History of Craiova

known a thriving life. The settlement is mentioned in the Tabula Peutingeriana - a map of the Roman Empire, made at the request of the Roman emperor Caracalla. The year 225 (when this map was finished during Severus Alexander) is considered the first documentation mentioned of the oldest settlement from the nowadays city area.

Its ancient bans, the highest ranking boyars of the Wallachian state, initially those of the Craioveşti family. The bans had the right of minting coins stamped with their own effigies – the origin of the Romanian word ban as used for coins.

The economical power of the Craiovesti family at the end of the XVI century was about 100 villages (182 financial goods). This power gave them a statute of political autonomy so big, that the hospodars ruling at that time weren't able to keep in power without an alliance with this powerful dynasty. From the Craiovesti family there were chosen a lot of hospodars to rule the country: Neagoe Basarab, Radu de la Afumaţi, Radu Serban (1602–1611), Matei Basarab, Constantin Şerban, Şerban Cantacuzino, Constantin Brâncoveanu.

In 1395 Craiova was probably the scene of a victory won by the Wallachian Prince Mircea I of Wallachia over Bayezid I, Sultan of the Ottomans. Frequently referred to as "a city" after the first half of the 16th century, the Craiova area was always regarded as an important economic region of Wallachia and Romania at large. During the 1718–1739 Habsburg occupation of Oltenia, Craiova's status declined due to economic pressures and increased centralism, partly leading to an increase in hajduk actions, in parallel with protests of Craiovan boyars. In 1761, under Prince Constantine Mavrocordatos, the bans relocated to Bucharest, leaving behind kaymakams to represent them in Craiova.

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