Early classical antiquity
Main article: Classical Anatolia
See also: Phrygia, Lydia, Lycia, Caria, Urartu, Achaemenid Empire,
and Hellenistic period
Lycian Way is a 760 kilometers (470 mi) long hiking
path in Southwestern Turkey.[70]
Around 750 BC, Phrygia had been established, with its two centers
in Gordium and modern-day Kayseri.[71] Phrygians spoke an Indo-European
language, which was closer to Greek than Anatolian languages.
[62]
Phrygians shared Anatolia with Neo-Hittites and Urartu. Luwian-speakers
were probably the majority in various Anatolian Neo-Hittite states.
[72]
Urartians spoke a non-Indo-European language and their capital was
around Lake Van.[73][71] Urartu and Phrygia fell in seventh century BC.[71]
[74]
They were replaced by Carians, Lycians and Lydians.[74] These three
cultures "can be considered a reassertion of the ancient, indigenous culture
of the Hattian cities of Anatolia".[74]
Before 1200 BC, there were four Greek-speaking settlements in Anatolia,
including Miletus.[75] Around 1000 BC, Greeks started migrating to the west
coast of Anatolia. These eastern Greek settlements played a vital role in
shaping the Archaic Greek civilization;[71]
[76]
important cities included Miletus, Ephesus, Halicarnassus, Smyrna (now İ
zmir) and Byzantium (now Istanbul), the latter founded by colonists
from Megara in the seventh century BCE.[77] These settlements were
grouped as Aeolis, Ionia, and Doris, after the specific Greek groups that
settled them.[78][79] Further Greek colonization in Anatolia was led by Miletus
and Megara in 750–480 BC.[80] The Greek cities along the Aegean
prospered with trade, and saw remarkable scientific and scholarly
accomplishments.[81] Thales and Anaximander from Miletus founded
the Ionian School of philosophy, thereby laying the foundations
of rationalism and Western philosophy.[82]
The Library of Celsus in Ephesus was built by
the Romans in 114–117.[83]
Cyrus attacked eastern Anatolia in 547 BC, and Achaemenid
Empire eventually expanded into western Anatolia.[74] In the east,
the Armenian province was part of the Achaemenid Empire.[71] Following
the Greco-Persian Wars, the Greek city-states of the Anatolian Aegean
coast regained independence, but most of the interior stayed part of the
Achaemenid Empire.[74] Two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World,
the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus,
were located in Anatolia.[84]
Following the victories of Alexander in 334 BC and 333 BC, the
Achaemenid Empire collapsed and Anatolia became part of
the Macedonian Empire.[74] This led to increasing cultural homogeneity
and Hellenization of the Anatolian interior,[85][86][87] which met resistance in
some places.[88] Following Alexander's death, the Seleucids ruled large parts
of Anatolia, while native Anatolian states emerged in the Marmara and
Black Sea areas. In eastern Anatolia, the kingdom of Armenia appeared. In
third century BC, Celts invaded central Anatolia and continued as a major
ethnic group in the area for around 200 years. They were known as
the Galatians.[89]
Rome and Byzantine Empire
Main articles: Classical Anatolia and Byzantine Anatolia
See also: Roman Republic, Roman Empire, Christianity in Turkey,
and Byzantine Empire
The Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire in 555
under Justinian the Great, at its greatest extent
When Pergamon requested assistance in its conflict with the
Seleucids, Rome intervened in Anatolia in the second century BC. Without
an heir, Pergamum's king left the kingdom to Rome, which was annexed
as province of Asia. Roman influence grew in Anatolia afterwards.
[90]
Following Asiatic Vespers massacre, and Mithridatic Wars with Pontus,
Rome emerged victorious. Around the 1st century BC, Rome expanded into
parts of Pontus and Bithynia, while turning rest of Anatolian states into
Roman satellites.[91] Several conflicts with Parthians ensued, with peace and
wars alternating.[92]
According to Acts of the Apostles, early Christian Church had significant
growth in Anatolia because of St Paul's efforts. Letters from St. Paul in
Anatolia comprise the oldest Christian literature.[93] Under Roman
authority, ecumenical councils such as Council of Nicaea (Iznik) in 325
served as a guide for developing "orthodox expressions of basic Christian
teachings".[94]
The Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (now Istanbul)
was built by the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian the Great in 532–537.[95]
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was
the continuation of the Roman Empire centered
in Constantinople during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The eastern
half of the Empire survived the conditions that caused the fall of the West in
the 5th century AD, and continued to exist until the fall of Constantinople to
the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire
remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in
the Mediterranean world. The term Byzantine Empire was only coined
following the empire's demise; its citizens referred to the polity as the
"Roman Empire" and to themselves as Romans. Due to the imperial seat's
move from Rome to Byzantium, the adoption of Christianity as the state
religion, and the predominance of Greek instead of Latin, modern historians
continue to make a distinction between the earlier Roman Empire and the
later Byzantine Empire.[citation needed]
In the early Byzantine Empire period, the Anatolian coastal areas were
Greek speaking. In addition to natives, interior Anatolia had diverse groups
such as Goths, Celts, Persians and Jews. Interior Anatolia had been
"heavily Hellenized".[96] Anatolian languages eventually became extinct
after Hellenization of Anatolia.[97]
Seljuks and Anatolian beyliks
Main articles: Seljuk Empire, Sultanate of Rum, and Anatolian beyliks
Further information: Turkic migration, Oghuz Turks, and Turkification
1090
GHAZNAVID
EMPIRE
KIPCHAKS
PECHENEGS
FATIMID
CALIPHATE
UYUNIDS
GEORGIA
BYZANTINE
EMPIRE
RUM
◁▷
YADAVAS
KARAKHANID KHANATE
class=notpageimage|
Seljuk Empire circa 1090, during the reign of Malik Shah I. To the west, Anatolia was
under the independent rule of Suleiman ibn Qutalmish as the Sultanate of Rum.
According to historians and linguists, the Proto-Turkic language originated
in Central-East Asia.[98] Initially, Proto-Turkic speakers were potentially both
hunter-gatherers and farmers; they later became nomadic pastoralists.
[99]
Early and medieval Turkic groups exhibited a wide range of both East
Asian and West-Eurasian physical appearances and genetic origins, in part
through long-term contact with neighboring peoples such
as Iranic, Mongolic, Tocharian, Uralic, and Yeniseian peoples.[100] During the
9th and 10th centuries CE, the Oghuz were a Turkic group that lived in
the Caspian and Aral steppes.[101] Partly due to pressure from the Kipchaks,
the Oghuz migrated into Iran and Transoxiana.[101] They mixed with Iranic-
speaking groups in the area and converted to Islam.[101] Oghuz Turks were
also known as Turkmen or Turkoman.[102][101]
A map of independent Turkish
principalities in Anatolia during the 14th century
The ruling family of the Seljuks originated from the Kınık branch of the
Oghuz Turks.[103] In 1040, the Seljuks defeated the Ghaznavids at the Battle
of Dandanaqan and established the Seljuk Empire in Greater Khorasan.
[104]
Baghdad, the Abbasid Caliphate's capital and center of the Islamic
world, was taken by Seljuks in 1055.[102] Given the role Khurasani traditions
played in art, culture, and political traditions in the empire, the Seljuk period
is described as a mixture of "Turkish, Persian and Islamic influences".[105] In
the latter half of the 11th century, the Seljuk Turks began penetrating
into medieval Armenia and Anatolia.[102] At the time, Anatolia was a diverse
and largely Greek-speaking region after previously being Hellenized.[106][107][96]
The Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert in
1071, and later established the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum.[108] During this
period, there were also Turkish principalities such as Danishmendids.
[109]
Seljuk arrival started the Turkification process in Anatolia;[107][110] there
were Turkic/Turkish migrations, intermarriages, and conversions into Islam.
[111][112]
The shift took several centuries and happened gradually.[113]
[114]
Members of Islamic mysticism orders, such as Mevlevi Order, played a
role in the Islamization of the diverse people of Anatolia.[115][116] Seljuk
expansion was one of the reasons for the Crusades.[117] In 13th century,
there was a second significant wave of Turkic migration, as people
fled Mongol expansion.[118][119] Seljuk sultanate was defeated by the Mongols
at the Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243 and disappeared by the beginning of the
14th century. It was replaced by various Turkish principalities.[18][120]
