title: Darende
text: Darende ( ) is a municipality and district of Malatya Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,482 km2, and its population is 24,588 (2022). It lies  to the northwest of Malatya,  south of Sivas,  east of Kayseri.
  
  History
  
  Darende had been known by various names including Taranda/Daranda, and Derindere. It has been presumed that the district had been inhabited since 7000-5000 BC due to the estimations made for the nearby archaeological sites such as Arslantepe and Cafer Höyük.
  
  The first known administrative unit in Darende was reportedly established by Hittites. One of the Hittites remains within the district is a pair of lion statues residing around Arslantaş region, the west of Darende. In chronological order, the governance to date was controlled by Hittites, Mitanni, Assyrians, Achaemenids, Romans, Byzantines, Umayyads, Abbasids, Seljuks, Danishmends, Rum Seljuks, Ilkhanates, Eretnids, Dulkadirids, Mamluks and Ottomans.
  
  Due to the configuration of the natural canyons surrounding the district (e.g. Tohma Canyon), the district has been reported to be one of the hops residing on trade, migration and military routes connecting various neighbouring regions; as an example, Šuppiluliuma I, who expanded Hittites across the Mediterranean and the Mesopotamia against Egyptian Empire, had been using the district to access the south, and Basil I had been carried out his expeditions against Muslims over the district.
  
  During the Roman reign of 200 AD, Darende was one of the Roman settlements which was deduced from the records that the Roman Emperor Trajan had transformed the neighbouring encampment of Melitene into a municipium against the Parthian Empire during the same period. One of the Roman sites within the district is the Ozan Monument which is a single-chamber mausoleum dating back either 200 AD or 50 AD, presumably a popular monument style in Anatolia during the Hellenistic Period.
  
  Early Muslim conquests reached the region during Caliph Omar's reign and the district was conquered by Habib ibn Maslama for a short period of time, and it was reconquered by the same commander during Mu'awiya I's reign around 653–654. Between 7th and 12th centuries, the administration of the district had changed hands rather frequently; however, Darende seems not to be noted until, for the first time, Taranta had been registered as a bishop under the metropolitan bishop of Melitene in the 13th Notitiae Episcopatuum (12th century).
  
  Composition
  There are 67 neighbourhoods in Darende District:
  
   Ağılbaşı
   Ağılyazı
   Akbaba
   Akçatoprak
   Akova
   Aşağıulupınar
   Ayvalı
   Balaban
   Barındır
   Başkaya
   Baytarbağı
   Beybağı
   Çaybaşı
   Çınar
   Çukurkaya
   Gaziköy
   Gökçeören
   Gökyar
   Göllüce
   Güdül
   Günerli
   Günpınar
   Hacı Derviş
   Hacılar Şeyhli
   Hacılar Sıragoz
   Hacolar
   Heyiketeği
   Hisarcık
   Hisarkale
   İbrahimpaşa
   Ilıca
   Irmaklı
   Kaldırım
   Karabacak
   Karabayır
   Karaoğuz
   Kavak
   Kaynak
   Kerimli
   Kılıçbağı
   Kölükler
   Kurudere
   Kuzpınar
   Medişeyh
   Mehmetpaşa
   Mollauşağı
   Nadir
   Nurkuyusu
   Ozan
   Palanga
   Sakarya
   Sandıkkaya
   Sayfiye
   Şendere
   Şuğul
   Sungur
   Üçpınar
   Uzunhasan
   Yarımca
   Yavuzlar
   Yazıköy
   Yenice
   Yeniköy
   Yenipınar
   Yeşiltaş
   Yukarıulupınar
   Zaviye
  
  Demographics
  Evliya Çelebi claimed that the town's population was wholly made up of Armenians and Turkomans at the time of his travels.
  
  Culture
  
  Folk music
  
  A metadata analysis on Turkish folk music in Darende has reported twelve ballads of the district:
  
  Language of Hazeyince
  
  Within the circles of craftsman and little artisan of Darende, a cryptolect (mini secret language) called Hazeyince/Hazeynce had been emerged and being used to date.
  The vocabulary of the cant fetched words from various languages such as Arabic, Persian and Russian, and merged into the Turkish grammar in order to exclude people outside of the circle during communications when necessary.
  
  Festivals
  
  One of the traditional-summer festivals being held in Darende is the Zengibar Karakucak Wrestling Festival, which is a Oguz-Turkic folk wrestling style.
  
  Notable people
  Somuncu Baba (1331–1412), Ascetic Islamic preacher
  Darendeli Cebecizade Mehmed Pasha (1714-1784), Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
  Darendeli Topal Izzet Mehmed Pasha (1723-1784) Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
  Topal Izzet Mehmed Pasha (1792–1855), Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
  Erman Ilıcak (* 1967), Businessperson
  
  References
  
  Populated places in Malatya Province
  Districts of Malatya Province
  Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey