Rûm Eyalet

File:East Anatolian rug (detail), Şarkişla-Sivas region.jpg

East Anatolian rug (detail), from the Şarkişla-Sivas region. Made c. 1800.

The Eyalet of Rûm (Template:Langx; {{#invoke:Lang|lang}};<ref name=someprov>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> originally Arabic for Eastern Roman Empire), later named as the Eyalet of Sivas (Template:Langx; {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}),<ref name=someprov /> was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire in northern Anatolia, founded following Bayezid I's conquest of the area in the 1390s. The capital was the city of Tokat, which was then moved to Amasya and later to Sivas.Template:Citation needed Its reported area in the 19th century was Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Google books</ref>

Rûm was the old Seljuk Turkish designation for Anatolia, referring to the Eastern Roman Empire, and in European texts as late as the 19th century the word Rûm (or Roum) was used to denote the whole of central Anatolia, not just the smaller area comprising the Ottoman province (see Sultanate of Rum).Template:Citation needed

History

In the 14th century several autonomous towns (Amasya, Tokat, Sivas) were established, despite the continued Seljukid-Mongol rule in central Asia Minor.<ref name="otm-enc">Template:Google books By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters</ref>

When the Ilkhanid ruler Ebu Said died in 1335, administration of Asia Minor was entrusted to his former governor Eretna Bey, a Uyghur. Eretna Bey ultimately declared independence, seeking the protection of the Mamluks, who were rivals of the Ilkhanids.<ref name="otm-enc"/> He captured the area around Sivas-Kayseri, eventually establishing an emirate of Eretna, which grew stronger during the rule of his son, Mehmed Bey.<ref name="otm-enc"/>

In 1381 Kadı Burhaneddin a kadı in Kayseri who was also appointed vizier to represent the emirate of Eretna in that town, replaced the Eretnid as ruler of Sivas and also captured Amasya and Tokat.<ref name="otm-enc"/> His principality managed to resist interference in central Anatolia from both the Akkoyunlus and the Ottomans until it collapsed with his death in 1398.<ref name="otm-enc"/>

Administrative divisions

According to Evliya Çelebi, the eyalet of Sivas had the following sanjaks in the 17th century:<ref name="narratives">Template:Cite book</ref>

1. Sivas Sanjak (Sívás, Sivas)
2. Divriği Sanjak (Deverbegi, Divriği)
3. Çorum Sanjak (Khúrúm, Çorum)
4. Keskin Sanjak (Keskín, Keskin)
5. Bozok Sanjak (Buzúk, Yozgat)
6. Amasya Sanjak (Amasia, Amasya)
7. Tokat Sanjak (Tokát, Tokat)
8. Zila Sanjak (Zíla, Zile)
9. Canik Sanjak (Janík, Samsun)
10. Arabgir Sanjak (Arab-gír, Arapgir)

The eyalet of Sivas consisted of seven sanjaks between 1700 and 1740:<ref name="Kilic93">Orhan Kılıç, XVII. Yüzyılın İlk Yarısında Osmanlı Devleti'nin Eyalet ve Sancak Teşkilatlanması, Osmanlı, Cilt 6: Teşkilât, Yeni Türkiye Yayınları, Ankara, 1999, Template:ISBN, p. 93. Template:In lang</ref>

1. Sanjak of Sivas (Paşa Sancağı, Sivas)
2. Sanjak of Amasya (Amasya)
3. Sanjak of Janik (Canik Sancağı, Samsun)
4. Sanjak of Diwriji (Divriği Sancağı, Divriği)
5. Sanjak of Arabgir (Arabgir Sancağı, Arapgir)
6. Sanjak of Chorum (Çorum Sancağı, Çorum)
7. Sanjak of Bozok (Bozok Sancağı, Yozgat)