Rumelia Eyalet

Eyalet of Rumelia
Eyalet-i Rumeli
1365–1867
The Rumelia Eyalet in 1609
The Rumelia Eyalet in 1609
StatusEyalet of the Ottoman Empire
CapitalEdirne (1362–1530)
Sofia (1530–1836)
Monastir (1836–1867)
41°1′N 21°20′E / 41.017°N 21.333°E / 41.017; 21.333
History 
• Established
1365
• Disestablished
1867
Area
1844[1]124,630 km2 (48,120 sq mi)
Population
• 1844[1]
2,700,000
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Byzantine Empire
Second Bulgarian Empire
Despotate of Serbia
Despotate of Dobruja
Lordship of Prilep
Gazaria (Genoese colonies)
Principality of Theodoro
Kingdom of Bosnia
League of Lezhe
Venetian Albania
Latinokratia
Kingdom of Hungary
Eyalet of the Archipelago
Kefe Eyalet
Bosnia Eyalet
Ioannina Eyalet
Principality of Serbia
Salonica Eyalet
Adrianople Eyalet
Silistra Eyalet
Niš Eyalet
Vidin Eyalet
Habsburg Monarchy

The Eyalet of Rumeli, or Eyalet of Rumelia (Ottoman Turkish: ایالت روم ایلی, romanizedEyālet-i Rūm-ėli),[2] known as the Beylerbeylik of Rumeli until 1591,[3] was a first-level province (beylerbeylik or eyalet) of the Ottoman Empire encompassing most of the Balkans ("Rumelia"). For most of its history, it was the largest and most important province of the Empire, containing key cities such as Edirne, Yanina (Ioannina), Sofia, Filibe (Plovdiv), Manastır/Monastir (Bitola), Üsküp (Skopje), and the major seaport of Selânik/Salonica (Thessaloniki). It was also among the oldest Ottoman eyalets, lasting more than 500 years with several territorial restructurings over the long course of its existence.

The capital was in Adrianople (Edirne), Sofia, and finally Monastir (Bitola). Its reported area in an 1862 almanac was 48,119 square miles (124,630 km2).[4]

  1. ^ The Encyclopædia Britannica, or, Dictionary of arts, sciences ..., Volume 19. 1859. p. 464.
  2. ^ "Some Provinces of the Ottoman Empire". Geonames.de. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference EI2-eyalet was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ The Popular encyclopedia: or, conversations lexicon, Volume 6, p. 698, at Google Books