Danube vilayet

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; French: Vilayet du Danube) 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]

Vilayet of the Danube ولايت طونه Vilâyet-i Tûna Bulgarian: Дунавска област
Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire
1864–1878
Flag
The Danube Vilayet in 1877
Capital	Rusçuk
Area
• Coordinates	43°0′N 25°0′E
Population
• 1864	1,995,000[1]
Government
Governor
• 1864-1868	Hafiz Ahmed Midhat Shefik Pasha
• 1876-1877	Oman Mazhar Ahmed
History
• Vilayet Law	1864
• Congress of Berlin	1878
Preceded by Succeeded by Nis Eyalet Vidin Eyalet Ozu Eyalet Principality of Bulgaria Principality of Serbia Kingdom of Romania Eastern Rumelia
Today part of	Romania Serbia Bulgaria

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]

• Hafiz Ahmed Midhat Shefik Pasha (October 1864 - March 1868)
• Mehmed Sabri Pasha (March 1868 - December 1868)
• Arnavud Mehmed Akif Pasha (February 1869 - October 1870)
• Kücük ömer Fevzi Pasha (October 1870 - October 1871)
• Ahmed Rasim Pasha (October 1871 - June 1872)
• Ahmed Hamdi Pasha (June 1872 - April 1873)
• Abdurrahman Nureddin Pasha (April 1873 - April 1874)
• Mehmed Asim Pasha (April 1874 - September 1876)
• Halil Rifat Pasha (October 1876 - February 1877)
• Oman Mazhar Ahmed (1876–1877)

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

1. Palairet, Michael R. (2003-11-13). The Balkan Economies c.1800-1914: Evolution without Development. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521522564.
2. Hathi Trust Digital Library - Holdings: Salname-yi Vilâyet-i Tuna
3. Strauss, Johann (2010). "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire: Translations of the Kanun-ı Esasi and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages". In Herzog, Christoph; Malek Sharif (eds.). The First Ottoman Experiment in Democracy. Wurzburg: Orient-Institut Istanbul. pp. 21–51. (info page on book at Martin Luther University) // CITED: p. 42 (PDF p. 44/338).
4. Rumelia at the Encyclopædia Britannica
5. Europe by Éliseé Reclus, page 152
6. Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire, p. 172, at Google Books By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters
7. Stanford Jay Shaw; Ezel Kural. Shaw (1977). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. Cambridge University Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-521-29166-8. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
8. Grandits, Hannes; Nathalie Clayer, Robert Pichler (2010). Conflicting Loyalties in the Balkans The Great Powers, the Ottoman Empire and Nation-building. Gardners Books. p. 309. ISBN 978-1-84885-477-2. Retrieved 5 May 2011. In 1868 the vilayet of Prizren was created with the sancaks of Prizren, Dibra, Skopje and Niš; it only existed till 1877
9. KOYUNCU, Aşkın. "Population And Demographics In The Danube Province (1864-1877)". www.turkishstudies.net. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
10. Indzhov, Emil (2017). "THE BULGARIANS AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN 50-60 YEARS AT THE XIX CENTURY" (PDF). Proceedings of the University of Ruse (in Bulgarian). 56 (6.2). - FRI-2.207-1-HEF-04
11. World Statesmen — Bulgaria
12. "Makale Takip Sistemi Mobile". Archived from the original on 2018-08-06. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
13. Karpat, K.H. (1985). Ottoman population, 1830-1914: demographic and social characteristics. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press.
14. KOYUNCU, Aşkın (January 2014). "Tuna Vilâyeti'nde Nüfus Ve Demografi (1864-1877)" [Population and Demography of the Danube Vilayet (1864-1877)]. Turkish Studies - International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic (in Turkish). 9 (4): 695. doi:10.7827/TurkishStudies.7023.
15. KOYUNCU, Aşkın (January 2014). "Tuna Vilâyeti'nde Nüfus Ve Demografi (1864-1877)" [Population and Demography of the Danube Vilayet (1864-1877)]. Turkish Studies - International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic (in Turkish). 9 (4): 697. doi:10.7827/TurkishStudies.7023.
16. Димитър Аркадиев. ИЗМЕНЕНИЯ В БРОЯ НА НАСЕЛЕНИЕТО ПО БЪЛГАРСКИТЕ ЗЕМИ В СЪСТАВА НА ОСМАНСКАТА ИМПЕРИЯ National Statistical Institute
17. Ubicini, Abdolonyme; de Courteille, Abel (1876), État Présent De L'empire Ottoman: Statistique, Gouvernement, Administration, Finances, Armée, Communautés Non Musulmanes, Etc., Etc. d'Apres Le Salnameh (Annuaire Imperial) Pour l'Annee 1293 de l'Hegire (1875-76) [Present State Of The Ottoman Empire: Statistics, Government, Administration, Finances, Army, Non-Muslim Communities, Etc., Etc. according to the Salnameh (Annual Imperial Register) for the Year 1293 of the Hegira (1875-76)], Dumaine, p. 91
18. KOYUNCU, Aşkın (January 2014). "Tuna Vilâyeti'nde Nüfus Ve Demografi (1864-1877)" [Population and Demography of the Danube Vilayet (1864-1877)]. Turkish Studies - International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic (in Turkish). 9 (4): 717. doi:10.7827/TurkishStudies.7023.
19. KOYUNCU, Aşkın (January 2014). "Tuna Vilâyeti'nde Nüfus Ve Demografi (1864-1877)" [Population and Demography of the Danube Vilayet (1864-1877)]. Turkish Studies - International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic (in Turkish). 9 (4): 725. doi:10.7827/TurkishStudies.7023.
20. Kellogg, Day Otis (1876). Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature. J.M. Stoddart. p. 462.
21. Suleiman, Yasir (2013-12-16). Language and Identity in the Middle East and North Africa. Routledge. p. 102. ISBN 9781136787843.
22. ENGİN DENİZ TANIR. THE MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY OTTOMAN BULGARIA FROM THE VIEWPOINTS OF THE FRENCH TRAVELERS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY. pp. 52–55. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2018-08-05.

External links

• Loi constitutive du département formé sous le nom de vilayet du Danube (in French). Ottoman Empire Imprimerie Centrale. 1865.