Turhal
Encyclopedia
Turhal is a town and a district of Tokat Province
in the Black Sea region of Turkey
. It is 48 km in the west of Tokat Province. Turhal is situated on a fertile plain fragmented by the Yeşil Irmak river. It has an elevation of approximately 530 m. The city is best known for its sugar beet processing plant established in 1934 as an important enterprise of the young Turkish Republic. The mayor is Ali Gözen (AKP
).
named Talaura on the way between today's Amasya
and Tokat
provinces. It is deducted from the tablets found in the region that Turhal had been inhabited as early as the third millennium BC and had relations as far as the Mesopotamian cultures such as Sumerians who had already invented an effective alphabet
.
The Persian invasion in Anatolia
during the 6th century BC made this region an important center influenced by the cult of Zoroastrianism
. The famous geographer of the antiquity
, Strabo
has, on various occasions, drawn up different accounts on the region describing Turhal as a fortress in the north of another ancient city named Gayyura.
In the 3rd century BCE, the region was occupied by the contingents of Alexander the Great's Macedonian
army, but many insurrections had also taken place in this era as the Macedonian occupiers couldn't build up a total control on the region.
After the collapse of Alexander's Empire (as Alexander died in 323 BCE
), the region was taken over by the Pontus
Kingdom founded on the Black Sea
coast who later had to retreat in the face of emerging Roman power in the whole Anatolia. The Pontus Kings from the Mithridates
descendance constructed an even more powerful fortress on a rocky hill in the center of the outer city whose remains are only two ruined towers and several tunnels today. The struggle between the two powers lasted for decades and ended up in an absolute defeat suffered by the Pontus Kingdom. Having captured the fortress, the Roman General Pompeius
destroyed it. In 395
, The Roman Empire
was divided into two independent states and thus, Turhal became a Byzantine
domain together with other eastern Roman provinces. Turhal was the site of the bishopric of Ibora which persists as a titular see
of the Roman Catholic Church
to this day.
During the Byzantine era, the region had undergone several raids from the Sassanids in the 4th and 5th centuries, later from the Muslim Arabs in the eighth century.
As the constant Turkish immigration to Anatolia and the emerging Seljuk power in the neighbouring east weakened the Byzantine rule in the region, the Turkish principality of Danishmend captured Turhal and its environs in 1068 but later ceded it to the Kingdom of Seljuk Turks (Selçuklular). In the 13th century, the whole region was invaded by the Ilkhan Emperors who extended their rule as a devastating wave from the Middle Asia
to Anatolia. In 1399, Turhal was taken over by the Ottomans who were uniting the Turkish principalities in Anatolia under their command. After a short invasion by Temur
, Turhal was taken over once more by the Ottomans in 1413.
The most significant change in the demographic
structure of Turhal occurred during the second half of the 19th century as the town became a place of settlement for the Muslim refugees and immigrants coming from the Balkans
and Caucasus
due to constant military conflicts that the collapsing Ottomans got involved around those regions such as the Crimean War
(1854–1878) and the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878
.
processing plant established in 1934. But today Turhal's economy depends on much diverted business sectors such as textile
, animal feed
and dairy products. Turhal also has a machine works which provides an important income to the town. Today, Turhal is becoming important with its natural marble
deposits and marble processing industries. Traditionally, stockbreeding and other agricultural activities still keep their importance too.
According to the census
taken in 1997, the total population of Turhal is more than 115,000 and is still on the increase.
Tokat Province
Tokat Province is a province in northern Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Amasya to the northwest, Yozgat to the southwest, Sivas to the southeast, and Ordu to the northeast...
in the Black Sea region of Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. It is 48 km in the west of Tokat Province. Turhal is situated on a fertile plain fragmented by the Yeşil Irmak river. It has an elevation of approximately 530 m. The city is best known for its sugar beet processing plant established in 1934 as an important enterprise of the young Turkish Republic. The mayor is Ali Gözen (AKP
Justice and Development Party (Turkey)
The Justice and Development Party , abbreviated JDP in English and AK PARTİ or AKP in Turkish, is a centre-right political party in Turkey. The party is the largest in Turkey, with 327 members of parliament...
).
History
The first nucleus of Turhal appeared as an important fortress or fortificationFortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
named Talaura on the way between today's Amasya
Amasya
- History :Its location in this steep valley makes the city a mountain stronghold, easy to defend, and thus Amasya has had a long and prominent history.-Antiquity:...
and Tokat
Tokat
Tokat is the capital city of Tokat Province of Turkey, at the mid Black Sea region of Anatolia. According to the 2009 census, the city of Tokat has a population of 129,879.-History:Tokat was established in the Hittite era....
provinces. It is deducted from the tablets found in the region that Turhal had been inhabited as early as the third millennium BC and had relations as far as the Mesopotamian cultures such as Sumerians who had already invented an effective alphabet
Alphabet
An alphabet is a standard set of letters—basic written symbols or graphemes—each of which represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or semantic...
.
The Persian invasion in Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
during the 6th century BC made this region an important center influenced by the cult of Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...
. The famous geographer of the antiquity
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
, Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
has, on various occasions, drawn up different accounts on the region describing Turhal as a fortress in the north of another ancient city named Gayyura.
In the 3rd century BCE, the region was occupied by the contingents of Alexander the Great's Macedonian
Ancient Macedonians
The Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...
army, but many insurrections had also taken place in this era as the Macedonian occupiers couldn't build up a total control on the region.
After the collapse of Alexander's Empire (as Alexander died in 323 BCE
323 BC
Year 323 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Longus and Cerretanus...
), the region was taken over by the Pontus
Pontus
Pontus or Pontos is a historical Greek designation for a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in modern-day northeastern Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region in antiquity by the Greeks who colonized the area, and derived from the Greek name of the Black Sea: Πόντος...
Kingdom founded on the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coast who later had to retreat in the face of emerging Roman power in the whole Anatolia. The Pontus Kings from the Mithridates
Mithridates I of Pontus
Mithridates I Ctistes was the founder of the kingdom of Pontus in Anatolia....
descendance constructed an even more powerful fortress on a rocky hill in the center of the outer city whose remains are only two ruined towers and several tunnels today. The struggle between the two powers lasted for decades and ended up in an absolute defeat suffered by the Pontus Kingdom. Having captured the fortress, the Roman General Pompeius
Pompeius
Pompeius , sometimes anglicized as Pompey, is the nomen of the gens Pompeia, an important family of ancient Rome from the Italian region of Picenum, which lies between the Apennines and the Adriatic...
destroyed it. In 395
395
Year 395 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Olybrius and Probinus...
, The Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
was divided into two independent states and thus, Turhal became a Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
domain together with other eastern Roman provinces. Turhal was the site of the bishopric of Ibora which persists as a titular see
Titular see
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular bishop", "titular metropolitan", or "titular archbishop"....
of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
to this day.
During the Byzantine era, the region had undergone several raids from the Sassanids in the 4th and 5th centuries, later from the Muslim Arabs in the eighth century.
As the constant Turkish immigration to Anatolia and the emerging Seljuk power in the neighbouring east weakened the Byzantine rule in the region, the Turkish principality of Danishmend captured Turhal and its environs in 1068 but later ceded it to the Kingdom of Seljuk Turks (Selçuklular). In the 13th century, the whole region was invaded by the Ilkhan Emperors who extended their rule as a devastating wave from the Middle Asia
Middle Asia
Middle Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west, to Mongolia in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north. The geographical term has appeared sometime prior to the 20th century in the Russian Empire and was closely associated with the Russian Turkestan and the...
to Anatolia. In 1399, Turhal was taken over by the Ottomans who were uniting the Turkish principalities in Anatolia under their command. After a short invasion by Temur
Temur
Temur or Timur refer to Iron in Mongolic languages.People:*Mongke Temur , khan of the Golden Horde.*Temur Khan , Khagan of the Mongol Empire and ruler of the Yuan Dynasty....
, Turhal was taken over once more by the Ottomans in 1413.
The most significant change in the demographic
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...
structure of Turhal occurred during the second half of the 19th century as the town became a place of settlement for the Muslim refugees and immigrants coming from the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
and Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
due to constant military conflicts that the collapsing Ottomans got involved around those regions such as the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
(1854–1878) and the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878
Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878
The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 was a conflict between the Ottoman Empire and the Eastern Orthodox coalition led by the Russian Empire and composed of numerous Balkan...
.
Today's Turhal
As mentioned above, Turhal is best known for its sugar beetSugar beet
Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...
processing plant established in 1934. But today Turhal's economy depends on much diverted business sectors such as textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
, animal feed
Compound feed
Compound feeds are feedstuffs that are blended from various raw materials and additives. These blends are formulated according to the specific requirements of the target animal...
and dairy products. Turhal also has a machine works which provides an important income to the town. Today, Turhal is becoming important with its natural marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
deposits and marble processing industries. Traditionally, stockbreeding and other agricultural activities still keep their importance too.
According to the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
taken in 1997, the total population of Turhal is more than 115,000 and is still on the increase.