Kırşehir has five thousand years of recorded past and a different name in each of them. The Hittites called it Akua Saravena, the city of water; under the Persians the region was Katpatukya, Cappadocia, the land of beautiful horses; Rome knew it as Makissos, Byzantium as Justinianopolis and the Anatolian Seljuks as Gülşehri.
Its revival it owes to the Seljuks. From the 11th century onwards the town carried real weight in learning and in the fine arts. After the battle of Kösedağ in 1243 the Mongols became masters of Anatolia, and Cacaoğlu Nureddin, appointed governor of Kırşehir in that period, followed a policy of peace towards them and left the town prosperous.
What grew there was one of the most important centres of Turkish culture. Âşık Paşa, a pioneer of the Turkish language; Cacabey, who founded the medrese of astronomy; Ahi Evran-ı Veli, who founded the Ahi guild organisation; Süleyman Türkmani, Ahmedî Gülşehri and Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli were all formed here, and Taptuk Emre and Yunus Emre lived in Kırşehir and its surroundings.
