Niksar - Niksar in History

Niksar in History

Niksar was settled by the Hittite, Persian, Greek, Pontic, Roman, Byzantine, Danishmend, Seljuk and Ottoman empires. It has always been an important place in Anatolia because of its location, climate and productive lands.

It was known as Cabira in the Hellenistic period. In 72 or 71 BC, a battle during the Third Mithridatic War took place at Niksar, and the city passed to the Romans. Niksar was called Diospolis, Sebaste, and Neocaesarea during the Roman period. "Niksar" is derived from Neocaesarea.

Niksar became part of the Eastern Roman Empire when the Roman Empire divided into two parts in AD 395. When the Turks raided Anatolia in 1067, it was conquered by Afşın Bey, one of the commanders of Alparslan. The Byzantines retook the area in 1068. Conquered by Artuk Bey after the Battle of Manzikert, Niksar once again returned to Byzantium in 1073.

Melik Gümüştekin Ahmet Gazi, founder of the Danishmend state and better known as Danishmend Gazi, was the real conqueror of Niksar. After the conquest the Gazi made it his capital city, and Niksar became a center of science and culture. The mausoleum of Danishmend Gazi stands in a large cemetery just outside the town.

By 1175, during the reign of Kılıç Arslan II, Niksar was dependent on the Seljuks of Rum. After the Mongol invasion of the 13th century, Niksar was governed by the Eretnids and then the Tacettinoğulları beylik and became the center of the latter principality.

After Kadı Burhanettin, who conquered Niksar in 1387, was killed in battle, the people of Niksar sought aid from the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I. The Sultan's son, Süleyman Çelebi, took Niksar for the Ottomans. In the later Ottoman period, Niksar became part of Tokat Province. Fatih Mehmet launched a raid on Trabzon from Niksar, and Yavuz Sultan Selim and Suleiman the Magnificent raided the east from there.

In 1919, a meeting was organized in Niksar to protest against the Greek occupation of İzmir.