The Kızılırmak (,

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

for "Red River"), once known as the Halys River ( grc, Ἅλυς) and Alis River ( hy, Ալիս), is the longest river flowing entirely within Turkey. It is a source of hydroelectric power and is not used for navigation.

Geography

The Kızılırmak flows for a total of , rising in Eastern Anatolia around , flowing first to the west and southwest until , then forming a wide arch, the "Halys bend", flowing first to the west, then to the northwest, passing to the northeast of Lake Tuz (''Tuz Gölü'' in Turkish), then to the north and northeast, where it is joined by its major tributary, the Delice River (once known in Greek as the Cappadox river) at . After zigzagging to the northwest to the confluence with the Devrez River at , and back to the northeast, it joins the Gökırmak (''Blue River'' in Turkish) before finally flowing via a wide delta into the Black Sea east of Samsun at . There are dams on the river at Boyabat, Altınkaya and Derbent.

History

The Hittites called the river the Maraššantiya, and it formed the western boundary of

Hatti Hatti may refer to *Hatti (; Assyrian ) in Bronze Age Anatolia: **the area of Hattusa, roughly delimited by the Halys bend **the Hattians of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC **the Hittites of ''ca'' 1400–1200 BC **the areas to the west of the Euphrat ...

, the core land of the Hittite empire. Until the Roman conquest of Anatolia the Halys River (later renamed the ''Kızılırmak'' by the Turkish conquerors) served as a natural political boundary in central Asia Minor, first between the kingdom of

Lydia Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the mod ...

and the

Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

, and later between the

Pontic Kingdom Pontus ( grc-gre, Πόντος ) was a Hellenistic kingdom centered in the historical region of Pontus and ruled by the Mithridatic dynasty (of Persian origin), which possibly may have been directly related to Darius the Great of the Achaemenid ...

and the Kingdom of Cappadocia. As the site of the Battle of Halys, or the Battle of the Eclipse, on May 28, 585 BC, the river formed the border between

to the west and Media to the east until

Croesus Croesus ( ; Lydian: ; Phrygian: ; grc, Κροισος, Kroisos; Latin: ; reigned: c. 585 – c. 546 BC) was the king of Lydia, who reigned from 585 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 547 or 546 BC. Croesus was ...

of Lydia crossed it to attack

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...

in 547 BC. He was defeated and Persia expanded to the Aegean Sea. In the 1st century AD Vespasian combined several provinces, including Cappadocia, to create one large province with its eastern boundary marked by the

Euphrates River The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

. This province once again splintered during Trajans reign - the newly created province of Cappadocia, bounded by the Euphrates to the East, included Pontus and Lesser Armenia. The Halys River became an interior river and never regained its significance as a political border. In the 130s a governor of Cappadocia wrote: "long ago the Halys River was the boundary between the kingdom of

and the Persian Empire; now it flows under Roman dominion."

Agriculture

The river's water is used to grow rice and in a few areas water buffalo are kept.

In popular culture

The historical fiction manga '' Red River'' is named after and largely set in the Kızılırmak basin, during the age of the Hittites.

References

External links

Livius.org: Halys
- Photos
sdu.dk/halys
* List of rivers of Turkey {{DEFAULTSORT:Kizilirmak River Rivers of Turkey Halys River Ramsar sites in Turkey Landforms of Samsun Province Landforms of Çorum Province Landforms of Çankırı Province Landforms of Aksaray Province Landforms of Ankara Province Landforms of Kırıkkale Province Landforms of Kırşehir Province Landforms of Nevşehir Province Landforms of Kayseri Province Landforms of Sivas Province