Eskil

Eskil, historically written Eskiil, gave its name to a broad district of central Anatolia between Aksaray and Konya. After the Ottoman conquest in the late fifteenth century, this country formed a kaza of Karaman province. Eskil town served as its centre until the third quarter of the sixteenth century. Under Selim II, the name Eskiil passed to the district centred on Karapınar, while the country around present-day Eskil continued as Esbkeşan.

The latter name was associated with the Atçeken Türkmen, known for raising horses and camels. Eighteenth-century petitions reveal the pressures on their villages. In September 1738, the local judge reported raids and thefts of belongings and livestock. A February 1749 petition complained of brigands around Sultanhanı and asked that pass guards stationed there return to their villages. Livestock, road security and access to the Ottoman courts thus appear together in the district's surviving history.