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Sinop

/ Administration / Governors-Mayors-Port Masters / Governors

Governors    EN
Author: İMAMOĞLU HUSEYIN VEHBI

*Assist. Assoc. Professor,  University of Sinop, Sinop, Turkey

Administratively, Sinop was initially attached to Canik Shire (Liva); after the declaration of Tanzimat, Sinop became a sanjak attached to the city of Kastamonu in 1846 and in 1924 became a city after being detached from Kastamonu [1]. Between the years 1846-1910, as a sanjak of the city of Kastamonu, Sinop had three districts named Sinop, Boyabat and İstefan (Ayancık) and three boroughs named Gerze, Durağan and Çiğli [2]. Since it was attached to Kastamonu, the information about Sinop during that period can be accessed from Kastamonu yearbooks. There are 21 yearbooks of the city of Kastamonu. The first of these was published in 1869 (Hijri 1286). The last one was published in 1903 (Hijri 1321). Yearbooks were published annually at first, after 1882, this tradition ended. Thus, 14 yearbooks were published regularly after the year 1869 when it was first published; the 15th yearbook was published in 1889, the 16th yearbook was published in 1892, the 17th was published in 1893, the 18th was published in 1894, the 19th was published in 1896, the 20th published in 1899 and the 21st was published in 1903.

Sinop became a sanjak of the city of Kastamonu with the city regulation of November 7, 1864 and it was ruled by governors. Sanjaks, which were ruled by a person named governor, each had separate lawbooks in cadastral record books of Ottoman Lawbooks [3]. According to 1864 City Regulation, cities were divided into sanjaks (shires) and sanjaks were divided into boroughs. According to the Regulation, district governors would rule the districts while district governors would be attached to governors [4]. However, with the “Province General Administration Regulation” issued on January 22, 1871 (29 Shawwal 1287), the governing structures of cities, sanjaks, districts and villages were redefined and their duties were established in detail. Thus, administrative councils similar to cities were formed with the leadership of governor in sanjaks which are sub-units of cities. Sanjak administrative council discussed and decided on issues about finance, public works, education, agriculture and trade. The council was presided by governor and it consisted of members who were representatives of officials in the city and also four chosen members [5].

There is not much information about Sinop governors before the 1869 Kastamonu city yearbooks were published. However, we do know that Köse Paşazâde Veliyüddin Pasha [6], was the governor in 1809 while Ömer Tufan Pasha succeeded him in 1851. The names and dates of duty of the governors between the years 1869-1910 can be ranked according to Kastamonu city yearbooks:

Tevfik Paşa 1869-1870

Mustafa Bey 1870-1873

Ahmet Tevfik Efendi 1873-1876

Ahmet Bey 1876-1878

Muhammet Şefik Bey 1878-1881

Muhammet Veysel Paşa 1881-1889

Faik Bey 1889-1892

Reşit Paşa 1892-1894

Fazlı Paşa 1894-1896

Bekir Sıtkı Paşa 1896-1899

Ömer Şevki Efendi 1899-1903

The governors that held Office until 1903 were found from the 21 yearbooks of the city of Kastamonu [7] but the governors after this date were not established accurately. However, there is the information that a governor named Ziya Bey was assigned as the governor of Aydın sanjak in 1909 [8].

 

[1] Tahir Sezen, Osmanlı Yer Adları (Alfabetik Sırayla), (Ankara: T.C. Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü Yayınları 2006), p. 449.

[2] Kastamonu Vilayet Salnamesi, (H. 1288-M. 1871), pp. 100–147

[3] Yusuf Halaçoğlu, XIV-XVII. Yüzyıllarda Osmanlılarda Devlet Teşkilâtı ve Sosyal Yapı, (Ankara: TTK 1998), pp. 83-84.

[4] Düstur, Cilt: I, 1. Tertip, pp. 608–624.

[5] İlber Ortaylı, Tanzimattan Cumhuriyete Yerel Yönetim Geleneği, (Ankara: Hil Yayın 1985), pp. 76-77.

[6] M. Süreyya, Sicill-i Osmanî, Cilt: V, p. 1663.

[7] Ahmet Cengiz, “Salnamelerde Sinop”, I. Uluslararası Karadeniz Kültür Kongresi 06-09 Ekim 2011, Sinop, Türkiye, pp. 169-170.

[8] Asaf Gökbel ve Hikmet Şölen, Aydın İli Tarihi: Eski Zamanlardan Yunan İşgaline Kadar, (İstanbul: Ahmet İhsan Matbaası 1936), p. 125.

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