Anatolia

Anatolia is that region lying to the south of the Black Sea, to the east of the Aegean Sea, north of the eastern Mediterranean Sea and, inland, the Fertile Crescent, and west of the Caucasus-Azerbaijani districts. A very roughly hewn upland region for the most part, it has been both a home and a highway for a bewildering variety of peoples for as long as there have been humans.

Presently this covers: Ainos, Akhlat, Amida, Antioch, Aram-Nahara'im, Aravelian, Armenia (Lesser), Arzawa, Arzinjan, Atarneus, Aydin, Baluni, Barbaron, Biai-Nili, Birecik, Bithynia, Byzantium, Caesaria (Kayseri), Cappadocia, Caria, Chamchwilde, Cilicia (incl. Armenia Minor), Commagene, Dardania, Dimakseani, Divrigi, Diyarbakr, Edessa, Ephesus, Erzerum, Galata, Galatia, Gallipoli, Gerger, Gordyene, Gurgum, Hanzith, Harran, Heraclea Pontica, Hilakku, Hisn Kayfa, Hittites, Ilium (Ilos, Wilusa), Izmir, Jandar, Kamsarakan, Kars, Kashka, Katpatuka, Kenuni, Khartpert, Khorkhoruni, Khoros, Kios, Kizzuwadna, Kolonae, Korduk, Kummuhu, Lampron, Lukka, Lycia, Lydia, Lyrnessos, Malatya, Manisa (Ancient), Manisa (Magnesia), Marash, Marida, Melitene, Milas, Miletus, Milid, the Moschii, Moxoene, Mysia, Nicaea, Osroene, the Ottoman Grand Viziers, the Ottoman Sultans, Pamphylia, Paphlagonia, Pergamum, Phrygia, Pontoiraklia, Pontus, Qaraman, Qaraman-Oghlu, Que, Raban, Rshtuniq, Sam'al, the Great Seljuqs and the Rum Seljuqs, Sinope, Sivas, Smyrna, Sophene (Tsopk), Tabal, Tarhuntassa, Taron, Tefrica, Tekke, Thracian Chersonessos, Trabizond, Troy, Urartu, Urfa, Vaspurakan, Xanthus, Yadiya, and Zeleia. 
ANATOLIA (General Survey) The following list will give a brief overview of Anatolian chronology from the earliest times to the present. It does not pretend to be complete in any sense; Anatolia is a very large area, and though there have been times, like the present, when it has been completely unified, there have also been many times when fragmented local nations were the rule. In such instances, I have either listed the most significant among local conditions, or simply indicated a general period of local conditions. Even during times of union with large empires, very often outlying districts were partially or completely autonomous; read Xenophon's Persian Expedition for an insight into conditions obtaining in the Anatolian highlands of the Persian Empire, during the winter of 401/400 BCE. The era from c. 1200 BCE to 546 BCE is characterized by four primary groups; the Kingdom of Phrygia (central), the Kingdom of Lydia (western), the People of the Sea (southern and southwest) , and Urartu (east).


OTTOMAN EMPIRE The ancestors of the Ottomans (Osmanli, Uthmanli) were Oghuz Turks who followed the victorious Seljuqs into Anatolia in the 11th century. The Ottoman state began as a Ghazi Kingdom based in old Bithynia, on the fringes of the Mongol dominated regions of central Anatolia. As Ilkhanate authority waned, Ottoman power grew and, successfully vanquishing other Ghazi domains, they became the new Power of the region. For any visiting this section from other pages in this archive, here is an express back to where you were before...

Achaea, Aegina, Aegion, Aetolia, Albania, Algeria, Andros, Arcadia, Armenia, Argos, Arta, Athens, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Chechnya, Corfu, Corinth, Cos, Crete, Cyprus, Dagestan, Delphi, Durres, Elea, Epirus, Euboea, Georgia, Greece, Hercegovina, Ioannina, Ipati, Israel, Jordan, Karystos, Lemnos, Lesbos, Libya, Macedonia, Maina, Megalopolis, Megara, Mesopotamia, Messinia, Milos, Moldavia, Moldova,Morea, Naxos, Pheres, Phokis, Phthia, Pylos, Rhodes, Salamis, Samos, Serbia, Sparta, The Sporades, Syria, Syros, Thebes, Thera, Thessalonika, Thessaly, Tinos-Mykonos, Troy, Tunisia, Vodonitsa, Wallachia.

Anatolian Provincial States...


AINOS (Ænus, Enez) Now a coastal village on the east bank of the estuary of the Meriç (Hebros) River, which forms the frontier between modern Turkey and Greece; formerly it was a strategically placed city-state which saw much transshipment of goods between Greece and Asia Minor.



AMIDA (Diyarbakir) An important town in southeastern Anatolia, about 60 miles north of the Syrian frontier.


ANTIOCH (Antakya) Located at the northeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea, at the point where the coast abruptly turns south towards Sinai. Founded in 300 BCE, it became the capital of the Seleucids. In later times, it continued to be a significant provincial city. See also, the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchs, the Jacobite Patriarchs , and the Melkite Patriarchs of Antioch.


ARAVELIAN A principality within the ancient Kingdom of Armenia, in northeastern Anatolia. It was largely autonomous between 400 and 800 CE.


ARMENIA MINOR (Lesser Armenia) Armenia west of the Euphrates; a Hellenized Armenian kingdom in eastern Anatolia, with  its center at Nicopolis. Note well! Do not confuse with the Mediaeval Armenian kingdom in Cilicia, which bore the same name.


ARZAWA An ancient state, located in western Anatolia. The exact location is unknown, but it was probably located in the vicinity of Ephesus. The populations was Luwian, and spoke an Indo-European language related to Hittite.


ATARNEUS An ephemeral Greek statelet in Asia Minor, centered around the polis of Assos in the Troad.


AYDIN A small Ghazi state in western Anatolia, on the Aegean coast near Smyrna (mod. Izmir).


BALUNI A principality of Armenia, in northeastern Anatolia, autonomous from around 400-800 CE


BIRECIK a town in southern Anatolia, on the Upper Euphrates about 10 miles (16 km.) from the Syrian frontier and 45 miles (72 km.) west of Urfa (Edessa).


BITHYNIA A people of Thracian origin, their pugnacity was legendary. They successfully repelled both Persian and Macedonian advances, but under a series of inept kings, they slowly fell under Roman sway. At a much later era, Bithynia was the heartland of Byzantine opposition to the Latin Empire in the 13th century (see Nicaea), and the cradle of Ottoman power, during the 14th century CE.


BYZANTIUM (Byzantion, Nova Roma, Constantinople, Istanbul) It may seem peculiar to provide a separate listing for the capital of both the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, but this city - one of the truly great cities of the world - is historically interesting in it's own right.


CAPPADOCIA Central Anatolia. With the Taurus Mountains astride its southern perimeter, Cappadocia was a bulwark of the Byzantine Empire's efforts to contain Islam, and a prime recruiting ground for the army until the Seljuq victory at Manzikert in 1071.


CARIA Extreme southwestern Anatolia, opposite the Isle of Rhodes. In ancient times, this place held one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the tomb of the eleventh listed ruler, which construction gave its name to all succeeding constructions of like nature: Mausoleum. Like many impoverished mountain countries, its best-known export in ancient times were its young men, as mercenaries. See also, Miletus.


CHAMCHWILDE An autonomous Armenian principality.


CILICIA The south coast of Anatolia northeast of Cyprus and northwest of Antioch. There are really two Cilicias; the east is a broad plain, quite fertile, while in the west the ramparts of the Taurus Mountains run right down to the sea, with the interior being quite rugged and underpopulated.


COMMAGENE A small territory in the interior of south Anatolia, not far from the city of Antioch.


CYZICUS (Artaki, Ertek) A city on the southern shore of the Sea of Marmara, nestled under the flank of the Kapidagi Peninsula, a rival at times to Byzantium, 75 miles (120 km.) northwest. It is perhaps best remembered as the site of the Temple of Hadrian (completed 168 CE), sometimes included as a Wonder of the Ancient World.


DARDANIA The region on the Asian side of the Hellespont, opposite Gallipoli and near the ancient site of Troy. Like the Trojans, the Dardanii were probably a mixture of Achaean, Luvian, and Hittite influences. According to Greek and Roman sources, Dardania was a client-state to Troy, whose royal family went on to build the foundations of Rome after their exile from Anatolia.


DIMAKSEANI An Armenian principality in northeastern Anatolia, autonomous roughly 400-800 CE.


EPHESUS Located on the western coast of Turkey near the modern city of Selcuk. The site has been almost continuously settled for the past 5000 years and was an early center of worship for Kybyle, the Anatolian mother-goddess who evolved into the Greek Artemis. A bustling commercial port in antiquity, the coastline has receded and it is now about 6 miles (10 km.) inland. Among its famous sites in ancient times were the great Temple of Artemis (Diana) at Ephesus (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World), the Library of Celsus (considered second only to that in Alexandria), the Basilica of St. John the Evangelist and a house reputed to be the home to which Mary retired after Jesus's crucifixion.


ERZERUM City in eastern Anatolia. Although its origins are obscure, the city was known in the 5th cent. A.D. as Theodosiopolis, an important Byzantine frontier fortress. The first Turkish Nationalist congress was held there in 1919. It is the site of Atatürk University.


GALATIA Central Anatolia, roughly the same area as occupied by the Phrygian Kingdom. In the3rd century BCE, the region was devastated by the migrational assault of three associated Celtic tribes (Tolistoboges, Tectosages and Trocmes), who moved in from central Europe via the Balkans. These tribes formed an immediate threat to every state in the region until they were defeated by Pergamum , and thereafter settled in the province which took their collective name, "Land of the Gauls".


GALLIPOLI The peninsula south of Istanbul, forming the northwestern side of the Hellespont.


GERGER (Ga(r)gar) a town in central Anatolia, on the Upper Euphrates 40 miles (64 km.) southeast of Malatya (Melitene). It comprised an ephemeral Armenian stronghold after the battle of Manzikert.


GORDYENE (Korduk) A late classical kingdom of mixed Armenian, Kurdish and Assyrian population, with a Hellenistic Armenian ruling class. It straddled the border between modern Turkey and Iran, north of Adiabene and south of Lake Van.


GRAND VIZIERS of the OTTOMAN EMPIRE (Pervane or Vizir-i-Azam) The Grand Viziers were the highest-ranking bureaucrats in the Ottoman Empire. They were the heads of the Sultan's divan, or council, and held meetings every four days to assess the state of the empire, pass legislation, and issue decrees (these meetings were only rarely attended by the Sultan). Except in rare cases of exceptionally strong-willed Sultans, the Grand Viziers were the true rulers of the Ottoman state (much as the Mayors of the Palace were the power behind the Frankish throne). Many of the Grand Viziers were commoners, and quite a few were of non-Turkish origin, a testement to the meritocratic nature of Ottoman society.