After the Mysians (1,500-1,200 B.C.), the Hittites, Phrygians, Lydians, Persians, Hellenes, Romans, and Byzantines all enjoyed successive periods of rule over the region. In the twelfth century A.D., the armies of the Second Crusade under Louis VII, and the Third Crusade under Friedrich I, crossed Mysia. The Latin state established after the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204) included the northwestern portion of Mysia in its domain.

Turkic peoples entered Asia Minor in large numbers after the defeat of the Byzantine army in 1071 at Manzikert in Eastern Anatolia. By the middle of the twelfth century, numerous ghazi emirates had been established across Asia Minor. Each was ruled by a Turkish dynasty and contained a party of ghazis, “warriors of the faith,” who earned their status by fighting against non-Muslims. These Muslim emirates also fought with each other.

In 1155 the Seljuk emirate attained supremacy over the others, only to be devastated by invading Mongols in 1243. In about 1300, Kara Isa (Dark Isa), the head of a ghazi contingent, founded his Karasi emirate in the ancient land of Mysia. He established his capital, Balikesir, on the site of ancient Hadrianoutherai, one of the many products of the Roman Emperor Hadrian’s mania for building. The settlement was situated astride the great Roman and Byzantine land routes to Miletopolis (today’s Karacabey) and Constantinople.

Market day in the village is traditionally a time to swap tales, trade one’s wares and produce, and wear the finest clothing.

The emirate became a magnet for many peoples seeking either a refuge from the Mongols or an opportunity to fight the Byzantines for booty and glory. The emirate boasted quick-striding equestrian forces and a navy, made up of both Greeks and Turks, that plundered Byzantine towns along the Dardanelles. Eventually, the Karasi forces allied with those of the neighboring Ottoman emirate to conquer Byzantium and expand into the Balkans.

The settlement of Susurluk, which was part of the Karasi emirate, was probably established in the sixteenth century to serve as a brief resting place for traders and travelers on the ancient Roman and Byzantine route from Balikesir to Constantinople. In 1566-1567 A.D. a mosque and a han (caravansary) were built there to accommodate travelers.