The Sanjak of Kavala (Ottoman Turkish: Sancak-i/Liva-i Kavala; Greek: λιβάς/σαντζάκι Καβάλας) was a second-level Ottoman province (sanjak or liva) encompassing the region around the port town of Kavala (now in Greece) in eastern Macedonia.

Sanjak of Kavala
Ottoman Turkish: Liva-i Kavala
Sanjak of the Ottoman Empire
before 1588–ca. 1864
CapitalKavala
History 
• Established
before 1588
• Disestablished
ca. 1864
Today part ofGreece

History

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The town probably fell into Ottoman hands ca. 1383, shortly after the fall of Serres.[1] In the 15th century, the region of Kavala was known for its cereal and silk production, but chiefly for its silver mines.[1]

The sanjak is attested by Leunclavius in 1588, and again in the seventh volume of Evliya Çelebi's travel books as a province of the Eyalet of the Archipelago, but in the fifth volume of the same work simply as a captaincy of the Sanjak of Gallipoli.[2] At the time of Evliya Çelebi's visit, it comprised 12 ziamets and 235 timars and was subdivided into seven kazas.[1]

In the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century, Drama was a sanjak of the Rumeli Eyalet;[2] its revenue was usually granted to the pasha of Salonica, who governed the sanjak through a fiscal agent (mütesellim).[1] With the administrative reforms of 1864, the sanjak was abolished and incorporated in the Sanjak of Drama, part of the Salonica Vilayet. Drama remained the centre of a kaza in the new province.[1][2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Beldiceanu-Steinherr & Giannopoulos (1978), pp. 776–777
  2. ^ a b c Birken (1976), pp. 56, 106

Sources

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  • Birken, Andreas [in German] (1976). Die Provinzen des Osmanischen Reiches [The Provinces of the Ottoman Empire]. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, 13 (in German). Reichert. ISBN 3-920153-56-1.
  • Beldiceanu-Steinherr, I. & Giannopoulos, J. G. (1978). "Ḳawāla". In van Donzel, E.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. & Bosworth, C. E. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume IV: Iran–Kha. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 776–777. OCLC 758278456.