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A Brief History of Istanbul
A Brief History of Istanbul
Asian Istanbul was inhabited as early as 1600BC. In the seventh century BC, Greek colonists led by King Byzas established Byzantium after consulting an oracle at Delphi. He was told to settle across from the “land of the blind ones.” After finding the hill now occupied by Topkapi Palace, giving outstanding views of the Bosphorus and Sea of Marmara, he concluded other settlers must be blind to have missed it.
In 324AD, Emperor Constantine the Great made Byzantium the capital of the Roman Empire and changed the name to Constantinople. There were frequent attacks on the city and in 532, during the reign of Justinian I, anti-government riots destroyed the city.
It was rebuilt, but suffered further assaults by Persians, Arabs and members of the Fourth Crusade who wanted to capture the city for its location as a trading route. Finally, the Ottoman Turks led by Sultan Mehmet II conquered Constantinople in 1453.
The city became the third and last capital of the Ottoman Empire. By the mid-1500s, Constantinople, with a population of almost half a million, was a major cultural, political, and commercial center. Ottoman rule continued until it was defeated in World War I, when the city was occupied by allied troops.
The 1980s and 1990s saw a series of political upheavals and military coups. In 1998, an earthquake killed thousands in the Marmara region and threatened to destroy Istanbul’s tourism industry. The city rose again and it now has a population of 12 million and growing.
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