The Province of Temeşvar (Ottoman Turkish: ;ایالت طمشوار Eyālet-i Tımışvār)[2] was a first-level administrative unit (eyalet) of the Ottoman Empire. It existed from 1552 to 1716. Provincial administration was centered in Temeşvar (today's Timișoara) from 1552 to 1659, and again from 1693 to 1716. During the 1659-1693 interval, its second capital was Yanova (today's Ineu), and within that period, it was also known as the Province of Yanova. The province was located in the Banat region of Central Europe. Besides Banat, it also included southern parts of the Crișana region, north of the Mureș River. Its territory is now divided between Hungary, Romania, and Serbia.[3][4][5]
Names
The name of the province in Ottoman Turkish was Eyâlet-i Temeşvar or Eyâlet-i Tımışvar (in Modern Turkish: Temeşvar Eyaleti or Tamışvar Eyaleti), in Hungarian was Temesvári vilajet, in Romanian was Eialetul Timișoarei or Pașalâcul Timișoara, in Serbian was Темишварски ејалет or Temišvarski ejalet. The province was named after its administrative seat, Temeşvar. The Turkish name Temeşvar is given after the Hungarian one, Temesvár meaning "Castle on the Temes" (River).
History
Upon the initial dissolution of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom in the summer of 1551, much of its territories, including the Temes County and the surrounding regions, were integrated into the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary, thus provoking the reaction of the Ottoman Empire, that invaded the region in the autumn of the same year, taking several cities, but not being able to conquer Temeşvar.[6]
The Eyalet of Temeşvar was formed in 1552, when the Hungarian castle of Temesvár defended by the troop of István Losonczy was finally captured by the Ottoman troops led by Kara Ahmed Pasha on July 26, 1552.[7]
The Eyalet was led by a vali (governor) or beylerbey (sometimes with position of pasha or vizir), whose residence was at the former Hunyadi Castle in Temeşvar (1552-1659 and 1693-1716), and also in Yanova (1659-1693).[1]
Sanjaks of Güle, Yanova and Fenlak, and northern parts of the Çanad and Lipva sanjaks were transferred to Habsburg Monarchy after signing of the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699).
The eyalet consisted of five sanjaks between 1700 and 1701:[12]
^ abSadık Müfit Bilge, "Macaristan'da Osmanlı Hakimiyetinin ve İdarî Teşkilatının Kuruluşu ve Gelişmesi", Ankara Üniversitesi Osmanlı Tarihi Araştırma ve Uygulama Merkezi Dergisi (OTAM), Sayı: 11 Sayfa: 033-081, 2000, p. 59.(in Turkish)
Hegyi, Klára (2000). "The Ottoman Network of Fortresses in Hungary". Ottomans, Hungarians, and Habsburgs in Central Europe: The Military Confines in the Era of Ottoman Conquest. Leden-Boston-Köln: Brill. pp. 163–193.