Sanjaks

Sanjaks, from the Turkish word sancak meaning banner, were administrative divisions used in the Ottoman Empire and in some of its successor states. The term also connotes a military district historically associated with a banner and troop levies. In Ottoman administration, the sanjak functioned as a recognizable geographic unit tied to governance, taxation, and military organization.

Traditionally, a sanjak was governed by a sanjakbey, an official appointed by the central government. The sanjak sat within a larger vilayet (province) or eyalet, and its authorities reported to the provincial governor. The jurisdiction typically encompassed towns, rural settlements, and the surrounding rural hinterland, and it played a key role in tax collection, local justice, and mobilization of troops. Subdivisions within a sanjak included kazas (districts) and nahiyes (sub-districts), forming a hierarchical administrative framework.

During much of the Ottoman period, sanjaks were widespread across the empire, with concentrations in the Balkan regions and Anatolia. Over time, the administrative framework evolved; in the Tanzimat era, the 19th-century Vilayet Law restructured governance so that vilayets (provinces) contained several sanjaks, which in turn governed kazas and other smaller units. This reform aimed to standardize administration, revenue, and military organization.

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the gradual replacement or redefinition of sanjaks as modern district and provincial structures emerged in Ottoman territory and its successor states. Today, sanjak is primarily a historical term associated with the Ottoman provincial system, though it remains used in some place names and historical references. The word also survives in the sense of a banner or flag in Turkic languages.