The Vilayet of Diyâr-ı Bekr (, , ) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire, wholly located within what is now modern Turkey. The vilayet extended south from Palu on the Euphrates to Mardin and Nusaybin on the edge of the Mesopotamian plain. The accuracy of the population figures ranges from "approximate" to "merely conjectural" depending on the region from which they were gathered. In 1867 or 1868 Mamuret-ul-Aziz and the Kurdistan Eyalet merged with and joined the Vilayet of Diyarbakir. In 1879–80 Mamuret-ul-Aziz was separated again from the Vilayet of Diyarbakir, and turned into the Vilayet of Mamuret-ul-Aziz.

Administrative divisions

thumb|right|250px|Map of subdivisions of Diyarbekir Vilayet in 1907

Sanjaks of the vilayet:

  1. Diyarbekir Sanjak (Diyarbakır, Lice, Silvan, Derik, Beşiri)
  2. Mardin Sanjak (Mardin, Cizre, Midyat, Savur, Nusaybin and maybe Silopi)
  3. Ergani Sanjak (Maden, Palu)
  4. Siverek Sanjak (Split from Diyarbekir in 1907) (Siverek, Çermik, Viranşehir)

Demographics

The Vilayet was a place in which the Christian population was systematically massacred during World War I during the 1915 genocide in Diyarbekir.

{|class="wikitable"

|-

|+ <!-- -->

|-

! Denomination

! Prewar population

! Postwar population

! Disappeared

|-

|Armenian Apostolic Church

|60,000

|2,000

|58,000 (97%)

|-

|Armenian Catholic Church

|12,500

|1,000

|11,500 (92%)

|-

|Chaldean Catholic Church

|11,120

|1,110

|10,010 (90%)

|-

|Syriac Catholic Church

|5,600

|2,150

|3,450 (62%)

|-

|Syriac Orthodox Church

|84,725

|24,000

|60,725 (72%)

|-

|Protestantism

|725

|225

|500 (69%)

|-

|Total

|174,670

|30,485

|144,185 (83%)

|}

See also

  • Massacres of Diyarbakır (1895)
  • 1915 genocide in Diyarbekir
  • Six Vilayets

References

  • Hakan Özoğlu, "Kurdish Notables and the Ottoman State" SUNY, 2004