Product Code Database
The Vilayet of the Danube or Danubian Vilayet (; Hathi Trust Digital Library - Holdings: Salname-yi Vilâyet-i Tuna , Dunavska(ta) oblast, ( info page on book at Martin Luther University) // CITED: p. 42 (PDF p. 44/338). more commonly Дунавски вилает, Danube Vilayet) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire from 1864 to 1878. In the late 19th century it reportedly had an area of . Europe by Éliseé Reclus, page 152
The vilayet was created from the northern parts of Silistra Province along the Danube River and eyalets of Niš, Vidin Eyalet and Silistra Eyalet. This vilayet was meant to become a model province, showcasing all the progress achieved by the Ottoman Porte through the modernising Tanzimat reforms. 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. 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.
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.
In 1868, the Sanjak of Niš was detached and made part of the Prizren Vilayet.
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 only a year later, in 1877.
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 Qemali and Ahmed Midhat Efendi.
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. Non-Muslims also participated in the provincial criminal and commercial courts that were based on a secular code of law and justice. Mixed Muslim-Christian schools were also introduced, but this reform was abolished after it was met by strong opposition by the populace.
Male population of the Danube Vilayet (exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš) in 1865 according to Kuyûd-ı Atîk (the Danube Vilayet printing press):
| + Ethnoconfessional Groups in the Danube Vilayet as per the 1865 Population Register | |||||||
| Islam Millet | |||||||
| Muslim Roma | |||||||
| Bulgar Millet | |||||||
| Ullah Millet | |||||||
| Armenians | |||||||
| Rum Millet | |||||||
| Non-Muslim Romani people | |||||||
| Jews | |||||||
Male Muslim & Non-Muslim population in the Danube Vilayet according to the Ottoman Salname for 1868:
| +Male Muslim & Non-Muslim Population in the Danube Vilayet as per the 1868 Ottoman Salname | |||||
| Rusçuk | 59.14% | 95,834 | 40.86% | ||
| Varna | 73.86% | 20,769 | 26.14% | ||
| Vidin | 25,338 | 16.90% | 124,567 | 83.10% | |
| Sofia | 24,410 | 14.23% | 147,095 | 85.77% | |
| Veliko Tarnovo | 71,645 | 40.73% | 104,273 | 59.27% | |
| Tulcea | 68.58% | 17,929 | 41.42% | ||
| Niş | 54,510 | 35.18% | 100,425 | 64.82% | |
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:Димитър Аркадиев. ИЗМЕНЕНИЯ В БРОЯ НА НАСЕЛЕНИЕТО ПО БЪЛГАРСКИТЕ ЗЕМИ В СЪСТАВА НА ОСМАНСКАТА ИМПЕРИЯ [5] National Statistical Institute
| +Male Population of the Danube Vilayet 1 in 1873 | ||||||
| Christians | ||||||
| —Bulgarians | ||||||
| —Greeks | —Armenians | —Catholics | —other Christians | Non-Muslims Romani people | Jews |
Male Population of the Danube Vilayet (exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš) in 1868 according to Kemal Karpat:
| Christian Bulgarians | 490.467 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tulcea, while the non-Muslims were in majority in the rest of the sanjaks.
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:
Male Population of the Danube Vilayet (exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš) in 1875 according to Tahrir-i Cedid (the Danube Vilayet printing press):
Total population of the Danube Vilayet according to Russian diplomat Vladimir Cherkassky from the Ottoman population register:
Male population of the Danube Vilayet in 1876 according to the Ottoman officer Stanislas Saint Clair:
Total population of the Danube Vilayet (including Niş and Sofia sanjaks) according to the 1876 edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica:
Total Population of the Danube Vilayet (excluding Niş sanjak) in 1876 estimated by the French counsel Aubaret from the register:
External links Categories: Vilayets Of The Ottoman Empire In Europe, Modern History Of Ukraine, Ottoman Period In The History Of Bulgaria, Ottoman Period In Romania, Ottoman Serbia, 1860s In The Ottoman Empire, 1870s In The Ottoman Empire, States And Territories Established In 1864, 1864 Establishments In The Ottoman Empire, 1878 Disestablishments In The Ottoman Empire
Navigation
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
