915. BRILL. p. 148. ISBN 978-90-04-22518-3.
  6. Diyarbekir Vilayeti | Tarih ve Medeniyet
  7. Gaunt, David. Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia during World War I. Piscataway, N.J.: Gorgias Press, 2006, p. 433.
  • Hakan Özoğlu, "Kurdish Notables and the Ottoman State" SUNY, 2004


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