Mehala has long been an independent commune, whose name comes from the Turkish language, "mahale" meaning "slum" or "suburb". This name was given to it during the Turkish occupation of Banat, between 1552 and 1716. Travelers coming from the west often stopped here, after the gates of the fortress closed, being forced to spend the night at the inns or in the stables in the area. Here was the summer residence of the Ottoman pashas, known as the "Wells of the Pashas" (), where the ahidnâme was signed in 1716; the Turks had previously been defeated in the fortress of Timișoara by the Habsburg troops led by Eugene of Savoy. The residence is said to have been connected to the fortress by underground passages. The Wells of the Pashas were later renamed "Präsidentengarten" and were used by local leaders as a place of relaxation until 1849 when Timișoara was besieged by revolutionaries and the residence was completely destroyed. In the many decades of Turkish rule even slight offenses were severely punished. This could be the reason why the few people who settled here chose to live as far away from the fortress as possible.