The town owes its name toKaraman Bey, who was one of the rulers of theKaramanid dynasty. The former nameLaranda which in turn comes from theLuwian languageLarawanda, literally means "sandy, a sandy place".[3]
In ancient times, Karaman was known as Lānda inHittite and Laranda[4] (Greek:τὰ Λάρανδα). Little is known about the early history of Laranda. The city is first mentioned by name in ancient sources through the writings ofDiodorus Siculus. According to him, afterPerdiccas andKing Philip defeatedAriarathes I of Cappadocia, they departed from Cappadocia and set out to punish the cities of Laranda and Isauria. This was in retaliation, because these cities killedBalacrus, a general appointed byAlexander the Great as satrap of the region. As a result, Laranda was destroyed.[5] It later became a seat ofIsaurian pirates. At one point, it was under the control ofAntipater of Derbe, until he was killed byAmyntas of Galatia, who then took over the territories previously ruled by Antipater.[6]It belonged to theRoman and laterByzantine Empires until it was captured by theSeljuks in the early 12th century. Karaman was occupied byFrederick Barbarossa in 1190[4] and by theArmenian Kingdom of Cilicia between 1211 and 1216. In 1256, the town was taken by Karaman Bey and was renamed Karaman in his honour. From 1275, Karaman was the capital of theKaramanidbeylik.
In 1468 the Karamanids were conquered by the Ottomans and in 1483 the capital of the province was moved toKonya. Karaman has retained ruins of a Karamanid castle and some walls, twomosques and aKoran school (madrasah) from that age. Amihrab from a mosque from Karaman can now be found in theÇinili Pavilion near theArcheology Museum inIstanbul.The Karamanslis were Cappadocian Turkomans who fought the Ottomans. Later they integrated into the empire.
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