Sharezoor eyalet relations with baghdad and basra eyalets 1564-1779

A historical-documentary study

Abstract

Sharezoor Eyalet, before its establishment within the Ottoman Empire, was an administrative division within the Eyalet of Lorestan, later Baghdad Eyalet. The latter was established by Sultan Suleiman al-Qanuni (the Lawgiver) after 1533 under a military campaign entitled the Two Iraq's Campaigns. Under his leadership, Sharezoor Eyalet was recognized as an independent Eyalet. Therefore, Sharezoor Eyalet had various relationships with other Ottoman Eyalets. For instance, Baghdad Eyalet had a significant financial, military, and administrative impact on Sharezoor Eyalet due to the high authority that the Ottoman Empire had given to the governors of Baghdad who were governing as ministers. Nevertheless, being a significant center of the Muslim World for centuries, Baghdad had influenced the thoughts and culture of most Oriental nations. This hegemony played its role in ending Sharezoor Eyalet. It also had a role in building the relationship between Sharezoor Eyalet and Basra Eyalet. During the internal conflicts of Basra Eyalet, the fighters of Sharezoor Eyalet had a crucial role in calming down the rebels of Basra Eyalet, especially during the second half of the sixteenth century as well as other events until 1779. This study seeks to answer the main question of how Baghdad, as a new governance center in the Ottoman Empire, exercised geographical, political, administrative, and military hegemony over its surrounding Eyalet; such as Sharezoor Eyalet as well as over the majority of Southern Kurdistan population. Indeed, this hegemony is still practiced. Over the past five centuries, Baghdad has constantly tried to maintain its hegemony over Kurdistan under different names and methods. It also tries to find the role of Sharezoor Eyalet in defusing the internal events of Basra eyalet. This study provides an open scientific answer to the relations of Sharezoor Eyalet with other eyalets such as Baghdad and Basra.