History of Ankara Phrygia, after an earthquake which severely damaged that city in antiquity. In Phrygian tradition, King Midas was venerated as the founder of Ancyra, but Pausanias mentions that the city was actually far older, in line with the present-day knowledge that we have on its history. There is the possibility that at the time Midas came the city was essentially unpopulated. In the same way by modern standards it could be argued that Ankara did not exist before Atatürk moved the capital of Turkey to the city, since its population before the capital came was almost non-existent in comparison to what
Sanjak of Ankara Sanjak of Ankara The Sanjak of Ankara was a second-level province ("sanjak") of the Ottoman Empire. The town of Ankara became part of the Ottoman state in 1361 or perhaps in 1354. It was the first capital ("pasha sanjak") of the Anatolia Eyalet from its formation in the late 14th century until the late 15th century, when it was moved to Kütahya. The "sanjak" of Ankara remained part of Anatolia Eyalet until the latter's dissolution ca. 1841–46, when it became the seat of the new Ankara Eyalet. This was merged into the Bozok Eyalet in 1849, but Ankara remained the