MALATYA
City, east-central Turkey. It lies in a fertile plain watered by the Tohma River
(a tributary of the Euphrates) and is surrounded by high ranges of the eastern
Taurus Mountains. The modern town was founded in 1838 near the sites of two
earlier settlements: the ancient Hittite city of Milid, on the site of the
present-day Arslantepe, 4 miles (6 km) north, and its successor, the Roman and
medieval city of Melitene, now called Eski (Old) Malatya (6
miles [10 km] northeast).An important garrison town and road junction of the eastern frontier of the
Roman Empire,
Melitene was granted city status by Emperor Trajan (reigned AD
98-117) and later served as the capital of Armenia Minor. It was occupied
successively by the Persian Sasanids, the Arabs, and the
Armenians, and it came under the Seljuq Turks in the 12th century. The Seljuq
Ulu Cami ("Great Mosque"), built on an earlier Arab foundation, and
the han (caravansary) both date from the 13th century. In 1515 the city
was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Selim I.
Now a busy industrial centre producing chiefly textiles, sugar, and cement, Malatya
is also the regional market for agricultural goods including fruits,
vegetables, cotton, tobacco, rice, and sugar beets. The locality also has
deposits of chrome, lead, and copper. Malatya is a rail and road junction
in which the line between Aleppo (in Syria) and Samsun (on the Black Sea) meets
the line east to Elâzig and Diyarbakir. Inönü University
was founded at Malatya in 1975. Pop. (1991) 281,776.
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