Antiquity The history of Gaziantep goes back to the Hittites.[citation needed] Gaziantep was ruled by Akkadians, Mitannis, Hittites, Neo-Hittites, Assyrians, Urartians, Babylonians, Persians, Macedonians, Parthians, Commagene, Romans, Byzantines, Sassanids, and Arabs. Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine[edit] Gaziantep is the probable site of the Hellenistic city of Antiochia ad Taurum ("Antiochia in the Taurus Mountains"). The ruins of the ancient city of Doliche (modern Turkish: Dülük) lie a few kilometers to the north of the city center. In the center of the city stands the Gaziantep Fortress and the Ravanda citadel, which were restored by the Byzantines in the 6th century. Muslim conquest[edit] In the first half of the 7th century, Arab armies of the Muslim Caliphate captured this region. It was passed to the Umayyads in 661 and the Abbasids in 750. During the period of Arab rule, it was ravaged several times by the Byzantines. After the disintegration of the Abbasid dynasty, the city was ruled successively by the Tulunids, the Ikhshidids and the Hamdanids. In 962, it was recaptured by the Byzantines (Eastern Romans). Seljuk conquest[edit] The Anatolian Seljukss took Aintab in 1067. They gave way to the Syrian Seljuks in 1086. Tutush I appointed Thoros of Edessa as governor of the region. It was captured by the Crusaders and united to the Maras Seigneurship in the County of Edessa in 1098. It reverted to the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm in 1150, controlled by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia between 1155--1157 and 1204--1206 and captured by the Zengids in 1172 and the Ayyubids in 1181. It was retaken by Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm in 1218. It was ruled by the Ilkhanate between 1260--1261, 1271--1272, 1280--1281 and 1299--1317 and by the Mamluks between 1261--1271, 1272--1280, 1281--1299, 1317--1341, 1353--1378, 1381--1389 and 1395-1516. It was also governed by the Dulkadirids, which was a Turkish vassal state of the Mamluks. Ottoman Period[edit] The Ottoman Empire captured Gaziantep after the Battle of Marj Dabiq in 1516, under the reign of Sultan Selim I. In the Ottoman period, Aintab was a sanjak centered initially in the Dulkadir Eyalet (1516-1818), and later in the Aleppo vilayet (1908--1918). It was also a kaza in the Aleppo vilayet (1818--1908). The city established itself as a centre for commerce due to its location straddling trade routes. The 17th century Turkish traveler Evliya Celebi noted that there were 3900 shops and 2 bedesten. By the end of the 19th century, Aintab had a population of about 45,000, 2/3 of which was Muslim, largely Yörük ("Turkmen") of the Çapanoğlu clan, but also Arabs and Kurds. Of the Christians, there was a large Armenian community. In the 19th century, there was considerable American Protestant Christian missionary activity in Aintab.[5][6] In particular, Central Turkey College was founded in 1874 by the American Mission Board and largely served the Armenian community. The Gregorian Armenians suffered from the massacres of 1895, but the Armenian Protestants thrived, drawn by Central Turkey College.[7] Central Turkey College was transferred to Aleppo in 1916. Republic of Turkey[edit] The Martyrs' monument commemorates the defense of the city and its hero Şahin Bey. Gaziantep was only a small city at the start of the republican period. However, it quickly became a regional hub and industry grew rapidly in the second half of the 20th century. This quick growth lead it to be designed as an "Anatolian tiger". #Gaziantep #travel #holiday #turkey #culture #kale #tourism #photo

• published: 31 Dec 2013
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