Brief History of Istanbul Essay

Evidences obtained from archaeological remains indicate that big number began to live the proximities of contemporary Istanbul for approximately thousands of days ago. At about 5000 B. C. , a fatheaded and sprawling community of individuals inhabited the fertile grounds of Istanbul. The Greek people both the way from Megara and Miletus started to rest upon the soils situated along the coasts of the Black ocean as well up as the Bosporus back in the latter years of eight coulomb B. C. The year 660 B. C. witnessed the colonization of Byzantium by Byzas, the founder of the resolution whose origins trace to Megarian roots.As expected, the name of the colony was patterned afterward his name. receivable to the strategic location of Byzantium, it easily gained dominance over the region in terms of economy which eventually led to the attention of numerous ambitious weeors. Along the path of the friendly Horn, Byzantium was founded which bestowed it with the most suitable har bour all-over the region. The rude prosperity of Byzantium can be largely attributed to the abundance of fish as well as the surrounding country view which was fertile enough to support plants for agriculture. contiguous to Byzantium, a safe harbour was efficiently provided for by the inlet of the Golden Horn which was near Bosporus. This area was considered as a major ocean route back in those generation as it linked the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea. Byzantium eventually found itself struggle amidst the military forces trying to conquer and dominate over the metropolis Persians, Greeks, Spartans and Athenians all drew their swords and took away lives for the interest of taking the city under their control. Such was the major importance of Byzantium during those times where its prosperity was seemingly beyond imagination.Even the Gauls attacked the city during the third degree Celsius and in 202 B. C. the city sought the help and protection from Rome after being take n over by Macedonians. Eventually, the city was absorbed as a vital part of the Roman empire back in 73 B. C. During 196 A. D. , the city was caught on the wrong side after the worldly concern of a power struggle in the Roman empire. As economically powerful as Byzantium may seem, it was not able to respond and protest the struggle which eventually trickled down the capabilities of the cities as it paid dearly.A large number of the residents were murdered as well as a operative portion of Byzantium was obliterated by the leadership of the Roman emperor Septimus Severus. Apparently, the Rman emperor had to rebuild the entire city starting off with the ruins as the provoke of the power struggle. In the process, Byzantium was able to manage itself and continue to progress amidst threats and occurrences of elegant wars as well as rebellions which smothered all-over the Roman empire through the many years to follow.However, Constantine I routed his foe, emperor Licinius, on Septem ber 18, 324. Constantine I was able to unify the broad territory of the Roman empire and do it follow his leadership. The Roman empire eventually made Byzantium as the choice with child(p) of the region which extended to as far as triad continents. Byzantium eventually gained a new nameConstantinopleafter being soon know as the New Rome named in honor of Constantine who was the freshman Roman governr to embrace the doctrines of Christianity.During its time, Constantinople gained much reputation and wealth fashioning it one of the worlds most economically advanced cities. The city was almost untouchable in status, having the power to dictate the doctrines of the Christian godliness and to amass huge amounts of wealth up until the eleventh century. As the showdown points between the East and the West became largely attributed to Constantinople, it was no surprise that all roads were now focused on the wealthy city of Constantine. In 395 A. D. the whole of the Roman Empire wa s divided into the West and the East especially after the death of Theodosius. The Eastern Roman Empire adopted Constantinople as its central city or nifty which was later referred to as the gnarled Empire as a reminder of its brilliant past. Through the consort of time, Constantinople further advanced as the core of the Greek Orthodox Christian realm. With its immense financial resources, the wealth of the knobbed Empire gave it the capacity to render Constantinople as a beautiful city far beyond compare.The immenseness and majesty of Constantinople is perhaps owed to the well-paid architects who designed majestic churches and splendid palaces as well as artists and sculptors also contributed a large fraction of the citys aesthetic transformation. One notable structure ever to be erected is the hippodrome which could hold more than a hundred thousand spectators. Eventually, the walls of the city were further built into a seemingly impenetrable antifertility layer as threats of incursion from rivalling forces never dwindled.Almost half million citizens inhabited Constantinople under the rule of emperor Justinian from 527 to 565 A.D. The Emperor took full control of the creation of some of Constantinoples most majestic buildings which include the Haghia Sophia, one of the largest churches during the height of the prosperity of Constantinople. The Byzantine empires capital reached its full blom under the helm of Emperor Justinian. Even though Constantinople continued to supplement its wealthy advancement with protective measures, enemies from the outside were inevitably attracted to the splendour of the city. A few years after, the city was devastated with a plague in 542 A. D. which claimed the lives of three of every five citizens.This, unfortunately, brought the reservoir of the citys fall. As the city weakened in terms of its population both in size and strength, the enemies of Constantinople took the opportunity to besiege the city. Apparently, t he enemies were otiose to successfully conquer the city as the walls of Constantinople proved impenetrable. Attacks on the city mounted between the seventh and eleventh century A. D. which include forces from Persian Sassanids, Bulgars, Avars, Russians, and Muslim Arabs.At the time of the Fourth Crusade, the Latins were able to break the walls of Constantinople and captured the capital of the Byzantine Empire in 1204 A.D until 1261 less than a century of captivity when the Byzantine forces reclaimed the capital. At the height of captivity, however, Constantinople was greatly debased in terms of wealth and infrastructure as the invading forces loot precious jewels and any other item they deemed were of sufficient value. The entire population diminished to half a hundred thousand during that time, and the citizens suffered greatly from famine. In 1396, the pull Turks captured Constantinople and built a fort on the Asian side of the Bosporus Sea in order to hinder aid from reaching the city. However, the capital would not fall for a few more years.On the twenty-ninth day of May, the Ottoman leader Mehmed was able to tear down the city walls and penetrate the city which ultimately signalled the fall of the era of Constantinoples Christian church and the commencement of Muslim rule over the land. Apparently, the Muslims transformed the Haghia Sophia into a Muslim temple. In 1457, the capital of the Byzantine Empire was already known as Istanbul which later became the central point of the Ottoman Empire. Mehmed began to repopulate the city after the siege and within a few years time, Istanbul gained a respectable increase in population, roughly amounting to approximately 50,000 inhabitants.Ottoman Istanbul was able to earn its peak during the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent, and perhaps the most notable buildings ever to be erected during those times, roughly amounting to 300 buildings, were the creations of chief architect Sinan. These efforts to restructur e Ottoman Istanbul were of import as it signalled the dawning of a new Istanbul, one which is uniquely Ottoman in identity. Throughout time, Ottoman Istanbul opened its doors to the outside world in order to obtain a harmonious relationship with the other cities and states.This returned to the involution of the citys population, now having a mixture of different races such(prenominal) as Jews, Christians, Armenians and other citizens. Influence on Ottoman Istanbul rule was manifestly being influenced by many different forces from these races. Eventually, Istanbul became influenced with the modernization of the world. Europeans began to build a railroad system which connects the whole continent with Istanbul by the 1870s. As a result, the Ottoman empire became placed under the debt of European powers.These would later result to power struggles from within the empire, complicated all the more by the struggling influences from the Europeans to whom they were indebted with. In conse quence, these developments in the Ottoman empire especially in Istanbul uring the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries would signal the downfall of the Ottoman empire and would mark the commencement of the Turkish Republic. Today, Istanbul remains as a anxious reminder of how a city once so powerful became so absorbed into the desire for power which led to its own subjugation and diminishment of power in the following years.