The Book of “TURKISH SELJUKS AND KONYA”

The 19th Series of the Konya Book, one of the traditional publications of the Konya Chamber of Commerce, titled "Turkish Seljuks and Konya", has been completed and published in four volumes. The work, which will be an important resource in its field, has been catalogued and delivered to libraries and documentation centres at home and abroad for scanning.

Anatolia has been the cradle of important civilizations throughout history and has witnessed many firsts in world history. Konya, the apple of Anatolia's eye, has hosted important civilizations throughout the ages as a settlement from the neolithic age to the present day, and has been influenced by many civilizations.  Our city gained its true identity ten thousand years ago with the conquest and capitalization of the Turkish Seljuks, after the Hittites, Phrygians, Lydians, Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Sassanids and Muslim Arabs. It has a deep historical accumulation that continues until today with the Karamanoğulları, Ottomans and the Turkish Republic, which were the continuation of the Seljuks.

The Seljuks, who made Anatolia our homeland, have a special importance. The Turkish Seljuk State, which had long struggles to turn Anatolia into a Turkish-Islamic land for nearly three centuries, undertook the task of protecting the Islamic world against the two greatest invasions in world history. Turkish Seljuks stood against the Crusader invasion during the establishment process, made great sacrifices for this cause, entered into tough struggles, achieved great victories in Turkish history, and registered to the whole world that Anatolia was the Turkish homeland. Likewise, the Mongol Invasion, which started in the 13th century and ravaged the whole world, reached the Anatolian lands and stood like a barrier in front of this invasion for a while, and although it came under Mongol domination, it kept a significant part of Anatolia away from Mongol oppression, ensuring the complete Turkification and Islamization of Western Anatolia.

When we look at this period in summary; The Muslim Turks, who carried out reconnaissance operations on Anatolia before the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, and the Great Seljuks, who recognized Anatolia, turned a large part of Anatolia into a Muslim Turkish city as a result of this war. Just as the emergence of the Seljuks was important in terms of Turkish, Islamic and world history, it was equally important that Anatolia became a permanent Turkish-Islamic homeland, which was finalized with the Manzikert Victory.

Muslim Turkish troops, who set foot in Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert, came to Iznik under the command of Süleyman Shah. This homeland, where we live now, was accepted by the Byzantines and the Crusaders with the Battle of Myryokefalon (1176), in which Turkish domination in Anatolia was accepted and the title deed of Anatolia was taken, thanks to the Seljuk State and Turkey (Anatolia) Seljuk State (1075-1308).

According to sources, the city of Konya has been the capital since 1097. While Konya was a city with high military vulnerability until this date, it became a safe region after the administration moved here. In this process that started with Kılıç Arslan I, Konya made great progress in political, military, economic, scientific and social aspects during the periods of Mesud I and Kılıç Arslan II. During the reigns of Gıyâseddin Keyhüsrev I, İzzeddin Keykâvus I and Alâeddin Keykubâd I, new construction works, walls and bastions were built, and the activities carried out during these periods had a great impact on the physical condition and social life of Konya.

The city had a great knowledge and memory in the political, military, scientific and economic fields when it was the capital of the Seljuks as Darü'l-Mülk. Konya showed great developments in science, culture and art during this period. Famous scholars, philosophers, poets, mystics and artists of the period gathered here. Scholars such as Bahaeddin Veled, Mevlana Celâleddin-i Rumi, Sadreddin-i Konevi, Kadı Burhaneddin, Kadı Siraceddin Urmevi, Şahabeddin Sühreverdi and mystics such as Muhyiddin-i Arabi settled in Konya and turned the city into a cultural center with the works they produced.

Libraries were opened in Konya during the Seljuk Period and great historical and cultural breakthroughs were made in the fields of religion, law, history, literature, philosophy, art and medicine. Accordingly, many madrasahs, mosques, libraries, tombs, fountains, castles, inns, baths, bazaars, covered bazaars, bridges and palaces were built throughout the city.

Therefore, it should be our common duty to make these services of our ancestors, who made Anatolia our homeland and gave us so much historical richness, permanent through written works and to pass them on to future generations.

In this sense, the publications made by Konya Chamber of Commerce are of great importance. Especially the last four or five issues were published in two volumes, covering topics such as Konya's history of professions, history of migrations, history of trade, history of foundations, and reached its 19th issue. In the book "Turkish Seljuks and Konya", the last series of the work, the political history, social, economic and scientific life and architecture of the period are discussed separately. In addition, many studies such as the cultural and social structure of Konya at that time, the way of administration, the life of the people, the wars fought, the works created by important figures, the art of war, the protection of the city, customs and traditions have been brought together. This work, which consists of 15 chapters and 4 volumes, also includes original studies such as the Genealogy of the Seljuk Dynasty and the Chronological History of Konya. 93 articles and more than 50 academicians worked on the prepared work.

Konya Chamber of Commerce President Selçuk Öztürk said that “the work has been published as a debt of loyalty to Konya, which has hosted many civilizations in history and served as the capital city as Darü'l-Mülk, with a great political, military, scientific and economic accumulation and memory, and to the Seljuks who made these lands our homeland. The fact that the capital city is in Konya has motivated us, as an institution, with a sense of loyalty and obligation to our ancestors who made Anatolia our homeland. After a long study in this regard, the study dealing with the history of the Turkish Seljuks and Konya of the period has been completed and presented to the service of our readers, academics and national and international documentation centres. The work will be an important resource in its field.”

The Project Coordinator and Editorial Directorate of this work, which was prepared as a project, is KTO Press and Public Relations Directorate. Asst. is Mustafa Akgöl, Executive Editor is Özhan Say, Editor-in-Chiefs are Prof. Dr. Caner Arabacı, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ali Hacıgökmen and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Akkuş.

The work, which will be an important resource in its field, has been delivered to all universities, libraries and documentation centres in our country, and efforts to deliver it as a digital publication to major universities and documentation centres in the world are continuing.

Readers who are curious about Seljuk history and the social, cultural and political life of Konya of this period will have the opportunity to see the entire work, which has a limited edition, in electronic form at https://www.kto.org.tr/yayinlar.

Mustafa AKGÖL 

Asst. Manager of Konya Chamber of Commerce Press and Public Relations Editor-in-Chief of Yeni İpek Yolu Magazine.