Abstract
One can reach to Çukurova through Kadirli and Kozan via Andırın when one moves to the west and to Elbistan, Göksun and Kayseri through the west road of the Ahır Mountain and to Gaziantep through Antakya and Dülük via Karasu valley when one moves to the south and to Malatya by following Aksu Creek from Maraş which situates in the north coast of a fertile plain where the water of Aksu Creek pours on which comes from Northeast and takes a turn to north-west. Thanks to these characteristics, this city is a beaten track for caravans which come from such directions.
Exciting the attention of the powers that want to dominate the region, Maraş and its surrounding region has been invaded by many states throughout the history. Having been captured by Khalid ibn al-Walid in 637/638 for the first time by the Muslims, Maraş was dominated by the Arabs for long years. Having been exposed to the aggression of Byzantine and passed into other hands from time to time, the city was captured by the Byzantine Empire in 962 by Nikephoros Phokas. Having been held by the Byzantine Empire during the raids to the Anatolia, Maraş and its surrounding region was settled by the Armenian Philaretos Brachamios after the battle of Manzikert.
We would like to assess the activities of Philaretos, which established a Maraş-centered principality and position of Armenians in the Seljuks-Crusader relations in this paper.
