History of Istanbul
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The History of Istanbul explains the historical development of the city Istanbul, which inhabitation of the region dates back to prehistorical times.
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[edit] From the prehistorical period to the foundation of Byzantion
The first human settlement in Istanbul, the Fikirtepe mound on the Anatolian side, is from the Chalcolithic period, with artifacts dating from 5500-3500 BC. In nearby Kadıköy (Chalcedon), a large port settlement dating from the Phoenicians has been discovered. Cape Moda in Chalcedon was also the first location which the Greek settlers from Megara chose to colonize, in 685 BC, a few years before they colonized Byzantion on the other (European) side of the Bosphorus, under the command of King Byzas, in 667 BC. Byzantion was established on the site of an ancient port settlement named Lygos, which was founded by Thracian tribes between the 13th and 11th centuries BC, along with the neighbouring Semistra[1][2]. Plinius has also mentioned Lygos in his books of history. Only a few walls and substructures belonging to Lygos have survived to our date, near the Seraglio Point (Turkish: Sarayburnu), where the famous Topkapı Palace now stands. During the period of Byzantion, the Acropolis used to stand where Topkapı Palace stands today.
[edit] Byzantion (Byzantium)
Byzantion (Latin: Byzantium) was originally settled by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas. The city was established in the Sarayburnu area[3]. After siding with Pescennius Niger against the victorious Septimius Severus the city was besieged by Rome and suffered extensive damage in AD 196. Byzantium was rebuilt by the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus and quickly regained its previous prosperity, being temporarily renamed as Augusta Antonina by the emperor, in honor of his son.
[edit] Late Roman period and the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire
The location of Byzantium attracted Constantine the Great in 324 after a prophetic dream was said to have identified the location of the city; but the true reason behind this prophecy was probably Constantine's final victory over Licinius at the Battle of Chrysopolis (Üsküdar) on the Bosphorus, on September 18, 324, which ended the civil war between the Roman Co-Emperors, and brought an end to the final vestiges of the Tetrarchy system, during which Nicomedia (present-day İzmit, 100 km east of Istanbul) was the most senior Roman capital city. Byzantium (now renamed as Nova Roma which eventually became Constantinopolis, i.e. The City of Constantine) was officially proclaimed as the new capital of the Roman Empire six years later, in 330. Following the death of Theodosius I in 395 and the permanent partition of the Roman Empire between his two sons, Constantinople became the capital of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. The combination of imperialism and location would play an important role as the crossing point between two continents (Europe and Asia), and later a magnet for Africa and others as well, in terms of commerce, culture, diplomacy, and strategy. It was the center of the Greek world and for most of the Byzantine period, the largest city in Europe. It was captured and sacked by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and then re-captured by Nicaean forces under the command of Michael VIII Palaeologus in 1261. With the fall of Rome and the Western Roman Empire, the name of the city was changed to Constantinople and became the sole capital of what historians now call the Byzantine Empire. This empire was distinctly Greek in culture, and became the centre of Greek Orthodox Christianity after an earlier split with Rome, and was adorned with many magnificent churches, including Hagia Sophia, once the world's largest cathedral. The seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople, spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, remains.
[edit] Ottoman Empire
On 29 May 1453, Sultan Mehmet II “the Conqueror”, entered Constantinople after a 53–day siege during which his cannon had torn a huge hole in the Walls of Theodosius II. Istanbul became the third capital of the Ottoman Empire
[edit] Multi-ethnic way of living
The first century under the Ottoman rule brought extensive changes. The special conditions of the post 1453 period played a role in this development. The city which had lost its population in the Byzantine era opened for resettlement.
During this period three new districts added those of Byzantium. People from all over the empire moved to Istanbul, and Jews, Christians and Muslims lived together in a cosmopolitan society. People settled without regarding any ethnic separation. the new settlements produced districts which formed on the base of their ethnical roots. The district, to some extent was a continuation of rural characteristics. Center of the settlements were organized around a square containing coffee houses, the grocer, greengrocer and the butcher. This was different than the growing cities of the west. The social classes did not become the differentiation source. In every district the rich, the middle class and the poor lived close together. The base of the multi-ethnic way of living which was to become a trait of Istanbul was formed in this manner.
[edit] Foundations (vakifs)
The Grand Bazaar and Topkapı Palace were erected in the years following the Turkish conquest. Religious foundations were endowed to fund the building of mosques such as the Fatih and their associated schools and public baths. The city had to be repopulated by a mixture of force and encouragement.
Süleyman’s reign was a time of great artistic and architectural achievements. The architect Sinan designed many mosques and other great buildings in the city, while Ottoman arts of ceramics and calligraphy also flourished. Sufi orders which were so widespread in the Islamic world and who had many followers who had actively participated in the conquest of the city came to settle in the capital. During Ottoman times over 100 Tekkes were active in the city alone.
Many of these Tekkes survive to this day some in the form of mosques while others as museums such as the Jerrahi Tekke in Fatih, the Sunbul Effendi and Ramazan Effendi Mosque and Turbes also in Fatih, the Galata Mevlevihane in Beyoğlu, the Yahya Effendi Tekke in Beşiktaş, and the Bektashi Tekke in Kadıköy, which now serves Alevi Muslims as a Cem Evi.
[edit] Modernization
The city was modernized from the 1870s onwards with the building of bridges, the creation of a proper water system, the use of electric lights, and the introduction of streetcars and telephones.
 A street in Eyüp in 1890s |
 Old Galatasaray |
 Beyoğlu (Pera) |
 Tophane in 1890s |
[edit] Republic of Turkey
When the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the capital was moved from Istanbul to Ankara. The city's name Constantinople had remained, in the form Konstantiniyye, throughout the Ottoman period. Outside the Empire, it was often known as Stambul or Stamboul. There are various other names of Istanbul, used throughout history (Names of Istanbul). With the Turkish Post Codes Law of 1930, it was ordered that from then on only the name "Istanbul" would be used in official documents and letters.
In the early years of the republic, Istanbul was overlooked in favour of the new capital Ankara but, during the 1950s and 1960s, Istanbul underwent great structural change. The city's once numerous and prosperous Greek community, remnants of the city's Greek origins, dwindled in the aftermath of the 1955 Istanbul Pogrom with most Greeks in Turkey leaving their homes for Greece.
In the 1950s the government of Adnan Menderes sought to develop the country as a whole and new roads and factories were constructed throughout the city. Wide modern boulevards and large public squares were built in Istanbul, but some, unfortunately, were at the expense of demolishing many historical buildings.
During the 1970s the population of Istanbul began to increase rapidly as people from Anatolia started migrating to the city in order to find employment in the many new factories that were built in that period. This sudden sharp increase in the population caused a rapid rise in housing development (mostly of poor construction quality and shabby appearance) and many previously outlying villages became engulfed into the greater metropolis of Istanbul. Older Turks who have lived in Istanbul for over 30 or more years can still remember how areas such as large parts of Maltepe, Kartal, Pendik, and others were green fields when they were young. Other areas such as Tuzla were nothing more than sleepy villages.
