Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Seljuks
From about the 8th century, the nomadic Turks
moved ever-westward from Central Asia. They
encountered the Persians and converted to Islam
en route, swallowed parts of the Abbasid em-
pire and built their own empire centred on Per-
sia. The Turkish Seljuk clan began raiding Byz-
antine territory and, in 1071, faced down a Byz-
antine army at Manzikert. This laid Anatolia
open to wandering Turkic bands and began the
Byzantine Empire's demise.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, Crusader in-
cursions set the Seljuks back. The Crusaders es-
tablished short-lived statelets at Antioch
(modern-day Antakya) and Edessa (now Şan-
lıurfa), and sacked Constantinople, although the
Christian Byzantines were ostensibly their al-
lies. Meanwhile the Seljuk empire, riven by
power struggles, fragmented.
The Seljuk legacy persisted in the Sultanate
of Rum, centred on Konya. Celaleddin Rumi,
the Sufi mystic who inspired the Mevlevi
(whirling dervish) order, exemplified the
Seljuks' cultural and artistic achievements. Al-
though ethnically Turkish, they were purveyors
of Persian culture and art, introducing woollen
rugs and remarkable architecture to Anatolia.
Seljuk buildings were Anatolia's first truly Islamic art forms, and became the prototypes
for Ottoman art.
The warlike Mongols ended the Seljuk era and Anatolia fractured into a mosaic of
Turkish beyliks (principalities).
Dramatically
Located Ruins
1 İSHAK PAŞA PALACE ( CLICK HERE )
2 AKDAMAR KILISESI ( CLICK HERE )
3 NEMRUT DAĞI ( CLICK HERE )
4 SUMELA MONASTERY ( CLICK HERE )
5 BERGAMA ACROPOLIS ( CLICK HERE )
6 BASILICA CISTERN ( CLICK HERE )
Ottoman Beginnings
The Ottoman story begins modestly with the Turkish bey (tribal leader) Osman
(1258-1326), whose bands flitted around the borderlands between Byzantine and formerly
 
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