THE BYZANTINES (334 BCE-1450)
Alexander the Great brought a Greek and Roman influence to the region when he showed up in 334 BCE. Alexander was on a quest to cross the old-world on horseback bringing terror and western ideologies to places from Afghanistan to Africa. Alexander decided that Anatolia wasn't worth his time so he divided it up and gave it to various generals and other kinds.
By the time Rome arrived the region was almost like Greece. Ancient Greek was spoken instead of Anatolian.
In 324, Constantine I, who I think looks a lot like Patrick Warburton realized that Rome was in trouble. They were under pressure from the Christians who were starting to become a thing at this point, and various European barbarians like the Vandals, Goths and Visigoths. Constantine was scrambling to find a suitable replacement for Rome, and he found Byzantium, a Roman city in Anatolia, a colony of Rome in modern day Turkey. Anatolia was a suitable replacement. It had a nice Mediterranean climate, similar to Italy's and they weren't under the threat of attack from various pelt-wearing nomads all the time. They were only under threat from various other groups in the area.
Constantine changed the name of Byzantium (which was previously called Lygos, then Augusta Antonina) to New Rome and the move was finalized.
Side Note: Byzantium got its name changed a lot more than the three times I previously mentioned. After Byzantium it was changed to Constantinople after Constantine, He Polis, the Kostantiniyye, then to Istanbul, then to Stamboul, then to Islambol and back to Istanbul.
At this point there weren't any Turkish people living in Turkey. The Anatolians weren't like the modern Turkish. The language and culture was different and obviously they weren't muslim (as that religion didn't exist yet).
Turkish people were originally from the Central Asian Steppe and Siberia. They traded with the chinese under the Gokturk banner and were mostly Buddhist and animist. Many modern ethnic groups have Turkish or part-Turkish ancestry like the Persians in modern Iran, Mongolians and the Jews of Eastern Europe. The Turks eventually ended up in Anatolia in the 600s, just in time to be converted by Mohammed and his followers.
The Turks were originally outsiders in Turkey, which seems odd, but they were. They didn't feel welcomed by the Byzantine Empire (the dominating superpower in the region). The Turks created the Seljuq Empire which was headed by ethnically Turkish people. They captured large swaths of land in Anatolia which pissed off the Byzantines. The Ottoman Empire was the natural continuation of the Seljuq Empire. It started around when the Seljuq Empire ended. The Ottomans were known around the known world for their military prowess and ability to conquer. They defeated the Byzantines, destroying their Empire except for a small holding in Constantinople. Finally in 1453, the Ottomans succeeded. They sacked Constantinople, nearly 1000 years after the barbarians sacked Rome.
The Turks Turkified Constantinople in to Kostantiniyye and their ruler Mehmed II sat upon the throne. This signified the start of Turkey's renaissance (which conveniently aligned with the rest of Europe's renaissance). If you want to learn more about this time period play Assassin's Creed: Revelations, which is set in Kostantiniyye in 1510.
Mehmed II (who had a pretty reasonably sized Turban) gave the throne up to his next of kin (with increasingly huge Turbans) eventually leading to Suleiman the Magnificent whose turban was frankly an insane size. It was a tradition that Ottoman Sultans had very interesting headwear.
Alexander the Great brought a Greek and Roman influence to the region when he showed up in 334 BCE. Alexander was on a quest to cross the old-world on horseback bringing terror and western ideologies to places from Afghanistan to Africa. Alexander decided that Anatolia wasn't worth his time so he divided it up and gave it to various generals and other kinds.
By the time Rome arrived the region was almost like Greece. Ancient Greek was spoken instead of Anatolian.
In 324, Constantine I, who I think looks a lot like Patrick Warburton realized that Rome was in trouble. They were under pressure from the Christians who were starting to become a thing at this point, and various European barbarians like the Vandals, Goths and Visigoths. Constantine was scrambling to find a suitable replacement for Rome, and he found Byzantium, a Roman city in Anatolia, a colony of Rome in modern day Turkey. Anatolia was a suitable replacement. It had a nice Mediterranean climate, similar to Italy's and they weren't under the threat of attack from various pelt-wearing nomads all the time. They were only under threat from various other groups in the area.
Constantine changed the name of Byzantium (which was previously called Lygos, then Augusta Antonina) to New Rome and the move was finalized.
Side Note: Byzantium got its name changed a lot more than the three times I previously mentioned. After Byzantium it was changed to Constantinople after Constantine, He Polis, the Kostantiniyye, then to Istanbul, then to Stamboul, then to Islambol and back to Istanbul.
At this point there weren't any Turkish people living in Turkey. The Anatolians weren't like the modern Turkish. The language and culture was different and obviously they weren't muslim (as that religion didn't exist yet).
Turkish people were originally from the Central Asian Steppe and Siberia. They traded with the chinese under the Gokturk banner and were mostly Buddhist and animist. Many modern ethnic groups have Turkish or part-Turkish ancestry like the Persians in modern Iran, Mongolians and the Jews of Eastern Europe. The Turks eventually ended up in Anatolia in the 600s, just in time to be converted by Mohammed and his followers.
The Turks were originally outsiders in Turkey, which seems odd, but they were. They didn't feel welcomed by the Byzantine Empire (the dominating superpower in the region). The Turks created the Seljuq Empire which was headed by ethnically Turkish people. They captured large swaths of land in Anatolia which pissed off the Byzantines. The Ottoman Empire was the natural continuation of the Seljuq Empire. It started around when the Seljuq Empire ended. The Ottomans were known around the known world for their military prowess and ability to conquer. They defeated the Byzantines, destroying their Empire except for a small holding in Constantinople. Finally in 1453, the Ottomans succeeded. They sacked Constantinople, nearly 1000 years after the barbarians sacked Rome.
The Turks Turkified Constantinople in to Kostantiniyye and their ruler Mehmed II sat upon the throne. This signified the start of Turkey's renaissance (which conveniently aligned with the rest of Europe's renaissance). If you want to learn more about this time period play Assassin's Creed: Revelations, which is set in Kostantiniyye in 1510.
Mehmed II (who had a pretty reasonably sized Turban) gave the throne up to his next of kin (with increasingly huge Turbans) eventually leading to Suleiman the Magnificent whose turban was frankly an insane size. It was a tradition that Ottoman Sultans had very interesting headwear.
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