vilayet
Noun
Meaning
One of the chief administrative divisions or provinces of the Ottoman Empire; -- formerly called eyalet.
Source: Webster's dictionarySynonyms
Examples
In 1905, the city had 32,000 inhabitants, making it the largest of the vilayet, although closely followed by Prizren with its 30,000 inhabitants.
The British understanding was that "Damascus" meant the vilayet and not the city of Damascus, and accordingly virtually all of Palestine was excluded from Arab control.