when did Constantinople become Istanbul??

[monty]

this is a question that cause much discussion in my home??  my wife is turkish, and gets annoyed with me when i tell her some ottoman  coins  are listed as the  "Constantinople" mint. she says Constantinople changed to Istanbul in 1453. all ottoman coins should be listed as Istanbul !! does anyone know the cut off date of Constantinople??

[Loukianos]

The name "Istanbul" (sometimes written "Stamboul" by the French) was given to Constantinople when the Ottomans took the town in 1453. But this name comes from the Greek. Local Greek people used to call their capital city "Polis" ("city" in Greek), as the Roman did, calling Rome "Urbs". When they said "in the Town", it sounded "stin bolin" in Greek (with the pronunciation of the time). Hence the name "Stambul", which was first given to the ancient part of the town, then to the whole city. The conquerors adapted this name to their own pronunciation and called the city "Istanbul".

[Robert_Brenchley]

That's one theory, that 'EIS THN POLIN' (it actually means 'into the city') became Istanbul. There are others, but I can't remember the details.

[LordBest]

Of course, the Ottoman formal name for Constantinople was Konstantiye or something similar, and it remained this way for many centuries. Calling Constantinople Istanbulon a permanent basis only occured early last century I believe, as until then both Turkish officials and the Western worldreferred to it as Constantinople. Like calling New York the big orange or whatever.
                                     LordBest.

[jdefalco]

is anyone else a fan of "They Might Be Giants"? They had a song in the early '90s...

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul (Istanbul)
Istanbul (Istanbul)

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul

[TKE96]

I sing that song regularly!  I saw them in concert and that song was rockin!  I even sing it to my students when talking about Constantinople/Istanbul!

[Loukianos]

I'd like to know the other theories about the origin of the name "Istanbul". If you remind them, please let me know.

[monty]

my wife having read the various theories phoned her grand mother in istanbul to ask if she knew (a smallside to this, she told my wife she was a direct decendent of one of the turkish army that stormed the city in 1453, and some of the land she owns was a reward given to the family at that time, but she only has documents back to the 1760s) she said that FATIH SULTAN MEHMET named the city  "ISLAM BOL" when it fell and that istanbul is simply the modern varient on this, according to her it has been this since then.

[monty]

HI, THE ISLAM PART IS AS READ, THE BOL, WELL THERE IS NO DIRECT TRANSLATION, THE CLOSEST WORD IS "LOTS"  SO MAKING THE NAME  "LOTS ISLAM" AS TO HOW IT BECAME ISTANBUL I DONT KNOW.  IF YOU HAVE EVER BEEN TO ISTANBUL HOWEVER, YOU WILL KNOW NOTHING EVER STAYS THE SAME  I GO EVERY FEW MONTHS, THE PEOPLE AND STREETS IN THE SUBURBS SEAM DIFFERENT ALL THE TIME.  ISTANBUL NOW AS ALWAYS IS THE GREAT MELTING POT OF CULTURES.  (THERE IS EVEN A POLISH COLONY IN THE CITY ) SO UNFORTUNATLEY IT WOULD APPEAR THE ANSWER TO MY QUESTION VARIES ON WHO YOU ASK

[John Giancarlo]

Hi,

I guess I will jump in on this one.  Currenly living in Athens, any Greek will tell you that the name comes from åéò ôçí ðïëç, as noted in previous mails, meaning "to the city/in the city" basically like New Yorkers refer to NYC as "the City" this Greek expression seems to have the same meaning in context.  To this day most Greeks I work with will not call the city Istanbul and most documetns, including the Arrivals/Departures board at the Int'l Airport still list it as "Konstantinopoli".  As the city was historically the centre of Greek Medieval culture and the home of the Orthodox Patriarchate, they seem reluctant to accept the name change...even after so many centuries.  Sore losers to say the least!

The Islam-bol, or place of the most Islam, or possibly "Islam's premier place" is also another often used "lexographical dissection" of the name Istanbul.  There is some sense that given the place of Istanbul as the seat of the Ottoman Empire, who were the cartakers of the holly sites in Mecca and Medina, that the city would have been referred to by this name by her Muslim inhabitants, as well as other Muslims living within the Ottoman realms.

The city offically took on the name Istanbul after the formation of the Turkish Republic under Ataturk in the early 1920's.  This is the only time I know of that the city offically took the name.  I think that as Istanbul was probably the most cosomopolitan city of the Middle Ages and arguably up to the end of the Ottoman period, both names would be on an equal footing given the mult - ethnic composition from 1453 through to the end of the First World War.

[Douglas]

Very interesting discussion! While I can't bring anything to the table regarding the history of Istanbul, I can say that the song performed by They Might Be Giants was actually Penned in 1953 by Kennedy and Simon.  I remember when that first came out and my roommate had the CD, and I asked "What a great song, wonder how they came up with the idea".  My roommate answered "They covered it". A mighty fine job too!

[Istinpolin]

Ok guys have it from a Turk himself.

As you can see my handle here is Istinpolin.

Well, the city Constantinople was conquered by the Byzantine Empire. In 1453 when the Turks captured it the name remained. The Turks had been calling the city Istinpolin (western way of writing it) before even they had conquered it. The city's name derrived from Eis thn Polis (in the city) from the Ancient Greek. The Arabic version is Istinpolin which is a corruption of this phrase. While the Ottomans occupied this 4 names applied. One is Istinpolin, the other one is Istanbul, one more is Islambol and the last one is Questantaniyye. The difference between Istinpolin and Istanbul is that Istinpolin is the Arabic corruption of "In the city" and Istanbul is the Turkish. Qustantaniyye is what is written on the coins. Which is a corruption of Constantinopolis. Actually it says Qstantniyyah on the coins. There are so many different ways to write it in the western style. Since westerners translate it phonetically there are versions such as Kostantina, Kustantaniye, etc. The list is long.  But for a short period of time Islambul was written on the coins. Islambol means "full of Islam". Some Sultans used it until it was abolished, but we can see how popular Islambol out of the 4 was. Then it was changed to Qustantaniyye again. When the Ottoman Empire fell and the Turkish Republic was (since it was the capital of Islam with the Sultan being the Caliph at the same time, Ataturk renamed it because the Republic was to be secular and free from religious rule) ntroduced in 1923, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk renamed the city to Istanbul to free it from its past  and moved the capital to Ankara. Well if Istinpolin means in the city and Islambol means full of Islam then Istanbul means full of city or full city. Which is logical, because it was the biggest city in the Empire and everyone would move there like people had been moving to the USA from all over. So the city was pact. Today there are 20 million people living there unofficially.

So, sorry to say but your wife was right. The city was "also" called Istanbul back then. However the official name was Qustantaniyye and it said Qustantaniyye and Islambul on the coins. A lot to see there. Those who will return.

For those who have never been there, you are totally missing out here. One of the most beautiful and eccentric cities in the world and also the ugliest. It has been the capital of 3 Empires.

Best wishes,
Burak

[monty]

thankyou Burak, my wife is always pleased to be proved right!!

i will be visiting family in june in Istanbul, and look forward to seeing many new sights. i have been many times, but always find something different, both ancient and modern.

cheers,  geta1

[Istinpolin]

Hi

write to me off the list if you wanna be looking for coins in the museum.
shagrath_63150@yahoo.com

Burak

[Pep]

We mustn't forget the original recording by The Four Lads in 1953, same year it was written as eekacat points outs   Hmm, I just realized that 1953 is exactly 500 years after the fall of Constantinople.

Kevin 

[Simon]

I was going through old threads, this one deserves to be re-shared. Excellent info.

[n.igma]

Entertaining and informative. A rare combination!

[vercingetorix]

When colonists from Megara founded Byzantion in the seventh century BC they had no idea what legacy they were establishing!

[JBF]

"ista"- as in "this" (my latin is poor) in other words, _the_ city.