History of the Town
Before Turk Authority:
Tarakli was known in the antiquity period with the names 'Dablais, Doris, Deblis and Dablai'. [53]
It was a part of an ancient region called as Bithynia. It was a kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Black Sea. It is occupied by mountains and forests, but has valleys and coastal districts of great fertility.[54]
Accordingly, Bithynia appears to have attracted so much attention that many wars had been made between civilizations to capture these fertile lands.
In Ottoman Period:
In Byzantine Time, it was a small castle town under the City of Bursa. During Osman Bey's reign, his fellow soldier Samsa Çavu_ raided Sorkun, Yenice Tarakçõ (Tarakli) and Göynük. During these raids Tarakli Castle was so damaged.( 1289-1293)
In 1333, Famous Arab Itinerant Ibn Batuta came to this region and he called Tarakli as Yenice. [54]
During Egypt and Syria wartime, Yavuz Sultan Selim's army was deployed in Tarakli by the reason of its strategic position and being a part of Silk Road. In 1517, a mosque was constructed by Yunus Pa_a and it was called with his name.
The most exhaustive information about Tarakli was given by Evliya Çelebi. In his travel book, he described Sakarya Valley as 'the Ocean of Trees' and mentioned that Tarakli's castle was damaged but the town had 500 dwellings with full of gardens. He talked about that in the bazaar, the Mosque was so beautiful and it also preserves a Turkish bath, 5 hans, 6 schools and 200 stores. He also mentioned that all store owners were labored in making combs and spoons, so that the town was called as Tarakli.
In Republican Time:
In Ottoman time, Tarakli was a district, but in Early Republican time (1926- 1954) it became a subdistrict and in 1954, city hall was instituted. In Ottoman time, Silk Road from _stanbul-Üsküdar to Bagdat was passing through Gebze-_zmit then Sakarya-Geyve-Tarakli and Göynük. Similarly, in Republican time, the main road from Istanbul to Ankara was on the way of Sapanca-Geyve-Tarakli-Göynük-Beypazarõ. Accordingly,
the trade was so active till 1950. In the town center, main support of the local people was sericulture and in the villages it was poppy cultivation. In 1950-1965, Tarakli was an important trade center that all products of villagers were gathered by merchants and marketed to Istanbul. After changing the route of Ankara-Istanbul main road to Bolu Da_õ, the town economy had a big recession.
The town was under the authority of Geyve district but in 27.06.1986, by the Law numbered as 3392, Tarakli has been made into a district with the constitution of Tarakli County Seat.
Chronological Order of Tarakli History
| Antiquity Period | Roman Period | Byzantine Period | Ottoman Period | Early Republican time |
| Deblis and Dablai' | part of Bithynia | small castle town under | Ibn Batuta called Tarakli as Yenice(1333) | an important trade center in 1950-1965 |
| 'Dablais, Doris, | the City of Bursa | Yunus Pa_a Mosque was constructed (1517) | a subdistrict in 1954 | |
| Evliya Çelebi mentioned in his travel book that the town had 500 dwellings with full of gardens (1600s) | After changing Ankara-Istanbul main road to Bolu Da_õ, the town economy had a big recession a district in 1986 |