A prosopographical study of the governors of Syria during the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II

After its conquest by the Ottomans, the Arab Province, which included Syria, was initially referred to as the Damascus Province. This region, which also encompassed Aleppo, consisted of fifteen sanjaks. Over time, the area underwent various administrative changes for different reasons. With the Tanzimat reforms, which aimed to bring innovations to provincial administration as in all other fields, Syria gained a new administrative structure. This study seeks to understand how the Tanzimat Reforms and its accompanying processes impacted this strategically important province. The lives, education, and factors influencing the administrative styles of thirteen governors who served in Syria as a governor during the reign of Abdulhamid II are examined. By focusing on their ethnic and family origins, as well as the type of education they received, an analysis is made to determine how successful these thirteen governors were in understanding the region. As an attempt at prosopography, the pieces of information obtained about the lives of these three people were compared and presented in various tables.