Bulancak

Bulancak

Bulancak is a district of Giresun province. The district, which was previously affiliated with Ordu, was later affiliated with Giresun province. Its old name was Terastios. It is located on the Black Sea coast. Giresun's Piraziz district is located in the west, Ordu Altınordu district and Kabadüz district are located in the east, and Giresun city center is located in the east. The size of its territory is 608 square kilometers. There are 61 villages in the district. Turkmen Chepnis constitute a significant part of the local population. It is similar to Giresun and Ordu in terms of climate and geographical features. The municipality was established in 1887 and became a district in 1934. According to the census conducted in 2020, the total population of the district is 68,557. 47,366 of this population live in the district center. The most important source of income is hazelnut farming. The longest pier of the Eastern Black Sea coast was located in this district, until a large part of the pier was demolished and the coastal road was passed over it due to the Black Sea Coastal Road project, which was completed at a large stage in 2004. It is one of the largest district centers of the Eastern Black Sea Region. It is also larger than the provincial centers of Artvin, Bayburt and Gümüşhane in the region. The known history of the region goes back to the Hittites. In 1400-1200 BC, when the region was under the rule of the Hittites, the Trabzon-Erzurum-Giresun regions were called the Azzi Country. The first colony of the Miletians, who ruled and traded in the Aegean Region in ancient times, was established in the region called Kerasus. Giresun surroundings came under the rule of the Persian Empire in the 4th century BC, and later came under the rule of the Macedonians. In the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, the Kingdom of Pontus dominated the region. In 61 BC, when the Pontus King Mithridates the Great was defeated by the Roman Commander Lucullus, the city and local administration came under Roman rule. When the Roman Empire was divided into two in 395 AD, the Bulancak region came under the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire. In the 11th century AD, when Istanbul, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, was invaded by the Crusaders, the children of Emperor Manuel Kommenos came to Trabzon and founded the Trebizond Empire in 1204 AD, with Trabzon as the capital. Bulancak also remained within the borders of this state, and during the Komnenos period, the city was called Terastios. During the Seljuk period, Chepni Turkmens, who came from Central Asia, Khorasan and started the conquest of Anatolia, also brought the Black Sea coasts under Turkish rule. As a result of the weakening of the Anatolian Seljuk State during the Crusades, the coastline left the hands of the Turks and was taken over by the Trebizond Empire, which was founded in 1204 AD. In 1277 AD, the Chepni, a branch of the Oghuzs who came to Anatolia and were Alevis, first captured Sinop. Meanwhile, Mongolian pressure was weakening in Anatolia. Later, they began to dominate the entire Canik Region. After Bayram Bey, who was one of the Turkmen, Çepni Beys who ensured the Turkification of Giresun and its surroundings and established a principality in the Fatsa-Bulancak region, he was succeeded by Hacı Emir Bey, and Hacı Emir Bey became the Emperor of Trabzon III. He fought with Alexios Komnenos in 1358. Bulancak was captured by the Turks in 1397, during the reign of Hacı Emir Bey's son, Süleyman Bey. Kadı Burhaneddin, the ruler of the region, celebrated this news by beating drums and sent ambassadors to join Süleyman Bey. Thus, the territory of the Trabzon Empire remained as Trabzon and its surroundings. With the conquest, Oghuz tribes such as Çepni, Döğer, Eymir, Karkın, Ala Yuntlu, Bayındır, İğdir came and settled in the region. In the census made 60-65 years after the conquest, in 1455, Terástios, which was a Naiblik, that is, an administrative unit within the jurisdiction of the Kadı Naibi, was the home of Mustafa Kethüda, Şemsettin Kethüda and Çakıroğlu Pir Kadem Kethüda, according to the 1455 census. However, in city centers such as Giresun-Tirebolu, trade was in the hands of Greeks and Armenians, as Turks were conscripted into the military. II in the Hacı Emir Principality. It came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Murad II and was annexed in 1461. With the capture of Trabzon during the reign of Mehmed II, the Black Sea Region came completely under Ottoman rule. When the region passed to the Ottoman Empire, its name became Akköy.