The Turkish era

After the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the Byzantine Empire was in civil chaos throughout Anatolia. The Seljuks took Tralles and it was integrated into the Sultanate of Rüm. Manuel I Comnenus retook the city for Byzantium in the later half of the twelfth century. It remained Byzantine until it was finally taken by the Turks in 1282.
18th century Cihanoğlu Mosque in baroque style in Aydın
18th century Cihanoğlu Mosque in baroque style in Aydın

The Beylik of Aydınoğlu was founded in the region in 1307 and ruled the lands north of Büyük Menderes River up to and including İzmir. The principality was taken over by the rising Ottoman Empire, for the first time shortly before the Battle of Ankara between the Ottomans and Tamerlane in 1402, and then finally in 1425, Tamerlane having given back the province to the sons of Aydın in the interval.

Aydın was the principal administrative center for the Vilayet (province in the Ottoman administrative system) till 1850, covering the areas corresponding to Turkey's current Aydın and Muğla provinces, as well as the southern portion of the İzmir Province. Inside that Vilayet, the Sandjak ('district' in the Ottoman administrative system) of Aydın used to correspond more or less to today's Aydın Province. In 1850 the provincial seat moved to İzmir, which had started to outgrow Aydın city in size as it became a booming port of international trade, although the province's name remained "the Vilayet of Aydın" until the foundation of the Republic of Turkey.

In the 19th century Aydın continued to benefit from its location at the center of the fertile Menderes valley, and its population grew.[2] At that time, besides figs and olive oil, which were the traditional crops of the region, cotton also grew in importance, with many European investors seeking alternative sources of cotton at the time of the American Civil War. The first railroad in the Ottoman Empire was thus built by the British Levant Company connecting Aydın to Smyrna (now İzmir), the 130 km (81 mi) line was opened on 23 September 1856.[3] The railway station that they built remains an impressive structure in the city of Aydın.