History of Adana

History Adana, founded on the the Seyhan delta and by the Ceyhan rivers, dates back to 6000 BC. The area has had a long string of rulers, starting with the Luvi Kingdom from 1900 BC (a branch of the Hittites), through a succession of Hittites, Phrygians, Assyrians, Persians, Seluicuds and Byzantines. There was an on-off struggle between the Greeks and Persians, which lasted 1000 years, and ended once the Romans came in the 1st century BC. The city first became an important trade centre under the Romans. Following the age of Islam, which began in 638 AD, there were then the Egyptian Mamelukes, the Ramazanogullari (Turks), and the Ottomans who captured the city in the 16th century.