Osmaniye

Osmaniye is a city in the Cukurova region of Turkey, the capital of Osmaniye Province. Area 3,767 km². Population of Osmaniye city: 219,339. Osmaniye Province: 512,804. Osmaniye is at an elevation of 125 meters.Located on the eastern edge of the Cukurova plain in the foothills of the Nur Mountains, the gateway between Anatolia and the Middle East, Osmaniye is on the Silk Road, a place of strategic importance and has been a settlement for various civilizations including the Hittites, Persians, Romans and Armenians.

The Islamic presence in the area was first established by the Abbasid Caliph Harun Rashid, auxiliaries in his army being the first Turks to fight in Anatolia. They obviously took a shine to the place and following the Turkish victory over the Byzantines at Malazgirt in 1071 waves of Turkish conquest began. The Nur Mountains were settled by the Ulasli tribe of the Turkmens.

The Ulasli remained the local power through into the period of the Ottoman Empire and were even involved in the Celali uprisings, during a period of uncertain Ottoman rule in the 17th century. Eventually, in 1865 the Ottoman general Dervis Paşa was charged with bringing law and order to Cukurova. He established his headquarters in the Osmaniye villages of Dereobasi, Fakıusagı, Akyar and brought the Ulasli down from the high mountains to the village of Haciosmanli. This eventually became the province of Osmaniye. The city of Osmaniye was formally a district governorate and between 1924 and 1933 capital of the province. However, in 1933 the province was abolished and Osmaniye was made the district governorate of Adana province which continued till 1996.