Kastamonu Vilayet

ولايت کسطمونى‎ Vilâyet-i Kastamuni
Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire
← 1867–1922 →
Kastamonu Vilayet in 1895
Capital		Kastamonu
History
•	Established	1867
•	Disestablished	1922

The Vilayet of Kastamonu (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت کسطمونى, Vilâyet-i Kastamuni‎) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire, established in 1867 and abolished in 1922. At the beginning of the 20th century it reportedly had an area of 19,300 square miles (50,000 km²), while the preliminary results of the first Ottoman census of 1885 (published in 1908) gave the population as 1,009,460.^[1] The accuracy of the population figures ranges from "approximate" to "merely conjectural" depending on the region from which they were gathered.^[1]

History

In the 1920s, the region was described by the British G.W. Prothero as being mountainous and having a primarily Muslim population, while adding that the Vilayet was "the most backward in Anatolia" because "the peasants are generally content with raising the bare necessaries of life".^[2]

Economy

The vilayet was not known for large agricultural production, despite being described as having fertile ground in 1920. Most agricultural production is kept within the vilayet, being consumed by the population.^[2] What was produced, included wheat, barley, maize, chickpeas, gall, and valonia oak. A small amount of opium and cotton was also produced in the region. Silk production was active in the southern area on a small scale, as was livestock.^[3] The area used to mine lead and nickel.^[4][5]

Cloth was also being produced in the vilayet, made from wool and goat hair, which was mainly sold to locals. Sinop produced cotton cloth as well, with detailed embroidery. In the western part of the vilayet, rugs were produced. Sinop and Ineboli both were centers for boatbuilding.^[6]

Administrative divisions

Sanjaks of the Vilayet:^[7]

1. Sanjak of Kastamonu (Kastamonu, İnebolu, Safranbolu, Taşköprü, Daday, Cide, Tosya, Araç)
2. Sanjak of Kengiri (Çankiri, Çerkeş)
3. Sanjak of Sinob (Sinop, Boyabat, Ayancık)

• Sanjak of Bolu (Sanjak of Boli), now Bolu Province, was an independent sanjak within the borders of Kastamonu Vilayet.^[8] Localities within the sanjak: Bolu, Karadeniz Ereğli, Bartın, Gerede, Göynük, Akçakoca, Düzce, Devrek, Mudurnu.

References

1. Asia by A. H. Keane, page 459
2. Prothero, G.W. (1920). Anatolia. London: H.M. Stationery Office.
3. Prothero, G.W. (1920). Anatolia. London: H.M. Stationery Office.
4. Prothero, G.W. (1920). Anatolia. London: H.M. Stationery Office. p. 103.
5. Prothero, G.W. (1920). Anatolia. London: H.M. Stationery Office. p. 106.
6. Prothero, G.W. (1920). Anatolia. London: H.M. Stationery Office. p. 112.
7. Kastamonu Vilayeti | Tarih ve Medeniyet
8. Naval staff, Intelligence Department (Royal Navy) (1919). A handbook of Asia Minor 1. London. p. 226.

External links

•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Kastamuni". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• Media related to Vilayet of Kastamonu at Wikimedia Commons