BYZANTIUM / CONSTANTINOPLE / STAMBOOL / ISTANBUL

Two names that link with Istanbul - Byzantine and Constantinople. Both have different worlds and so does Istanbul. Being the linkage of Turkey in Europe, it's interesting to see how history unfolded at this warring ground of Europe. 

The names of Istanbul

It was the year 330 when Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire to what was then known as Augusta Antonina. Later, it was briefly named as Alma (or Nea) Roma or New Rome. And after completion of constructing the new capital, the city was known as Kōnstantinoúpolis or Constantinople, after the Emperor. Then what was Byzantine here? 

The city had originally been named as Byzantium after King Byzas of the Greek city-state Megara. The name came into being in 7th century BC as a newly established strategic location between the Golden Horn, Bosphorus Strait and Marmara Sea. The same name was attributed to the Byzantine Empire or the Eastern Roman Empire that existed between 4th to 15th centuries. Interestingly, in the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea (the Greek geography of the Indian subcontinent, roughly) mentions a port on the western coast of India as Byzantium (among other Greek names such as Dachinabades, Calliena, Palæpatmæ, etc.) which would roughly corresponds to today's Banavasi, Karnataka. This doesn't mean Byzantium was the old name for Banavasi, it simply was the Greek knowledge of India. 

The Eastern Romans

The Byzantine Empire is also referred to as the Latin Empire (mostly between 1204 to 1261). Although Islam had arrived on Anatolia (mainland Turkey) and much of the Levant world and other parts by now, Byzantium was virtually untouched by the Muslims even till the mid-15th century. The phase between 1204 to 1453 witnessed Catholic Crusaders, wars between the Ottomans and Christians, conquer of Greece by the Ottomans and the arrival of the bazaar culture that is still an integral part of the Muslim world. It was 1453 when the Ottomans under Kaiser-i-Rûm Mehmed II conquered Constantinople or Byzantium ending the chapter of Eastern Roman Empire once for all. Some key points here, although Mehmed II was an Islamic conquerer, the title bestowed on him Kaiser-i-Rûm actually means 'Caesar of the Rome'. In fact, the Sultanate of Rûm that flourished in the Anatolia region between 1077 to 1308 literally addressed its citizens as 'Romans, of the Eastern Roman Empire' and the name Rûm is the Arabic for Rome. The legacy of the mighty Roman Empire technically existed till 1806 as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (different from the original Roman Empire) expanded from Germany to central Italy. With all these points noted, the nomenclature of 'Romans' existed on this earth for a roughly 2000 years. 

The Ottomans

The origin of the word Ottoman goes back to words such as Atman, Osman and Uthman, all corresponding to Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire. Originating in a tiny region next to Istanbul in 13th century, the Ottomans reached their zenith in the 17th century where they expanded from Crimea to Sudan, from Balkans to Arabia and from Algeria to Ethiopia. One of the several empires that existed in three continents, Istanbul was the centre point of it, both geographically and administratively. Despite of the fact that Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul had mostly served the capital of all the empires crisscrossing this region, the city is not the capital of modern-day Turkey. This is basically because after the fall and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in 1920s, the Turkish National Movement rose in prominence to establish a modern Turkish republic with a fresh capital and government. 

Hagia Sophia

The story of Istanbul is incomplete without the mentioning of Hagia Sophia. Mentioned on old maps as Aya Sofiyah, this grand architecture has toppled between being a church and mosque several times. The first structure was constructed in 360 AD as Megale Eklesia, a church by Emperor Constantios. The second structure was rebuilt in 415 AD by Theodosis and the current structure was first laid down by Emperor Justinianos between 532 to 537 AD. It was Justinianos' efforts that established the magnificent structure of the building, making it one of the most spectacular churches of the then Christian world. The image of a church continued till the arrival of the Ottomans when it was converted into a mosque immediately after 1453. Madarsa and minarets were added (which got demolished many centuries later as well) and other structure such as mihrabs, pulpits, muezzin secrets, sermons and maksures were also added during the Ottoman period. Hagia Sophia remained a mosque till 1934 when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the establisher of the secular Turkey declared it as a museum. Soon it was declared as a UNESCO world heritage site and became an iconic symbol not just for Turkish history but also to the outside world. A cathedral that converted into mosque for about 480 years has both Islamic and Christian elements to its architecture. In July 2020, the museum was re-converted into a mosque by the current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan thus stirring global controversies. Keeping the politics aside, the grand structure represents a symbol of Christian-Islamic power-game, importance of Istanbul and a landmark that has witnessed almost the entire history of the Turkish and Roman worlds right from its beginning. 

Here's a map of Constantinople, also spelled as Stambool, of 1840. The time when the Ottomans still ruled the earth through the Mediterranean to the Black Sea.