The earliest known site at this location was Cius, which
Philip V of
Macedonia granted to the Bithynian
king Prusias I in 202 BC, for his
help against Pergamum and Heraclea Pontica (modern Karadeniz EreÄŸli). Prusias renamed
the city for himself, Prusa.
It was later a major city, located on the westernmost end of the
famous Silk Road, and was the
capital of the Ottoman
Empire following its capture from the Byzantines in 1326 until the capture of
Edirne in 1365 and remained an important administrative and
commercial center even after it
lost its
status as the capital. The Algerian resistance fighter Emir Abd el-Kader resided here for a while (1852 to 1855), as well as
Ayatollah Khomeini in his first year of exile (1963) before leaving for Nejef in Iraq and later for
Paris, and Ismail Hakkı Bursevi a famous Islamic scholar and Sufi is buried here.