Sanjak

Sanjaks (ˈsændʒæk; ; Modern Turkish: Sancak, sanˈdʒak) were administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire. Sanjak, and the variant spellings sandjak, sanjaq and sinjaq, are English or French transliterations of the Turkish word sancak, meaning "district", "banner" or "flag". Sanjaks were also called by the Arabic word for banner or flag: لواء liwa (Liwā or Liwā’). Ottoman provinces (eyalets, later vilayets) were divided into sanjaks (also called livas) governed by sanjakbeys (also called Mutesarriff) and were further subdivided into timars (fiefs held by timariots), kadiluks (the area of responsibility of a judge, or Kadı) and zeamets (also ziam; larger timars). In 1920s sanjaks was renamed to provinces (il). The unofficial, geo-cultural region of Sandžak in Serbia and Montenegro derives its name from the former Ottoman Sanjak of Novi Pazar. Liwa or liwā’ (لواء) is an Arabic word interchangeable with the Turkish sanjak. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century, the term liwa was used in the Arab countries formerly under Ottoman rule. It was gradually replaced by other terms like qadaa and mintaqah, and is now defunct. It is used occasionally in Syria to refer to the Hatay Province, ceded by the French mandate of Syria to Turkey in 1939, at which time the area was known as Liwa' Iskenderun. Administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire The first sanjaks appear to have been created by Orhan 1340 or earlier. These were Sultan-öyügü (later Sultan-önü), Hudavendigar-eli, Koca-eli and Karasi-eli. The districts which made up an eyalet were known as sanjaks, each under the command of a sanjak-bey. The number of sanjaks in each eyalet varied considerably. In 1609, Ayn Ali noted that Rumelia Eyalet had 24 sanjaks, but that six of these in the Peloponnesos had been detached to form the separate Morea Eyalet. Anatolia had 14 sanjaks and the Damascus Eyalet had 11. There were, in addition, several eyalets where there was no formal division into sanjaks.