# Danube vilayet

The Vilayet of the Danube or Danubian Vilayet (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت طونه, romanized: Vilâyet-i Tuna; Bulgarian: Дунавска област, Dunavska(ta) oblast, more commonly Дунавски вилает, Danube Vilayet) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire from 1864 to 1878. In the late 19th century it reportedly had an area of 34,120 square miles (88,400 km$^2$).
The vilayet was created from the northern parts of Silistra Province along the Danube River and eyalets of Niš, Vidin and Silistra. This vilayet was meant to become a model province, showcasing all the progress achieved by the Porte through the modernising Tanzimat reforms. Other vilayets modelled on the vilayet of the Danube were ultimately established throughout the empire by 1876, with the exception of the Arabian Peninsula and the by then semi-independent Egypt. Rusçuk, today Ruse in Bulgaria, was chosen as the capital of the vilayet due to its position as a key Ottoman port on the Danube.
The province disappeared after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, when its north-eastern part (Northern Dobruja) was incorporated into Romania, some of its western territories into Serbia, while the central and southern regions made up most of the autonomous Principality of Bulgaria and a part of Eastern Rumelia.

## Borders and administrative divisions

Upon its establishment in 1864, the Danube Vilayet included the following sanjaks:
* Sanjak of Tulcea
* Sanjak of Varna
* Sanjak of Ruse
* Sanjak of Tărnovo
* Sanjak of Vidin
* Sanjak of Sofia
* Sanjak of Niš
In 1868, the Sanjak of Niš was detached and made part of the Prizren Vilayet.
In 1876, the Sanjak of Niš and the Sanjak of Sofia were spun off into the short-lived Sofia Vilayet but were subsequently annexed to the Vilayets of Adrianople and Kosovo Vilayets only a year later, in 1877.

## Government

Midhat Pasha was the first governor of the vilayet (1864–1868). During his time as a governor, steamship lines were established on the Danube River; the Ruse-Varna railroad was completed; agricultural credit cooperatives providing farmers with low-interest loans were introduced; tax incentives were also offered to encourage new industrial enterprises.
The first official vilayet newspaper in the Ottoman Empire, Tuna/Dunav, was published in both Ottoman Turkish and Bulgarian and had both Ottoman and Bulgarian editors. Its editors in chief included Ismail Kemal and Ahmed Midhat Efendi.
The vilayet had an Administrative Assembly that included state officials appointed by the Ottoman government as well as six representatives (three Muslims and three non-Muslims) elected from among the inhabitants of the province. Non-Muslims also participated in the provincial criminal and commercial courts that were based on a secular code of law and justice. Mixed Muslim-Christian schools were also introduced, but this reform was abolished after it was met by strong opposition by the populace.

## Governors

Governors of the Vilayet:
* Hafiz Ahmed Midhat Shefik Pasha (October 1864 - March 1868)
* Mehmed Sabri Pasha (March 1868 - December 1868)
* Arnavud Mehmed Akif Pasha (February 1869 - October 1870)
* Kücük ömer Fevzi Pasha (October 1870 - October 1871)
* Ahmed Rasim Pasha (October 1871 - June 1872)
* Ahmed Hamdi Pasha (June 1872 - April 1873)
* Abdurrahman Nureddin Pasha (April 1873 - April 1874)
* Mehmed Asim Pasha (April 1874 - September 1876)
* Halil Rifat Pasha (October 1876 - February 1877)
* Oman Mazhar Ahmed (1876–1877)

## Demographics

In 1865, 658,600 (40.51%) Muslims and 967,058 (59.49%) non-Muslims, including females, were living in the province (excluding Niş sanjak); some 569,868 (34.68%) Muslims, apart from the immigrants and 1.073.496 (65,32%) non-Muslims in 1859–1860. Some 250000-300000 Muslim immigrants from Crimea and Caucasus had been settled in this region from 1855 to 1864.
Male population of the Danube Vilayet (exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš) in 1865 according to Kuyûd-ı Atîk (the Danube Vilayet printing press):
Ethnoconfessional Groups in the Danube Vilayet as per 1865 Population Register
Ethnoconfessional Groups in the Danube Vilayet as per the 1865 Population Register :
| Community | Rusçuk Sanjak | Vidin Sanjak | Varna Sanjak | Tırnova Sanjak | Tulça Sanjak | Sofya Sanjak | Danube Vilayet |
| Islam Millet | 138,017 (61%) | 14,835 (13%) | 38,230 (74%) | 77,539 (40%) | 38,479 (65%) | 20,612 (12%) | 327,712 (40%) |
| Muslim Roma | 312 (0%) | 245 (0%) | 118 (0%) | 128 (0%) | 19 (0%) | 766 (0%) | 1,588 (0%) |
| Bulgar Millet | 85,268 (38%) | 93,613 (80%) | 9,553 (18%) | 113,213 (59%) | 12,961 (22%) | 142,410 (86%) | 457,018 (56%) |
| Ullah Millet | 0 (0%) | 7,446 (6%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 7,446 (1%) |
| Ermeni Millet | 926 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 368 (1%) | 0 (0%) | 5,720 (10%) | 0 (0%) | 7,014 (1%) |
| Rum Millet | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 2,639 (5%) | 0 (0%) | 2,215 (4%) | 0 (0%) | 4,908 (1%) |
| Non-Muslim Romani people | 145 (0%) | 130 (0%) | 999 (2%) | 1,455 (1%) | 92 (0%) | 786 (0%) | 3,607 (0%) |
| Yahudi Millet | 1,101 (0%) | 630 (1%) | 14 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (0%) | 1,790 (1%) | 3,536 (0%) |
| TOTAL | 225,769 (100%) | 116,899 (100%) | 51,975 (100%) | 192,335 (100%) | 59,487 (100%) | 166,364 (100%) | 812,829 (100%) |
Male Muslim & Non-Muslim population in the Danube Vilayet according to the Ottoman Salname for 1868:
Male Muslim & Non-Muslim Population in the Danube Vilayet as per the 1868 Ottoman Salname :
| Sanjak | Muslims | Muslims | Non-Muslims | Non-Muslims | Total |
| Sanjak | Number | % | Number | % | Total |
| Rusçuk | 138,692 | 59.14% | 95,834 | 40.86% | 234,526 |
| Varna | 58,689 | 73.86% | 20,769 | 26.14% | 79.458 |
| Vidin | 25,338 | 16.90% | 124,567 | 83.10% | 149,905 |
| Sofya | 24,410 | 14.23% | 147,095 | 85.77% | 171,505 |
| Tirnova | 71,645 | 40.73% | 104,273 | 59.27% | 175,918 |
| Tulça | 39,133 | 68.58% | 17,929 | 41.42% | 57,062 |
| Niş | 54,510 | 35.18% | 100,425 | 64.82% | 154,935 |
| Grand Total | 412,417 | 40.30% | 610,892 | 59.70% | 1,023,309 |
Male Population of the Danube Vilayet (exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš) in 1866-1873 according to the editor of the Danube newspaper Ismail Kemal:
Male Population of the Danube Vilayet$^1$ in 1873 :
| Community | Population |
| Muslims | 481,798 (42%) |
| —Established Muslims | 392,369 (34%) |
| —Muslim settlers | 64,398 (6%) |
| —Muslim Roma | 25,031 (2%) |
| Christians | 646,215 (57%) |
| —Bulgarians | 592,573 (52%) |
| —Greeks | 7,655 (1%) |
| —Armenians | 2,128 (0%) |
| —Catholics | 3,556 (0%) |
| —other Christians | 40,303 (4%) |
| Non-Muslims Romani people | 7,663 (1%) |
| Jews | 5,375 (0%) |
| TOTAL Danube Vilayet | 1,141,051 (100%) |
| $^1$ Exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš. ||
Male Population of the Danube Vilayet (exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš) in 1868 according to Kemal Karpat:
| Group | Population |
| Christian Bulgarians | 490.467 |
| Muslims | 359.907 |
According to the 1874 census, there were 963596 (42,22%) Muslims and 1318506 (57,78%) non-Muslims in the Danube Province excluding Nış sanjak. Together with the sanjak of Nish the population consisted of 1055650 (40,68%) Muslims and 1539278 (59,32%) non-Muslims in 1874. Muslims were the majority in the sanjaks of Rusçuk, Varna and Tulça, while the non-Muslims were in majority in the rest of the sanjaks.
Ethnoconfessional Groups in the Danube Vilayet as per 1873-74 Vilayet Census
Total population of the Danube Vilayet by ethnoconfessional group according to French orientalist Ubicini on the basis of the official Ottoman Census of the Danube Vilayet of 1873-1874 (exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš) , then part of the Prizren Vilayet:
Ethnoconfessional Groups in the Danube Vilayet$^1$ as per the 1873-74 Census :
| Community | Number | Percentage |
| Muslims | 963,596 | 42.28% |
| —Established Muslims | 784,731 | 34.44% |
| —Circassian Muhacir | 128,796 | 5.65% |
| —Muslim Romani | 50.069 | 2.19% |
| Christians | 1,303,944 | 57.23% |
| —Bulgar millet | 1,185,146 | 52.02% |
| —Rum millet | 15,310 | 0.67% |
| —Ermeni millet | 450 | 0.02% |
| —Roman Catholics | 7,112 | 0.31% |
| —Christian Romani | 15,524 | 0.68% |
| —Miscellaneous Christians$^2$ | 80,402 | 3.53% |
| Yahudi millet | 10,752 | 0.48% |
| GRAND TOTAL | 2,278,290 | 100% |
| $^1$ Exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš. $^2$ Vlachs, Lipovans, Cossacks, Germans, etc., mostly in Sanjak of Tulça. |||
Male Population of the Danube Vilayet (exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš) in 1875 according to Tahrir-i Cedid (the Danube Vilayet printing press):
Ethnoconfessional Groups in the Danube Vilayet as per 1875 Ottoman Salname
Male Population of the Danube Vilayet (exclusive of the Sanjak of Niš) in 1875 :
| Community | Rusçuk Sanjak | Vidin Sanjak | Varna Sanjak | Tırnova Sanjak | Tulça Sanjak | Sofya Sanjak | Danube Vilayet |
| Islam Millet | 164,455 (53%) | 20,492 (11%) | 52,742 (61%) | 88,445 (36%) | 53,059 (61%) | 27,001 (13%) | 406,194 (36%) |
| Circassian Muhacir | 16,588 (5%) | 6,522 (4%) | 4,307 (5%) | 0 (0%) | 2,954 (3%) | 202 (0%) | 30,573 (3%) |
| Muslim Roma | 9,579 (3%) | 2,783 (2%) | 2,825 (3%) | 6,545 (3%) | 139 (0%) | 2,964 (1%) | 24,835 (2%) |
| Bulgar Millet | 114,792 (37%) | 131,279 (73%) | 21,261 (25%) | 148,713 (60%) | 10,553 (12%) | 179,202 (84%) | 605,800 (54%) |
| Vlachs, Catholics, etc. | 500 (0%) | 14,690 (8%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 15,512 (18%) | 0 (0%) | 30,702 (3%) |
| Ermeni Millet | 991 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 808 (1%) | 0 (0%) | 3,885 (4%) | 0 (0%) | 5,684 (1%) |
| Rum Millet | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 3,421 (4%) | 494 (0%) | 217 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 4,132 (0%) |
| Non-Muslims Romani people | 1,790 (1%) | 2,048 (1%) | 331 (0%) | 1,697 (1%) | 356 (0%) | 1,437 (1%) | 7,659 (1%) |
| Yahudi Millet | 1,102 (0%) | 1,009 (1%) | 110 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 780 (1%) | 2,374 (1%) | 5,375 (0%) |
| TOTAL | 309,797 (100%) | 178,823 (100%) | 85,805 (100%) | 245,894 (100%) | 87,455 (100%) | 213,180 (100%) | 1,120,954 (100%) |
Total population of the Danube Vilayet according to Russian diplomat Vladimir Cherkassky from the Ottoman population register:
Total Population of the Danube Vilayet according to Cherkassky from the register, ca. 1876: :
| Sanjak | Muslims | Muslims | Bulgarians | Bulgarians | Others | Others | Total |
| Sanjak | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Total |
| Rusçuk | 381,224 | 61.53% | 233,164 | 37.63% | 5,186 | 0.84% | 619,574 |
| Vidin | 59,654 | 17.66% | 246,654 | 73.04% | 31,398 | 9.30% | 337,706 |
| Tirnova | 189,980 | 38.71% | 300,820 | 61.29% | 0 | - | 490,800 |
| Tulça | 112,300 | 63.34% | 26,212 | 14.78% | 38,788 | 21.88% | 177,300 |
| Varna | 119,754 | 69.78% | 43,180 | 25.16% | 8,678 | 5.06% | 171,612 |
| Sofya | 59,930 | 14.02% | 362,714 | 84.87% | 4,748 | 1.11% | 427,392 |
| Niş | 77,500 | 21.63% | 270,000 | 75.36% | 10,800 | 3.01% | 358,300 |
| Danube Vilayet Total | 1,000,342 | 38.73% | 1,482,744 | 57.41% | 99,598 | 3.86% | 2,582,684 |
Male population of the Danube Vilayet in 1876 according to the Ottoman officer Stanislas Saint Clair:
| Community | Population |
| Turk Muslims | 457,018 (36%) |
| Other Muslims | 104,639 (8%) |
| Bulgarian Christians | 639,813 (50%) |
| Armenian Christians | 2,128 (0%) |
| Vlach and Greek Christians | 56,647 (4%) |
| Gypsies | 8,220 (1%) |
| Jews | 5,847 (0%) |
| TOTAL Danube Vilayet | 1,274,282 (100%) |
Total population of the Danube Vilayet (including Niş and Sofia sanjaks) according to the 1876 edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica:
| Group | Population |
| Bulgarians | 1,500,000 (63%) |
| Turks | 500,000 (21%) |
| Tatars | 100,000 (4%) |
| Circassians | 90,000 (4%) |
| Albanians | 70,000 (3%) |
| Romanians | 40,000 (2%) |
| Gypsies | 25,000 (1%) |
| Russians | 10,000 (0%) |
| Armenians | 10,000 (0%) |
| Jews | 10,000 (0%) |
| Greeks | 8,000 (0%) |
| Serbs | 5,000 (0%) |
| Germans, Italians, Arabs and others | 1,000 (0%) |
| TOTAL Danube Vilayet | 2,369,000 (100%) |
Total Population of the Danube Vilayet (excluding Niş sanjak) in 1876 estimated by the French counsel Aubaret from the register:
| Community | Population |
| Muslims | 1,120,000 (48%) |
| incl. Turks | 774,000 (33%) |
| incl. Circassians | 200,000 (8%) |
| incl. Tatars | 110,000 (5%) |
| incl. Gypsies | 35,000 (1%) |
| Non-Muslims | 1,233,500 (52%) |
| incl. Bulgarians | 1,130,000 (48%) |
| incl. Gypsies | 12,000 (1%) |
| incl. Greeks | 12,000 (1%) |
| incl. Jews | 12,000 (1%) |
| incl. Armenians | 2,500 (0%) |
| incl. Vlachs and others | 65,000 (3%) |
| TOTAL Danube Vilayet | 2,353,000 (100%) |