Konya became one of Anatolia's most prosperous cities when it became the capital of the Seljuks from the 11th to 12th centuries.
Important buildings were erected with elements borrowed from Persian and Byzantine architecture. Also, in the 12th century, the Afghan Rumi established his School of Turning Dervishes in the city. Culture, religion and trade established Konya's name and fame over the centuries. Nevertheless, the Dervishes lost their power when, after World War I, Atatürk wished to limit the influence of religion. He reduced the annual festival in Konya to a symbolic, not to say tourist, event.

Konya was always a very active market for all the carpets knotted in the surrounding and neighbouring towns (including Ladik). Antique Konya carpets and kilims have their place in most textile museums and even fragments testify to the mastery of the knotters.
The drawings are colourful and so diverse that there is more than one 'typical' motif for the region.