Names of Istanbul 5434729 225789278 2008-07-15T12:15:48Z Lambiam 745100 /* Constantinople */ l.c. {{mainarticle|Istanbul}} The city of '''Istanbul''' has been known through the ages under a large number of different names. Besides its modern Turkish name, the most notable are '''Byzantium''', '''Constantinople''' and '''Stamboul''', but there are also others. Each of them is associated with different phases of its history and with different languages. This page gives a survey of the history of these names and their use in various modern languages. ==Names in historical sequence== ===Byzantium=== '''Byzantion''' (Βυζάντιον), Latinized as '''Byzantium''', was the first known name of the city. It was founded by Greek colonists from [[Megara]] in [[667 BC]] and, according to legend, named after their king [[Byzas]], originally *Βύζαντς, probably Thracian name.<ref>Georgacas, p. 352ff</ref> Much later, the name ''Byzantium'' became common in the West to refer to the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]], the ''"Byzantine" Empire'', whose capital the city had been. This usage was introduced only in 1555 by the [[Germany|German]] historian [[Hieronymus Wolf]], a century after the empire had ceased to exist. During the time of the empire itself, the term Byzantium was restricted to the city itself, rather than the empire that it ruled. {{further|[[Byzantium]]}} ===Augusta Antonina=== '''Augusta Antonina''' was a name given to the city during a brief period in the 3rd century AD. It was conferred to it by the Roman emperor [[Septimius Severus]] (193-211) in honour of his son Antonius, the later emperor [[Caracalla]].<ref name="IA">Necdet Sakaoğlu (1993/94a): "İstanbul'un adları" ["The names of Istanbul"]. In: 'Dünden bugüne İstanbul ansiklopedisi', ed. Türkiye Kültür Bakanlığı, Istanbul.</ref> ===New Rome=== When Roman emperor [[Constantine I (emperor)|Constantine the Great]] made the city the new eastern capital of the [[Roman Empire]] on [[May 11]], [[330]], he conferred on it the name ''Nova Roma'' {{polytonic|Νέα Ῥώμη}} 'New Rome'. He also undertook a major construction project, essentially rebuilding the city. Other names of this period included {{polytonic|ἡ Νέα, δευτέρα Ῥώμη}} 'the New, second Rome', ''Alma Roma'' {{polytonic|Ἄλμα Ῥώμα}}, {{polytonic|Βυζαντιάς Ῥώμη}}, {{polytonic|ἑῴα Ῥώμη}} 'Eastern Rome', ''Roma Constantinopolitana''.<ref>Georgacas, p. 354</ref> The term "New Rome" lent itself to East-Western polemics, especially in the context of the [[East-West Schism|Great Schism]], when it was used by Greek writers to stress the rivalry with (the original) Rome. ''New Rome'' is also still part of the official title of the [[Patriarch of Constantinople]].<ref>http://www.ec-patr.org/athp/index.php?lang=en Website of BARTHOLOMEW, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, NEW ROME AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH</ref> ===Constantinople=== '''Constantinople''' ("City of Constantine") was the name by which the city became soon more widely known instead of ''Nova Roma'', in honour of Constantine the Great. The Greek form is ''Kōnstantinoupolis'' (Κωνσταντινούπολις); the Latin form is ''Constantinopolis''. It is first attested in official use under emperor [[Theodosius II]] (408-450).<ref name="IA"/> It remained the principal official name of the city throughout the Byzantine period, and the most common name used for it in the West until the early 20th century. It was also used (including its Kostantiniyye variant) by the [[Ottoman Empire]] until the advent of the [[Republic of Turkey]]. Some Byzantine writers would vary the use of the names Byzantium and Constantinople depending on religious historical context; ''Byzantium'' was associated with the city's pagan roots, while ''Constantinople'' was associated with [[Christianity]]. {{further|[[Constantinople]]}} ===Other Byzantine names=== Besides ''Constantinople'', the Byzantines referred to the city with a large range of honorary appellations, such as the "Queen of Cities" ({{Polytonic|Βασιλίς τῶν πόλεων}}). In popular speech, however, the most common way of referring to it came to be simply '''The City''' (Greek: ''hē Polis'', {{Polytonic|ἡ Πόλις}}, [[Modern Greek]]: ''i Poli'', η Πόλη). This usage, still current today in colloquial Greek and Armenian, also became the source of the later Turkish name, ''Istanbul'' (see below). ===Kostantiniyye=== '''Kostantiniyye''' (Arabic {{lang|ar|القسطنطينية}}, {{Unicode|al-Qusṭanṭiniyah}}, [[Ottoman Turkish language|Ottoman Turkish]] {{lang|osm|قسطنطينيه}} Kostantiniyye) is the name by which the city came to be known in the Islamic world. It is an Arabic [[calque]]d form of ''Constantinople'', with an Arabic ending meaning 'place of' instead of the Greek element ''-polis''. After the Ottoman conquest of 1453, it was used as the most formal official name in Ottoman Turkish, and remained in use throughout most of the time up to the fall of the empire in 1923. However, during some periods Ottoman authorities favoured other names (see below). ===Istanbul=== The modern Turkish name '''İstanbul''' ({{IPA2|istambul}}) is attested (in a range of different variants) since the 10th century, at first in [[Armenian language|Armenian]] and Arabic and then in Turkish sources. It derives from the [[Greek language|Greek]] phrase "εις την Πόλιν" or "στην Πόλη" [(i)stimboli(n)], both meaning "in the city" or "to the city".<ref>An alternative derivation, directly from ''Constantinople'', was entertained as an hypothesis by some researchers in the 19th century but is today regarded as obsolete; see Sakaoğlu (1993/94a: 254) for references. ''cf.'' also ''Stimboli''/''Polis'', medieval names for ancient Lappa, Crete; modern [[Argyroupoli (Rethymno)]].</ref> It is thus based on the common Greek usage of referring to Constantinople simply as ''The City'' (see above). The incorporation of parts of articles and other particles into Greek placenames was common even before the Ottoman period, Navarino for earlier Avarino,<ref>[[Pylos#The Name of Navarino|detailed history]]</ref> Satines for Athines, ''etc.''<ref>Edward G. Bourne, "The Derivation of Stamboul", ''American journal of philology'' '''8''':1:78 (1887) [http://www.jstor.org/view/00029475/ap010029/01a00050/0 at JSTOR]</ref> Similar examples of modern Turkish placenames derived from Greek in this fashion are [[İzmit]], earlier ''İznikmit,'' from Greek [[Nicomedia]], [[İznik]] from Greek ''Nicaea'' ([iz nikea]), [[Samsun]] (''s'Amison'' = "se + Amisos"), and ''İstanköy'' for the Greek island [[Kos]] (from ''is tin Ko''). The occurrence of the initial ''i-'' in these names may partly reflect the old Greek form with ''is-'', or it may partly be an effect of secondary [[epenthesis]], resulting from the [[phonotactics|phonotactic]] structure of [[Turkish language|Turkish]]. ''İstanbul'' was the common name for the city in normal speech in Turkish even since before the conquest of 1453, but in official use by the Ottoman authorities, other names such as ''Kostantiniyye'' were preferred in certain contexts. Thus, ''Kostantiniyye'' was used on coinage up to the late 17th and then again in the 19th century. The Ottoman chancelery and courts used ''Kostantiniyye'' as part of intricate formulae in expressing the place of origin of formal documents, such as ''be-Makam-ı Darü's-Saltanat-ı Kostantiniyyetü'l-Mahrusâtü'l-Mahmiyye''<ref name="Ko">Necdet Sakaoğlu (1993/94b): "Kostantiniyye". In: 'Dünden bugüne İstanbul ansiklopedisi', ed. Türkiye Kültür Bakanlığı, Istanbul.</ref> In 19th century Turkish bookprinting it was also used in the impressum of books, in contrast to the foreign use of ''Constantinople''. At the same time, however, ''İstanbul'' too was part o1 official language, for instance as part of the titles of the highest Ottoman military commander ''(İstanbul ağası)'' and the highest civil magistrate ''(İstanbul efendisi)'' of the city.<ref name="Dic">A.C. Barbier de Meynard (1881): ''Dictionnaire Turc-Français.'' Paris: Ernest Leroux.</ref> ''İstanbul'' and several other variant forms of the same name were also widely used in Ottoman literature and poetry.<ref name="IA"/> After the creation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the various alternative names besides ''İstanbul'' became obsolete in the Turkish language. With the Turkish Postal Service Law of March 28, 1930, the Turkish authorities officially requested foreigners to cease referring to the city with their traditional non-Turkish names (such as Constantinople, Tsarigrad, etc.) and to adopt Istanbul as the sole name also in their own languages.<ref>Stanford and Ezel Shaw (1977): History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Vol II, p. 386; Robinson (1965), The First Turkish Republic, p. 298</ref> Letters or packages sent to "Constantinople" instead of "Istanbul" were no longer delivered by Turkey's [[Postal Telegraph and Telephone|PTT]], which contributed to the eventual worldwide adoption of the new name (except in Greek speaking countries). ===Stamboul===<!-- This section is linked from [[Argyroupoli (Rethymno)]] --> '''Stamboul''' or '''Stambul''' is a variant form of ''İstanbul''. Like ''Istanbul'' itself, forms without the initial ''i-'' are attested from early on in the Middle Ages, first in Arabic sources of the 10th century and Armenian ones of the 12th. Some early sources also attest to an even shorter form ''Bulin'', based on the Greek word ''Poli(n)'' alone without the preceding article.<ref name="EI">"Istanbul", in ''Encyclopedia of Islam''.</ref> (This latter form lives on in modern Armenian.) ''Stamboul'' was used in Western languages as an equivalent of ''İstanbul'', until the time it was replaced by the official new usage of the Turkish form in the 20th century. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, English-speaking sources often used ''Constantinople'' to refer to the metropolis as a whole, but ''Stamboul'' to refer to the central parts located on the historic peninsula between the [[Golden Horn]] and the [[Bosphorus]].<ref name="Dwight">H. G. Dwight (1915): ''Constantinople Old and New.'' New York: Scribner's.</ref> ===Islambol=== '''Islambol''' (''full of Islam'') or '''Islambul''' (''find Islam'') were [[folk etymology|folk-etymological]] adaptations of ''Istanbul'' created after the Ottoman conquest of 1453 to express the city's new role as the capital of the Islamic Ottoman empire. It is first attested shortly after the conquest, and its invention was ascribed by some contemporary writers to Sultan [[Mehmed II]] himself.<ref name="IA"/> Some Ottoman sources of the 17th century, most notably [[Evliya Çelebi]], describe it as the common Turkish name of the time. Between the late 17th and late 18th centuries, it was also in official use. The first use of the word "Islambol" on coinage took place in 1703 (1115AH) during the reign of Sultan [[Ahmed III]]. The term ''Kostantiniyye'' still appears, however, into the nineteenth century. ===Other Ottoman names=== Like the Byzantines, the Ottomans used to refer to the city by a range of other honorary appellations. Among them are ''Dersaadet'' ({{lang|ar|در سعادت}} 'Gate of Felicity'), ''Derâliye'' ({{lang|ar|در عاليه}}) or ''Bâb-ı Âlî'' {{lang|ar|باب عالی}} 'The Sublime [[Porte]]', or ''Pâyitaht'' ({{lang|ar|پایتخت}}, 'The Seat of the Throne'), ''Asitane'' ('The Doorstep' of the Sultan/Government). The 'Gate of Felicity' and the 'Sublime Porte' were literally places within the Ottoman Sultans' [[Topkapı Palace]], and were used [[metonymy|metonymically]] to refer to the authorities located there, and hence for the Ottoman government as a whole. This usage is mirrored in the use of ''Sublime Porte'' or simple ''The Porte'' in Western diplomacy before the 20th century. {{further|[[Porte]]}} ==Historical names in other languages== Many peoples neighboring on the Byzantine Empire used names expressing concepts like "The Great City", "City of the Emperors", "Capital of the Romans" or similar. ===Old Norse=== {{mergefrom|Miklagard|Talk:Miklagard#Merger proposal|date=June 2008}} In [[Old Norse]] the city was called [[Miklagard]]. From 700-1000 AD [[Viking]]s would frequent the city, and thus, it needed a name in the northern regions of Europe. ===Slavic=== [[Slavic languages|East and South Slavic]] languages referred to the city as [[Tsarigrad]] or ''Carigrad,'' 'City of the Caesar (Emperor)', from the Slavonic words ''[[tsar]]'' ('[[Caesar (title)|Caesar]]') and ''grad'' ('city'). [[Cyrillic]]:Цариград. This was presumably a [[calque]] on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις ''(Basileos Polis),'' 'the city of the emperor [king]'. The term is still occasionally used in [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], whereas it has become archaic in [[Russian language|Russian]] and [[Serbian language|Serbian]]. In [[Slovenian language|Slovenian]] it is regulary used in form ''Carigrad'' to denote specially the historical city from its foundation to the end of Eastern Roman Empire, but it is a living alternative name also for the modern city. In [[Czech language]] ([[West Slavic]]) this Slavic name is used in the form ''Cařihrad'' (used in 19th century, now only occasionally). It was also borrowed from the Slavic languages into [[Romanian language|Romanian]] in the form ''Ţarigrad''. {{further|[[Tsargrad]]}} ===Germanic=== The medieval [[Vikings]], who had contacts with the Byzantine empire through their expansion through eastern Europe ([[Varangians]]) used the [[Old Norse]] name '''Miklagarðr''' (from ''mikill'' 'big' and ''garðr'' 'city'). This name lives on in the modern [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] name ''Mikligarður'' and [[Faroese language|Faroese]] ''Miklagarður''. ===Persian and Arabic=== Besides ''Kustantiniyyah'', [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and other languages of the Islamic world used names based on the title ''Cesar'' ('Emperor'), as in Persian ''Kayser-i Zemin'',<ref name="IA"/> or on the ethnic name ''Rum'' ('Romans'), as in Arabic ''Rūmiyyat al-kubra'' ('Great City of the Romans') or Persian ''Taxt-e Rum'' ('Throne of the Romans').<ref name="EI" /> ===Hebrew=== In Hebrew, the city was sometimes referred to as "Kushtandina" קושתנדינה or shortened to "Kushta" קושתא, an alteration of Kostantiniyye. ==Modern languages== Most modern Western languages have adopted the name ''Istanbul'' for the modern city during the 20th century, following the current usage in the Turkish Republic. However, many languages also preserve other, traditional names. Greeks continue to call the city Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολη ''Konstantinupoli'' in Modern Greek) or simply "The City" (η Πόλη ''i Poli''). Languages that use forms based on ''Stamboul'' include [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], [[Albanian language|Albanian]], and [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]]. The [[Spanish language|Spanish]] form is ''Estambul''. [[Armenian language|Armenian]] uses ''Bolis'', based on the Greek ''Poli(s)'' 'City'. [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] preserves the old Norse name ''Miklagarður''. {{further|[[Names_of_European_cities_in_different_languages:_I-L#I|List of names in European languages]]}} ==See also== *''[[Istanbul (Not Constantinople)]]'' ==Bibliography== * Demetrius John Georgacas, "The Names of Constantinople", ''Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association'' '''78''':347-367 (1947) [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0065-9711%281947%2978%3C347%3ATNOC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-1 at JSTOR] ==Notes== <div class="references-small"> <references /> </div> [[Category:Istanbul]] [[Category:Russian words and phrases]] [[Category:Byzantine Empire]] [[Category:Cities of the Ottoman Empire]] [[Category:Placename etymologies]] [[bg:Истанбул (имена)]] [[tr:İstanbul (şehir)#Etimoloji]]