History of Osmancık

Osmancık October 2010

Osmancık is a district located in the north of Çorum, within the Kızılırmak (Red River) Valley, sitting on the historic road route that connects the Black Sea and Eastern Anatolia regions to the west. It lies 56 km from the provincial center, at the junction of the Çorum-Kargı and Samsun-İstanbul roads. This junction position has given the district strategic importance in terms of trade and transportation for centuries.

History

Osmancık is one of the oldest settlements in Çorum. It came under Turkish rule in 1075. After this date, when Şerafettin Osman Gazi, bey of the Sorgun clan from the Alayunt branch of the Oghuz Turks, was appointed governor of the region, he gave his clan’s name to the area, and the city, formerly named Eflanos, also came to be known as Sorgun. Şerafettin Osman Gazi settled in Osmancık and from there governed the region of İskilip, Hacıhamza and Çorum. The settlement’s name “Osmancık” is also held to date back to this period and to Osman Gazi.

After the collapse of the Danishmendids in 1177, Osmancık passed into the administration of the Anatolian Seljuk State. During the process of the Turkification and Islamization of Anatolia, it was a common practice for such frontier regions to be settled through beys and clans; Osmancık is a typical example of this process.

The district changed hands administratively many times during the Ottoman period: in 1423 it was attached to Amasya, in 1596 to the Sanjak of Çorum, in 1864 again to Amasya, and in 1924 it became a district of the Province of Çorum.

Historic Buildings

Situated on the historic Silk Road during the Ottoman period, Osmancık was one of the important lodging and transit points of the era. Among the sights worth seeing in the district are the Koyunbaba Bridge and Tomb, Osmancık Castle, the Koca Mehmet Paşa Mosque (İmaret Mosque) and the Baltacı Mehmet Paşa Fountain. The long Koyun Baba Bridge over the Kızılırmak and Osmancık Castle (Kandıber Castle), built atop a rocky hill, are historic monuments that have become symbols of the district. The İmaret Mosque and the Büyük Cami (Grand Mosque), which bear the traces of Ottoman architecture, are also among the district’s important places of worship. The Kapılıkaya Monumental Rock Tomb near the district, on the other hand, bears witness to the region’s ancient heritage.

In addition, the Başpınar and Karaca Plateaus are natural beauties highly suited to plateau tourism.

Geography

The district’s elevation is 430 m, its area is 1,187 km², and its distance to Çorum is 59 km. The terrain is dominated by metamorphic and volcanic masses. Sedimentary masses are also found. Beds of gypsum, limestone and rock salt, among the most important masses of the Tertiary period, are found, along with rich lignite beds whose carbon content rises to as much as 5%. The villages of Yaylabaşı and Kumbaba are rich in lignite, and private enterprises continue lignite production activities. However, because of its geological structure Osmancık lies on the “North Anatolian Fault Line” and is therefore situated in a first-degree earthquake zone.

The district’s most important valley is the Kızılırmak Valley. Along this very fertile valley, hills and mountains of various sizes extend parallel to the Kızılırmak. The most important of these mountains are the Çal and Ada mountains. The highest peak of the Çal Mountains, “Büyük Çal,” is 1,750 meters, and the highest peak of the Adadağ range, Dedeçal, is 1,770 meters. The highest of the mountains surrounding Osmancık is İnegöl mountain at 1,864 m.

Since it lies in a transitional climate between Central Anatolia and the Black Sea, it has a temperate climate. In general, summers are hot and dry, while winters are mild and rainy. Spring and autumn are long. Rainfall is generally seen in spring. The annual average rainfall is 368.1 mm.

Osmancık has a quite rich network of streams and rivers. The largest watercourse of this network is the Kızılırmak. The length of this river within the district’s boundaries is 80 km. Because of the soil structure both before and after it enters Osmancık, its color is reddish, in places a dirty yellow. The other watercourses that join the Kızılırmak are the Kavşak Stream, the İncesu Creek, and the Karalar and Yukarızeytin creeks. The vegetation consists of pine, oak and juniper forests in the mountainous areas, and steppe in the areas outside these.

Administrative Structure and Population

According to the 2000 General Population Census, the district’s population was 28,423 in the district center and 25,335 in the towns and villages, for a total of 53,758. The district has one township (Başpınar Township) and 54 villages.

Economic and Social Situation

The district remained a small Anatolian town until the construction of the E-80 highway connecting İstanbul to Samsun and Trabzon. With the completion of the road in 1991, trade revived and the population grew.

In Osmancık, the main development is seen in the industrial sector. In five roof-tile and seven brick factories located on either side of the Çorum road junction, 1,500 workers are employed, producing 35,000,000,000 roof tiles and 140,000,000,000 bricks per year. The textile factory with a capacity of 650 workers, which went into operation in 2001, exports ready-to-wear garments to the United States and European countries.

The agricultural area is 27,812 hectares. Rice (paddy) production is the most important source of income; the district is known throughout the country for its rice farming. The rice harvest, which was 7,000 tons in 1998, was raised to 19,200 tons in 2002. Besides rice, the other important crops grown are wheat, sugar beet and poppy. The district has 17,320 head of cattle and 20,000 head of small livestock. Two milk and dairy products factories and six rice factories are in operation.

In the district center the drinking water supply is insufficient, and 14 villages need new drinking water sources. The existing sewerage in the center is inadequate. The roads of 24 villages are asphalt and those of 30 villages are stabilized. The total length of asphalt village roads is 90 km. Twelve villages have sewerage.

Education, Culture and Health

In the district center and villages there are one general high school, one Anatolian High School, one Vocational and Technical Training Center, one imam-hatip high school, one health vocational high school, 54 primary schools and one regional boarding primary school (YİBO). In these schools a total of 8,318 students are educated: 6,690 in primary education, 1,539 in secondary education, and 89 in kindergartens and preschools. Two of the seven kindergartens are in the villages of Akören and Öbektaş.

In the district center there is an indoor sports hall for 450 people and a football field with a covered grandstand for 300 people. The district has a 100-bed State Hospital and a 25-bed SSK Hospital; there are two health centers in the district center, and one each in Başpınar Township and the villages of Akören, Ardıç, Kamil and Karalargüney.

Related Places

For the histories of Çorum’s other districts, you can visit the History of İskilip and History of Kargı pages.

ℹ️ This article has been enriched with additional historical context and editing over the original archive content.