History
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Ancient history[edit]
Main article: Thyatira
The town was the most important center in ancient North Lydia. Findings suggest a possible earlier period of pre-eminence under the Hittites. Persian occupation of the region took place around 500 BC. Thyateira was later conquered by Alexander the Great. In later years, Thyateira was captured successively by the Seleucid Empire, the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon, and by Mithridates VI of Pontus, until the Roman Era that started in 80 BC.
In 214 AD, the Roman Emperor Caracalla promoted the town to the status of a regional and administrative center with powers of adjudication (conventus). The city flourished considerably under the Romans and became a large metropolis with 3 gymnasiums. As of the 2nd century AD, Christianity spread in western Anatolia by the actions of apostles like John the Evangelist and Paul. Thyatira is mentioned twice in the New Testament. The Book of Acts refers to a woman of Thyatira named Lydia (Acts 16:14), though the Apostle Paul converted her to Christ in Philippi of Macedonia,[citation needed] not Thyatira. The other occurrence is as one of the Seven Churches of Asia, in the church of which was a woman identified as a prophetess and called "Jezebel" for deceiving some of the Christians there into compromising with idolatry and committing sexual immorality (Revelation 2:18-29).
Ruins of the Thyatira church
After the partition of the Roman Empire in 395 and the upcoming of Islam at the beginning of the 7th century, raids by Arabs resulted in great loss of land for Byzantium and the region of Thyatira witnessed many battles between Byzantine and Arab forces.[citation needed]
Thyatira was repeatedly attacked by the Arabs and later by the Turks, however it was rebuilt over the ruins. In the 12th century, a large-scale inflow of Turkish tribes started. Thyatira swayed back and forth between Byzantine and Turkish rulers for two centuries. In the 14th century, Turks under the Anatolian Beylik of Saruhan conquered all Western Anatolian lands and Thyatira went under Turkish rule in 1307. Towards the end of the same century, Akhisar became part of the extending Ottoman Empire. Under Ottoman administration, Thyatira was at first a subdistrict (kaza) in the sanjak (district) of Saruhan (corresponding to present-day Manisa Province) within the larger vilayet (province) of Kütahya.
Modern period[edit]
Akhisar continued its development in the 17th century. However, since the second half of the 16th century, the Celâlî rebellions in the region took the city under its influence. For this reason, the city walls were repaired at the beginning of the 17th century. Due to the Celali rebellions, some of the people in the vicinity settled here and the population of the city increased. As a matter of fact, Evliya Çelebi writes that in 1671 the city had twenty-four neighbourhoods and 2600 houses, most of which were covered with tiles. He also records that there were forty-seven mosques, three hamams, about 1000 shops, one bedesten, ten inns, seven madrasas and twenty-three primary schools, and that it is surrounded by vineyards, gardens and orchards. He also states that there is an old castle ruin on the hill in the middle of the city and that the city was surrounded by walls for fear of the Celâlî named Karayazıcı.
In October 1895 newly resettled Muslims from Bulgaria attacked and massacred members of the local Armenian community. The Saruhan Eyalet was later incorporated into the vilayet of Aydın until the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1922.
During the course of the Greco-Turkish War (1919-22) the Greek Army entered the town on June 5, 1919. Due to the developments of the campaign, which included unrest from the Turkish populace, the Greek forces withdrew on June 10, 1919. Soon after, Greek forces took control of the town during the Greek Summer Offensive on June 22, 1920. The Turkish Nationalist forces captured the town on September 6, 1922, toward the end of the Great Offensive. Following the Turkish capture, an estimated 7,000 local Greeks were killed in Kırtık dere. The remaining were party to the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey.[need quotation to verify] Furthermore, although the local Muslims had sworn on the Quran that they would protect the remaining Armenian community upon the arrival of the Turkish army in town, they instead cooperated with them in plundering and massacring the Armenians.
Historical demographics[edit]
According to demographic statistics of 1917, the district of Akhisar had a total population of 39,157 prior to World War I, with 32,280 being Muslims, 5,877 Greeks, 515 Armenians, and 485 Jews. At the end of 1917, or at the beginning of 1918, the total population of the district was 38,706; of this population, 31,936 were Muslims, 5,782 were Greeks, 506 were Armenians, and 485 were Jews. According to Greek statistics in 1921 during the occupation, the district of Akhisar had a total population of 56,986, with 48,356 being Turks, 7,638 Greeks, 489 Armenians, and 503 Jews.
