Page "Administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire" Paragraph 16

By 1500, the four central eyalets of the Empire, Rumelia, Anatolia, Rum and Karaman, were under direct rule.

Wallachia, Moldavia and the Khanate of the Crimea, territories which Mehmed II had brought under his suzerainty, remained in the control of native dynasties tributary to the Sultan.

So, too, did the Kingdom of Hungary after the battle of Mohács in 1526.

By 1609, according to the list of Ayn Ali, there were 32 eyalets.

Some of these, such as Tripoli, Cyprus or Tunis, were the spoils of conquest.

Others, however, were the products of administrative division.