History of Gümüşhane

During the Roman and Byzantine periods, the city established in the region was called Argyropolis (Greek argyros: “silver” and polis: “city”). The main reasons for the wars in the region were that it was located on a historical trade route and was famous for its mines.

In the late 7th and early 8th centuries, the region changed hands several times between the Umayyad-Byzantine and Abbasid-Byzantine.

During the time of Caliph Hz. Ömer (634-644), when Erzincan and Erzurum fell into Arab hands, Gümüşhane also recognized this sovereignty. However, this sovereignty did not last long until Byzantine sovereignty was re-established in the region. During the time of Caliph Hz. Osman (644~656), Gümüşhane, Bayburt, Erzurum and Erzincan were taken back from the Byzantines by Emir Habib Bin Mesleme. During the time of Caliph Hz. Ali (656-661), Byzantine sovereignty resumed in the region due to the struggles with Muawiyah and internal rebellions.

During the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Abdul Malik (685-705), the region came under Umayyad rule again. However, during the reign of Caliph Velid (705-715), when the Khazars were successful in the conflicts between the Arabs and the Khazars, the region fell into the hands of the Byzantines, who took advantage of this situation.

Byzantine-Arab conflicts continued during the Abbasid period. There is not much information about the Gümüşhane region during this period. However, since it is known that Bayburt remained under Byzantine rule, we can say that Gümüşhane also remained under Byzantine rule.

It is known that Çağrı Bey came to Gümüşhane during his first raid to Anatolia in 1016. In 1058, while Tuğrul Bey's army was raiding as far as Trabzon under the command of İbrahim Yinal, he conquered Gümüşhane because it was economically important.

Before the Turkmen raids, the Khazars, Pechenegs and Çepni Turkish tribes settled in the region. The Chepni are one of the 24 Oghuz tribes and played an important role in the conquest and Turkification of Anatolia.

In the second half of the 13th century, when the Seljuks were crushed by the Mongol invasion, the defense of Gümüşhane and its surroundings fell to the Chepni Turks. The Greek chronicler (historian) Pataretos states that the Chepni arrived in Tirebolu in the 14th century, and they came from Gümüşhane. Many soup kitchens were established after the conquest of Anatolia. Gümüşhane and Kelkit were connected to the Erzincan soup kitchen established by Emir Mengücek Gazi. In 1164, Kılıçarslan II connected the Mengücek lands to the Anatolian Seljuk State. Since trade was given great importance in the Anatolian Seljuk State, Gümüşhane and its surroundings, which were on a historical trade route, also maintained their importance. In the Battle of Kösedağ in 1243, the Ilkhanids defeated the Seljuks and captured these places.

When Anatolia came under the influence of the Mongols, the Trabzon Greek Empire started to pay taxes to the Mongols. As a result of the Mongol influence breaking down and the Turkmens' activities to establish a principality, and during the reign of John II (1280-1297), the Turkmens invaded the Halibya (Haldiya) regions famous for its mines, and the Genoese and Venetians also established economic influence over the Empire.

After the death of the last ruler of the Ilkhanate, Ebu Said, Bayburt, Erzurum, Erzincan and Gümüşhane fell into the hands of the Celayirids in 1335. The region, which came under the rule of the Eretnaids in 1345 and the Karakoyunlu in 1430, was dominated by the Akkoyunlu in 1467.

When Fatih Sultan Mehmet (1451-1481) marched on Trabzon, the borders of the Greek Empire of Trebizond were from Giresun to Batum and the southern borders were surrounded by the mountain range passing north of Bayburt and Gümüşhane. Due to the adverse actions of the Ottomans, the Greek Empire of Trebizond entered into cooperation with the Akkoyunlu ruler Uzun Hasan.

When Fatih Sultan Mehmet ended the Greek Empire of Trebizond in 1461, Ottoman influence began to be seen in the region.

After the conquest of the Greek Empire of Trebizond, Gümüşhane came under Ottoman rule and this rule lasted from 1461 to 1467. After this date, Gümüşhane came under the rule of the Akkoyunlu. This rule ended with the Otlukbeli War between Fatih and Uzun Hasan in 1473. In the north of Gümüşhane province, "Kharşit" is mentioned in the first Ottoman documents as "the Orthodox-Apkazlı (Abaza) "Torul Principality" affiliated with the Akkoyunlular in the middle and upper parts of the Khas-Rudu stream, in the Torul and Canıca (the old name of Gümüşhane) region, was conquered by an army column sent by Fatih from Amasya in 1474 (or 1478).

When Yavuz was the governor of Trabzon in 1508, he made an expedition from Trabzon to Bayburt due to the Shiite uprisings that started in Anatolia. Those who revolted and caused chaos in favor of the Safavids in this region were the Chepni Turks. In the 16th century, some of them lived among the Aleppo Turkmens, a significant group among the Ulu Yörüks in the Sivas, Tokat and Amasya regions, and a very large group of this tribe lived in Trabzon, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, Giresun and Canik (Ordu and Samsun) lived in the region. Here, the Chepni in the service of the Safavids were from this community and region.

After this chaotic situation, the peace in the region ended only with the Battle of Chaldiran between Shah Ismail and Yavuz Sultan Selim (1512-1520). The region was completely incorporated into the "Anatolian Turkish Union". (August 1514) Yavuz left Bıyıklı Mehmet Pasha as the governor here. During the Iranian campaign, Kanuni Sultan Süleyman (1520-1566) ordered the development of the Old Gümüşhane region where the silver mine was located, and thus houses and the Süleymaniye Mosque were built here.

Evliya Çelebi, who visited Gümüşhane in 1647, reported that there were many silver mines here, and that there were about 70 working and emptied mines. He also wrote that lead-free silver ore was extracted from these mines from 7 branches and that there was a mint in the Emin District of this city and that he had a few coins with the words "Azze nasrahu daraba fi catha" (Minted in Canca) written on them.

It is said that every child born in Gümüşhane had a silver spoon, fork and plate. The city's geographical location, its location on the historical Silk Road and its mines played an important role in the city's population increasing day by day.

Katip Çelebi says in his Cihannüma that "Urla is a beautiful district, they call it Gümüşhane because there is silver nearby."

The mines experienced their most active period during the reign of Murad IV (1623-1640). The mines, which were closed for a while, were reopened with a imperial edict issued in 1839. The mines were managed by people called Matah Efendi, who were appointed with the appointment of the provincial governor and the approval of the sultan.

Gümüşhane was a district connected to Trabzon in the 19th century. Gümüşhane District, located in the inner parts of the Eastern Black Sea Region, was surrounded by the Trabzon central district to the north, Erzurum Province to the east and south, and Sivas Province to the west. The Gümüşhane region, which had a comfortable life until the 19th century, fell into unrest due to wars, and migration began due to the inadequate operation of the mines. Thus, the city began to be devastated and the population began to decrease. The Ottoman-Russian War of 1829 and 1877-1878 and the occupations of Eastern Anatolia and the Eastern Black Sea by the Russians on July 7, 1916 and the migrations that resulted from these invasions left no life in Gümüşhane.

After taking Bayburt on July 16, 1916, the Russians continued on their way and entered Gümüşhane on July 19 (20), 1916. When the Turkish troops could not resist much, the Russians entered Torul on the same day. Thus, the road to Trabzon was opened to the Russians.

The Russian army, which marched on Kelkit on July 22, 1916, captured the place towards evening.

While Gümüşhane and its surroundings were being crushed under these occupations and especially under Armenian oppression, the Russians signed the Erzincan Armistice on December 18, 1917 due to the outbreak of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and internal turmoil and agreed to withdraw their army. However, the Armenians continued their massacres. Thereupon, the armistice was deemed invalid and the war was started again, and thus Torul was liberated from Russian occupation on February 14, Gümüşhane on February 15 and Kelkit on February 17, 1918.

Gümüşhane, which had geographical importance as a transition area between the coast and the interior during the years of the National Struggle, was within the scope of the Trabzon Protection of National Rights Society during this period. Kadirbeyzade Zeki Bey, the Gümüşhane delegate, was appointed as the vice president of this society.

Kadirbeyzade Zeki Bey from Gümüşhane (as the Gümüşhane and Torul representative) attended the Erzurum Congress held on July 23, 1919. Müftü Osman Nuri Efendi from Kelkit and Müftü Hasan Fahri (Polat) Efendi from Şiran performed the opening and closing prayers of the Erzurum Congress. For this reason, Mustafa Kemal thanked him with a memorandum he wrote on August 9, 1335 (1919).

Gümüşhane Sanjak, which was connected to Erzurum Province in the early days of Ottoman rule and later connected to Trabzon, became a province in 1925 with the law titled "Vilayet" in article 89 of law numbered 491 on April 20, 1924.

In the Trabzon yearbook dated 1925-1926, it is stated that "Gumushane Province consists of five districts, five sub-districts, including Bayburt, Kelkit, Torul and Siran, including the central district, and 377 villages, and that there is no hospital in the city where 101,153 people live in 16,943 houses; that the commercial situation of the province is quite good since it is located on the Trabzon-Bayburt-Erzurum highway and on the Iran transit route; that since the products of the province, which is actually an agricultural country, do not meet the local needs in some parts, some of the people earn their living by labor, fruit growing and muleteering."

Ahmet Durmuş (Evren-dilek) Bey was appointed as the governor when Gumushane became a province. The first Mayor of the Republic period was Osman Bey (Ataç) and served between 1922-1934. During the presidency of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, importance was given to the construction of roads and bridges in Gümüşhane and efforts were made to develop agriculture. During the presidency of İsmet İnönü, since World War II broke out, water was brought to the city center of Gümüşhane in 1948, where almost no investment was made at first, and the electricity network was established the following year. Economic development began to be seen from 1950 onwards, but later migration to other provinces and even European countries began. With Bayburt becoming a province in 1989 and the creation of new districts, there was a change in administrative division. Köse became a district in 1988, and Kürtün became a district in 1990.