Zara

Zara lies east of Sivas in the upper Kızılırmak valley, surrounded by wooded mountains and high pasture. Fertile land follows the river and its tributaries through the hills. Under the Seljuks the district was held as an income grant in return for military service. Ottoman records associate the area with the Koçgiri tribal communities, some of whom settled around Zara and the neighbouring uplands during the sixteenth century.