Administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire

Main administrative units Provinces (eyalets or sanjaks) under the administration of a pasha were also called "pashaliks". The judicial area of responsibility of the kadi were known as kadiluk. Land tenure Feudal land tenure lands (or fiefs) in the Timar-system were known as timar, ziamet, hass. Based on status of the land holder, the fiefs were also known as sipahilık ("of the sipahi"), agaluk (, "of the agha"), etc. The yurtluk was a military district, known as ocaklik when becoming family property (hereditary), that the Ottoman Empire assigned to Kurdish beys. ==Initial organization (pre-1362)==

The initial organization dates back to the Ottoman beginnings as a Seljuk vassal state (Uç Beyligi) in central Anatolia. The Ottoman Empire over the years became an amalgamation of pre-existing polities, the Anatolian beyliks, brought under the sway of the ruling House of Osman. This extension was based on an already established administrative structure of the Seljuk system in which the hereditary rulers of these territories were known as beys. These beys (local leadership), which were not eliminated, continued to rule under the suzerainty of the Ottoman sultans. The term bey came to be applied not only to these former rulers but also to new governors appointed where the local leadership had been eliminated. The Ottoman Empire was, at first, subdivided into the sovereign's sanjak and other sanjaks entrusted to the Ottoman sultan's sons. Sanjaks were governed by sanjakbeys, military governors who received a flag or standard – a "sanjak" (the literal meaning) – from the sultan. As the Empire expanded into Europe, the need for an intermediate level of administration arose and, under the rule of Murad I (r. 1359–1389), a beylerbey ("bey of beys") or governor-general was appointed to oversee Rumelia, the European part of the empire. At the end of the 14th century, a beylerbeylik was also established for Anatolia, with his capital at Kütahya. He was always considered inferior in rank to the beylerbey of Rumelia, since large areas nominally under his control were given to the ruler's sons. Following the establishment of beylerbeyliks, sanjaks became second-order administrative divisions, although they continued to be of the first order in certain circumstances such as newly conquered areas that had yet to be assigned a beylerbey. In addition to their duties as governors-general, beylerbeys were the commanders of all troops in their province. Following the conquests between 1362 and 1400 of Murad I and his son Bayezid I, a need arose for the formal organisation of Ottoman territory. ==Administrative hierarchy==

First-level divisions There were two main eras of administrative organisation. The first was the initial organisation that evolved with the rise of the Empire and the second was the organisation after extensive administrative reforms of 1864. Eyalets (1362–1864) An eyalet (also pashalik or beylerbeylik) was the territory of office of a beylerbey, and was further subdivided in sanjaks. Toward the end of the 16th century, the beylerbeyliks began to be known as eyalets. The beylerbeyliks where the timar system was not applied, such as Habesh, Algers, Egypt, Baghdad, Basra and Lahsa, were more autonomous than the others. Instead of collecting provincial revenues through the timariot sipahis, the beylerbey transferred fixed annual sums to Istanbul, known as the salyane. in 1864, as part of the administrative reforms of the Tanzimat period that were being enacted throughout the empire. Unlike the previous eyalet system, the 1864 law established a hierarchy of administrative units: the vilayet, liva/sanjak (cf. Liwa (Arabic)), kaza and village council, to which the 1871 Vilayet Law added the nahiye. The 1864 law also specified the responsibilities of the governor (wali) of the vilayet and their councils. Midhat Pasha and Cevdet Pasha were particularly successful in applying the new law in the Vilayets of Danube and Aleppo, respectively. Second-level divisions (sanjaks) The provinces (eyalets, later vilayets) were divided into sanjaks (also called livas) governed by sanjakbeys (also called Mutesarrifs) and were further subdivided into timars (fiefs held by timariots), kadiluks (the area of responsibility of a judge, or Kadi) and (also ; larger timars). Third-level divisions Sanjaks were divided into kazas, along with other divisions. The position of kazas in the administrative hierarchy was clarified after 1839. ==Governors==

Beylerbey The Turkish word for governor-general is Beylerbey, meaning 'lord of lords'. In times of war, they would assemble under his standard and fight as a unit in the sultan's army. However, as a territorial governor, the Beylerbey now had wider responsibilities. He played the major role in allocating fiefs in his eyalet, and had a responsibility for maintaining order and dispensing justice. His household, like the sultan's in the capital, was the political centre of the eyalet. The barleycorn was known as arpa in Turkish, and the feudal system in Ottoman Empire employed the term Arpalik, or "barley-money", to refer to a second allowance made to officials to offset the costs of fodder for their horses (for covering the expenses of keeping a small unit of cavalry). ==See also==