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 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 , ; ) 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 () 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 Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479) 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 (, chief admiral), and Gallipoli became the seat and capital province (, ) of the Archipelago, until the 18th century, when the moved his seat to Istanbul. By 1846, the of Gallipoli became part of the Eyalet of Adrianople, and after 1864, as part of the wide-ranging () reform , of the Adrianople Vilayet. 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 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. Gallipoli was a province center between 1922 and 1926 with districts of Gelibolu, Eceabat, Keşan (also included present districts  of İpsala and Enez as townships) and Şarköy before division between provinces of Çanakkale, Edirne and Tekirdağ. Administrative division. Originally 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 ("nahiyes") 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 "ziamets" and 85 "timars", 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 "kazas": 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.