Sanjak of Gelibolu The Sanjak of Gelibolu or Gallipoli ( Ottoman Turkish : " Sancak - i / Liva - i Gelibolu " ) was a second - level Ottoman province ( " sanjak " or " liva " ) encompassing the Gallipoli Peninsula and a portion of southern Thrace . Gelibolu was the first Ottoman province in Europe , and for the over a century the main base of the Ottoman Navy . Thereafter , and until the 18th century , it served as the seat of the " Kapudan Pasha " and capital of the Eyalet of the Archipelago . History . Gallipoli ( from Greek Kallipolis ) was always a site of particular strategic importance , as it controlled the Dardanelles straits . Already under the Byzantine Empire , it served as a naval base . The Ottoman Turks first captured the strong fortress from the Byzantines in 1354 , along with other sites in the area , aided by an earthquake that collapsed their walls . Gallipoli secured the Ottomans a toehold in the Balkans , and became the seat of the chief Ottoman governor in Rumelia . The fortress was recaptured for Byzantium by the Savoyard Crusade in 1366 , but the beleaguered Byzantines were forced to hand it back in September 1376 . Gallipoli became the main crossing point for the Ottoman armies moving between Europe and Asia , protected by the Ottoman navy , which had its main base in the city . Sultan Bayezid I ( r . 1389 – 1402 ) refortified Gallipoli and strengthened its walls and harbour defences , but initially , the weak Ottoman fleet remained incapable of fully controlling passage of the Dardanelles , especially when confronted by the Venetians . As a result , during the First Ottoman – Venetian War the straits ' defences were strengthened by two new fortresses , and the Ottoman imperial arsenal was established in Istanbul itself . Gallipoli remained the main base of the Ottoman fleet until 1515 , when it was moved to Istanbul . After this it began to lose its military importance , but remained a major commercial centre as the most important crossing - point between Asia and Europe . From the second Ottoman conquest until 1533 , Gallipoli was a " sanjak " of the Rumelia Eyalet . In 1533 , the new Eyalet of the Archipelago , which included most of the coasts and islands of the Aegean Sea , was created for Hayreddin Barbarossa , the Ottoman Navy ' s " Kapudan Pasha " ( chief admiral ) , and Gallipoli became the seat and capital province ( " pasha - sanjak " ) of the Archipelago , until the 18th century , when the " Kapudan Pasha " moved his seat to Istanbul . By 1846 , the " sanjak " of Gallipoli became part of the Edirne Eyalet , and after 1864 , as part of the wide - ranging " vilayet " reform , of the Vilayet of Edirne . Parts of the province were occupied by Bulgarian troops in the First Balkan War , but where recovered by the Ottomans in the Second Balkan War . During the First World War , it was the scene of the Gallipoli Campaign . After the war , the " sanjak " was briefly ( 1920 – 1922 ) occupied by Greece according to the provisions of the Treaty of Sèvres , and became a Greek prefecture . Following the Greek defeat in the Greco - Turkish War of 1919 – 1922 , it returned to Turkey . Administrative division . The " sanjak " of Gallipoli included wide parts of southern Thrace , from Küçükçekmece on the outskirts of Istanbul to the mouths of the Strymon River , and initially even Galata and Izmid ( Nicomedia ) . According to a register of 1600 , its districts ( " nahiye s " ) were : Gelibolu and Evreşe , Lemnos , Tasoz ( Thasos ) , Miğal - kara ( Malkara ) and Harala , Abri , Keşan , Ipsala , and Gümülcine ( Komotini ) . The early 17th - century official Ayn - i Ali Efendi records that it contained 14 " ziamet s " and 85 " timar s " , while later in the same century the traveller Evliya Çelebi recorded 6 " ziamets " and 122 " timars " . With the " vilayet " reform of 1864 , the " sanjak " of Gallipoli comprised six " kaza s " : Gelibolu , Şarköy , Ferecik ( Feres ) , Keşan , Malkara and Enoz . With the detachment of the new Sanjak of Gümülcine in 1878 , the " sanjak " was reduced in extent , and by World War I contained only three " kazas " : Keşan , Mürefte and Şarköy .