Istanbul is historically a famous Turkish city. It was the capital of many empires. It also bore many names throughout history, such as Byzantium, the first name of the city and Constantinople during the Byzantine Empire.
Its name dates back to the era of the Ottoman Empire after its annexation. Muhammad Al-Fatih called it Istanbul , meaning the city of Islam, and the Europeans used to call it “Stambul.”
history of Istanbul city
In 1930, the name was unified to Istanbul after the name of Byzantium, when the city was under Roman rule. During the Roman era, the city was renamed by the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, renaming it “Augusta Antonina” after his son’s name; After it became the capital of the Roman Empire in 330 AD, its name was changed to “Seconda Roma”, which means the second Rome.
It was also called “Nova Roma”, meaning the new Rome, beginning in the fifth century AD, but that name did not last long. In the Ottoman records, there are many references to the ancient Arabs and Armenians calling the city by names derived from “Byzantium”, such as Byzantium, Byzandia, Byzantine, Byzantium, and others, while Islamic sources refer to other names such as “Greater Rome”, “Seat of Rome” and “Voice of Rome”, all of which Derived from the appellation “Nova Roma” (New Rome). There is certainly the name “Constantinople”, the name derived from the name of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, who made the city the capital of his empire (306 to 337 AD).
This designation was popular and later became official. The Arabs and Persians used the name Constantinople, while the Ottomans used it in financial transactions and official correspondence. One of the names by which the city was known during the Ottoman era was “Dar al-Saada” (in Ottoman Turkish, Dar Saadat)…. By the 19th century, the city was known to alternate several names among foreigners and Turks as well. The Europeans used to call it “Stambol” next to “Constantinople” as a sign from them of the city as a whole.
