View source for Bitlis vilayet

{{Short description|First-level administrative division of the Ottoman Empire}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2010}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox Former Subdivision
|native_name = ولایت بتليس<br>Vilâyet-i Bitlis
|common_name            = Bitlis Vilayet
|subdivision            = [[Vilayet]]
|nation                 = the Ottoman Empire
|year_start             = 1875
|event_start            = 
|year_end               = 1923
|event_end              = Declaration of the Republic of Turkey
|date_start             = 
|date_end               = 
|p1                     = Erzurum Eyalet
|flag_p1                = 
|s1                     = Turkey
|flag_s1                = Flag of Turkey.svg
|image_flag             = 
|flag_type              = 
|image_coat             = 
|image_map              = CUINET(1892) 2.552 Bitlis Vilayet.jpg
|image_map_caption      = The Bitlis Vilayet in 1892
|capital                = [[Bitlis]]
|today                  = [[Turkey]]
<!--- Area and population of a given year --->
|stat_year1             = Muslim, 1914<ref name="1914-census">{{cite web|url=http://www.tsk.tr/8_TARIHTEN_KESITLER/8_1_Ermeni_Sorunu/konular/ermeni_faaliyetleri_pdf/Arsiv_Belgeleriyle_Ermeni_Faaliyetleri_Cilt_1.pdf |title=1914 Census Statistics |publisher=[[Turkish General Staff]] |pages=605–606 |access-date=29 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007185405/http://www.tsk.tr/8_TARIHTEN_KESITLER/8_1_Ermeni_Sorunu/konular/ermeni_faaliyetleri_pdf/Arsiv_Belgeleriyle_Ermeni_Faaliyetleri_Cilt_1.pdf |archive-date=7 October 2011  }}</ref>
|stat_area1             = 
|stat_pop1              = 309,999
|stat_year2             = Armenian, 1914<ref name="1914-census"/>
|stat_area2             = 
|stat_pop2              = 117,492
|footnotes              = 
{{Pie chart
|thumb = right
|caption = Ethnic groups in the Bitlis Vilayet based on [[1914 population statistics for the Ottoman Empire]]
|label1 = [[Muslim]]|color1 = Green
|value1 = 71
|label2 = [[Armenians|Armenian]]|color2 = Yellow
|value2 = 27
|label3 = Others|color3 = Brown
|value3 = 2
}}
}}
'''Bitlis Vilayet''' ({{langx|hy|Բիթլիսի վիլայեթ}} ''Bit'lisi vilayet' '', [[Ottoman Turkish language|Ottoman Turkish]]: ولایت بتليس ''Vilâyet-i Bitlis'') was a first-level administrative division ([[vilayet]]) of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Before the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)]] it had been part of the [[Erzurum Vilayet]], it was then made a separate vilayet by the [[Sublime Porte]].<ref name="enc-isl">{{Google books|rezD7rvuf9YC|page=715|First Encyclopaedia of Islam: 1913–1936}} By [[M. Th. Houtsma]]</ref> It was one of the [[six Armenian vilayets]] of the Empire.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Klein|first=Janet|title=Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870-1915|date=3 August 2012|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-22518-3|editor-last=Jongerden|editor-first=Joost|pages=148|language=en|editor-last2=Verheij|editor-first2=Jelle}}</ref>

At the beginning of the 20th century, Bitlis Vilayet reportedly had an area of {{convert|11522|sqmi|km2}}, while the preliminary results of the first Ottoman census of 1885 (published in 1908) gave the population as 388,625.<ref name="asia">[https://archive.org/stream/asiakeane00kean#page/460/mode/1up Asia] by [[A. H. Keane]], 1909, page 460</ref> The accuracy of the population figures ranges from "approximate" to "merely conjectural" depending on the region from which they were gathered.<ref name="asia"/>

''[[Bitlis Province|Bitlis]]'' and ''[[Muş Province|Muş]]'' were formerly included in the ''[[Eyalet of Erzurum]].'' In 1875, they were detached and made a separate vilayet. The sanjak of [[Siirt]] was joined to the vilayet of Bitlis from [[Diyarbekir Vilayet]] in 1883–84.<ref name=asoe>{{cite book|last=Krikorian|first=Mesrob K.|title=Armenians in the Service of the Ottoman Empire: 1860–1908|date=January 1977 |publisher=Routledge and Kegan Paul |isbn=9780710085641 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=do89AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA26}}</ref>

==Administrative divisions==
[[file:Bitlis Vilayet — Memalik-i Mahruse-i Shahane-ye Mahsus Mukemmel ve Mufassal Atlas (1907).jpg|thumb|right|250px|Map of subdivisions of Bitlis Vilayet in 1907]]
Sanjaks of Bitlis Vilayet:<ref name="enc-isl"/>
# Sanjak of Bitlis ([[Bitlis]], [[Ahlat]], [[Hizan]], [[Mutki]])
# Sanjak of Muş ([[Muş]], [[Bulanık]], [[Sason]], [[Malazgirt]], [[Varto]])
# Sanjak of Siirt ([[Siirt]], [[Eruh]], [[Pervari]], [[Şirvan, Turkey|Şirvan]], [[Kurtalan]])
# Sanjak of Genç ([[Genç, Bingöl|Genç]], [[Bingöl|Çapakçur]], [[Kulp, Turkey|Kulp]])

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Bitlis}}
* {{commons category-inline|Bitlis Vilayet}}

{{Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire|expanded = Vilayets}}
{{Six vilayets}}

[[Category:Bitlis vilayet| ]]
[[Category:Ottoman period in Armenia]]
[[Category:Vilayets of the Ottoman Empire in Anatolia]]
[[Category:History of Bitlis]]
[[Category:History of Bitlis Province]]
[[Category:History of Bingöl Province]]
[[Category:History of Siirt Province]]
[[Category:1875 establishments in the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:1923 disestablishments in Turkey]]


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