Some Notes on Historical Development of Bolvadin, A Late Medieval Seljuk Anatolian City

Abstract

There are few studies to determine the historical geography of Anatolia in the Seljuk period. City formations, usually, are tried to be explained by reducing the history to the ancient or Roman-Byzantine periods. In local histories, the history of cities or towns is almost completely narrated by the fashion of going back to the first stages of human history. It is seen that the historical information is distorted and twisted into the minds of the Anatolian cities in order to use the term “ancient” and to make this meaningful, it is tried to be shown as a source of pride. A similar situation is observed in the city of Bolvadin, a district of Afyonkarahisar, which is thought to be appeared in the middle ages. In this article, it is argued that Bolvadin was born during the times of Seljuks, not on the foundations of any ancient settlement, rather, it was a town that gained importance as an important gateway in the road networks. In addition to this argument, Bolvadin’s historical development under the Ottoman rule, its stages of physical change and situation will be dealt. In this sense, Bolvadin in the XVI. century was an urban place rather than a town with a significant population, it was located near or on the roads of army routes, it was located in a convenient location by the famous bridge to bypass many routes and it was a completed city with the opportunities provided by its geographical features.