 Formerly a Roman defensive station guarding the important roads to the Bosphorus, Ihtiman was then called "Stipon".It continued to play this role under the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Empire, which however shifted its main defensive centre in the region to the Gate of Trajan hill pass.Following the Ottoman domination in the 14th century, the town's name was changed to "Ihtiman", which is thought to be of Ottoman Turkish origin.