The toponym "Kumanovo" can be associated with the Turkic people called Cumans. Present day Kumanovo lies probably on the remains of the ancient Aquae, shown as a pictogram on the Tabula Peutingeriana. The medieval written sources do not provide evidence for Kumanovo. This is probably due to the fact that Žegligovo and Nagoričino were the centers of the region in the Middle Ages. The first appearance of Kumanovo in the sources is in the Defter for the Sanjak Köstendil. Kumanovo is registered in the Defter from 1519 and from the years 1570 to 1572. Therein, it is described as a village. The Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi visited Kumanovo in the year 1660 and refers to it as "kasaba" ("small town"). The British physician Edward Brown passed through "Comonova" in 1668/69.