Maraş

Maraş is a southern Anatolian settlement that was organized during the Ottoman period both as an independent ahkâm eyalet and as a sancak connected to the Halep eyalet, and where Kurdish tribes were highly active. In sources, it is mentioned both as one of the western borders of Kurdish expansion and as an independent administrative unit in Ottoman archive records.

In an account based on Cevdet Paşa, it is stated that Kurds are among the ancient nations of Iran and spread from Şiraz in Iran to Maraş and Malatya in Anatolia; thus, Maraş is depicted as one of the westernmost points of Kurdish geography (Cilt 4, s. 64). In Islamic period geography and travel books, Maraş is also counted among the cities and centers of the Şam region discussed by authors like El-Umerî, along with places such as Adana, Antakya, Antep, Hısnü'l-Ekrad (Cilt 2, s. 71).

In the Ottoman administrative structure, Maraş was one of the units for which ahkâm defters were kept according to eyalets; separate ahkâm defters were prepared for Maraş along with Adana, Diyarbekir, Erzurum, Halep, and Karaman (Cilt 3, s. 31). In firmans sent to the governors of Maraş, Halep, and Diyarbekir on 1131/1719, the issue of the settlement of Kurdish tribes was addressed (Cilt 3, s. 13). In the 18th century, the state was in an effort to settle large Kurdish tribes such as Zilan, Bisyan, Bociyan, Mili, Badıllı, Şeyh Bızıni, and Rişvan; it remained in conflict for a long time with tribes unwilling to submit to central authority, and Maraş was among the eyalets to which these orders were sent (Cilt 3, s. 31).

In orders sent to the Maraş and Adana eyalets, problems related to the Rişvan Ekradı (Rişvan Kürtleri) tribe were recorded, and it was also stated that the Karnatlıs from the Ekrad tribe residing in the Kars-ı Zülkadriye kaza engaged in looting activities on 1180/1766 (Cilt 3, s. 31). Halep ahkâm defters contain provisions regarding kazas such as Andırın, Elbistan, Pazarcık (Cilt 3, s. 32); Pazarcık is also mentioned separately in sources (Cilt 4, s. 105). The Aksu nehri flowing within the Maraş Sancağı originates north of the Behisni kaza of Mamüretülaziz, passes through Maraş, and flows into the Ceyhan Nehri (Cilt 4, s. 104).

In administrative boundary descriptions, the south and southeast of Mamüretülaziz Vilayeti are shown surrounded by the Urfa and Maraş sancaks, which were connected to the Halep Vilayeti (Cilt 4, s. 100). When describing the era of Yavuz Sultan Selim, the phrase "Kürdistan, Maraş havalisi, Mısır kıtası were directly annexed to the Ottoman eyalets" was used (Cilt 4, s. 161). In terms of language, it is recorded that while Arabic and Turkish were spoken in the center of Halep, Kurdish was spoken among Kurdish tribes in the Urfa and Maraş regions (Cilt 4, s. 132); the Halep Salnamesi also states that some tribes in the Halep, Urfa, and Maraş sancaks spoke Kurdish (Cilt 4, s. 264).

During the I. Dünya Savaşı period, the Maraş region also became a center for muhacir settlement. Turkish, Kurdish, Çerkez, and Arab refugees from the Van, Bitlis, and Erzurum regions were settled in the Maraş region, and this situation was the subject of telegrams sent to the Dâhiliye Nezareti signed by Maraş Mutasarrıfı Kemal (Cilt 3, s. 130).