Pertek

Pertek

Settlement began in the region north of the Euphrates, where Pertek is located, since the Neolithic Age. In the Hittite records of the 2nd millennium BC, it is seen that the region was under the rule of the Ishuwa Kingdom. The region, which was exposed to Hittite attacks starting from 1600 BC, began to be ruled by kings who were Hittite vassals around 1350 BC. The region, which came under Assyrian rule after the Hittites, began to be known as Sophane and came under the rule of the Urartians around the 8th century BC. It is considered that Pertek Castle was built in this period. Following the collapse of the Urartians, the Achaemenid Empire took over the region in the 6th century BC. During the Achaemenid period, the region was included in the Satrapy of Armenia. After the Macedonian King Alexander the Great eliminated the Achaemenids in 331 BC, the Cappadocia Kingdom, founded by Ariotres I, a Persian nobleman who opposed the Macedonians, began to dominate the region. Although kingdoms subject to the Seleucids ruled in the region after the death of Alexander, Armenian satraps began to rule the region independently following the vacuum of authority following the Treaty of Apamea in 188 BC, after the defeat of the Seleucids by the Romans. The region, which was the scene of the Roman-Parthian struggle in the early 1st century BC, definitively came under Roman rule in 55 BC. The settlement, which remained on Byzantine territory after the division of Rome, was the scene of Byzantine-Sasanian wars in the 6th and 7th centuries and changed hands frequently. With the collapse of the Sassanids, Umayyad and Abbasid rule was observed in Pertek. In Evliya Çelebi's travelogue, it was stated that Pertek Castle was captured by Halid Bin Velid. When Byzantine rule was re-established in Pertek and its surroundings, Pertek castle and settlement were not mentioned in Byzantine sources. This situation suggests that the settlement and its castle do not have an important location. The lack of authority experienced after the Bardas Skleros and Bardas Fokas (young) rebellion started a period of turmoil in the region. Although the Byzantine general named Philaretos Brachamios dominated the region for a while, which was exposed to Turkish raids after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, it was captured by Çubuk Bey in 1086/87 and remained under the rule of Çubukoğulları Principality until 1113. After this date, Pertek came under the rule of the Mengüceks and joined the lands of the Anatolian Seljuks in 1226. In the Battle of Kösedağ in 1243, Pertek and its surroundings came under Mongol rule. Pertek, which was dominated by local lords during the Eretna Principality in 1340, the Erzincan Principality in 1379 and the Timurids, was captured by the Akkoyuns between 1433-35. Following the collapse of the Akkoyunlular, the Pertek settlement was annexed to the Safavids by Nur Ali Caliph. Pertek, which was the scene of the Ottoman-Safavid struggle after the Battle of Çaldıran in 1514, came under Ottoman rule following the Battle of Ovacık.