TRENDEAtlas of the Sultans · Cities
Today: Turkey
Bitlis came under Ottoman rule in 1514; it remained an Ottoman city until the end of the empire.
On the return from the Chaldiran campaign, through the efforts of Idris-i Bitlisi, the local lords of Bitlis declared their allegiance to the Ottomans.
Sultan: Selim IIn the First World War the city was under Russian occupation from 1 March to 8 August 1916.
Sultan: Mehmed VHow the total is counted: years of actual Ottoman rule are added up. Temporary occupations shorter than a year (that were reversed) are not subtracted; they appear as notes in the chronology.
On the atlas map the city lies in the region “Diyarbakır–Van–Urfa”. Map colours work at region level, so the city's own dates may differ from the region's by a few years.
Open the map in 1514Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, “BİTLİS” (Turkish); text written for the atlas.