Sanjak of Kyustendil

{{Short description|Administrative division of the Ottoman Empire}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}

{{Infobox former subdivision

|_noautocat =

|native_name =

|conventional_long_name = Sanjak of Kyustendil

|common_name = Kyustendil

|subdivision = Sanjak

|nation = the Ottoman Empire

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|capital = Kyustendil

|latd= |latm= |latNS= |longd= |longm= |longEW=

|national_motto =

|national_anthem =

|political_subdiv =

|today =

|year_start = 1395

|year_end = 1878

|event_start =

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|image_flag = Ottoman Flag.svg

|image_border =

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|image_coat = Osmanli-nisani.svg

|symbol_type =

|symbol =

|image_map = SDUK - Turkey I. Containing the Northern Provinces.jpg

|image_map_caption = The Sanjak of Ghiustendil (Kyustendil) in 1829.

|p1 = Principality of Velbazhd

|flag_p1 = Zegligovic Coat of Arms.png

|border_p1 =

|image_p1 =

|s1 = Sanjak of Monastir

|flag_s1 = Ottoman Flag.svg

|s2 = Sanjak of Salonica

|flag_s2 = Ottoman Flag.svg

|stat_year1 =

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}}

File:Pirgova Tower Kyustendil Bulgaria TB.jpg.]]

The Sanjak of Kyustendil was an Ottoman administrative-territorial unit that existed from 1395 to 1878. It included the former lands of Konstantin Dragash - Province of the Dejanović family.{{Cn|date=September 2022}}

The Kyustendil Sanjak provided the largest number of Sipahi for the Ottoman army of all European Sanjaks, except Rumelia.{{Cn|date=September 2022}} In its lands is the Rila Monastery and the town of Veles, North Macedonia.{{Cn|date=September 2022}}

A very interesting fact is that there is a preserved document according to which in Kyustendil in 1570 there was a professional chess player.[http://macedonia.kroraina.com/hm3/hm_2_4.htm THE KYUSTENDIL SANJAK IN THE XV-XVI CENTURY, p. 148]

The Kyustendil Pasha was the first to be mirmiran in the Ottoman Empire because of the glorious military history of the city with the Battle of Velbazhd and because of Konstantin Dragash, who is the grandfather of the last Roman emperor (Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos) and at the same time the great-great-grandfather of the first Russian tsar (Ivan the Terrible).{{cite book |title= Енциклопедичен речник Кюстендил, стр. 337 |year= 1988 |publisher= БАН.}}