Ottoman-Safavid War (1623–1639)
The Safavid Empire and the loss of territory around Mesopotamia.
| date | 1623 to 1639 |
|---|---|
| place | Mesopotamia ( Iraq ) |
| output | Victory of the Ottoman Empire |
| consequences | Permanent partition of the Caucasus, recognition of Ottoman control of Iraq |
| Peace treaty | Treaty of Qasr-e Shirin |
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The Ottoman-Safavid War from 1623 to 1639 was the last in a series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Safavid Empire over domination over Mesopotamia . After initial Persian successes, with the occupation of Baghdad in 1624 and further parts of what is now Iraq , the fronts solidified as the Persians were unable to penetrate any further into Ottoman territory. The Ottomans themselves were distracted by wars in Europe and weakened by internal uprisings. Eventually the Ottomans were able to regain Baghdad. The two warring parties signed the Qasr-e Shirin Peace Treaty , which ended the war in favor of the Ottoman Empire and assured it control over Mesopotamia, which it would only lose after the First World War .
background
From 1514, the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid Empire were embroiled in an almost continuous war for a century that revolved around the rule of the Caucasus and Mesopotamia. The two empires were the most powerful in the Middle East . This rivalry was particularly deepened by the denominational differences between the two empires. The Ottomans were Sunni , while the Safavid Kizilbash - Shiites were and were seen by the Ottomans as heretics.
After the Battle of Chaldiran ended Safavid influence in Anatolia during the 1532-1555 war, the Ottomans occupied Arab Iraq by conquering Baghdad in 1534. They were able to secure their profits with the peace treaty of Amasya in 1555. The peace lasted two decades before another war broke out in 1578. This was ended by the Treaty of Constantinople in 1590 with a clear victory for the Ottomans. They occupied Georgia , Yerevan and even the former Safavid capital Tabriz . The Safavids were also heavily oppressed by attacks by the Uzbek Scheibanids in the Persian Khorasan , which the Ottomans also used.
The new Persian Shah, Abbas I , reorganized his army by adding to the new Ghulam infantry to keep up with the Ottoman Janissaries . With the start of the attack in 1603, he was able to regain Tabriz, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The Ottomans were distracted by the wars with Habsburg in Europe and were therefore unable to offer effective resistance. Driven by this success and by internal turmoil in the Ottoman Empire, which resulted in the assassination of Sultan Osman II , Abbas was determined to win back Iraq.
Course of war
The Shah's chances were increased by a series of uprisings in the Ottoman Empire, such as that of the governor of Erzurum named Abaza Mehmed Pasha. Baghdad itself had been in the hands of the officer of the janissaries, Subaşı (captain of the city troops) Bakr and his followers since 1621 . Bakr tried to get recognition from the high gate as Pasha , but the Sultan instructed Hafız Ahmed Pasha , the governor of Diyarbakır , to take action against Bakr. Bakr turned to Abbas I, who sent troops to help him. In order to prevent a Persian occupation of Baghdad, Hafiz Ahmed Pasha immediately reestablished the relationship with Bakr and thus ensured his loyalty. The Persian troops besieged Baghdad and took it on January 14, 1624 with the help of Bakr's son Muhammad. The fall of the city was followed by a massacre of large parts of the Sunni population, because the Shah tried to make Baghdad a purely Shiite city.
The fall of Baghdad was a great blow to the Ottoman reputation. Ottoman garrisons and local natives began defending themselves to the Persians. The Persians soon began to take large parts of Iraq, including a. Cities like Kirkuk and Mosul and the Shiite holy shrines of Najaf and Karbala , which the Shah personally visited. In 1625 Hafiz Ahmed Pasha, meanwhile risen to Grand Vizier , marched towards Baghdad. Although the Shah followed the scorched earth tactic , the Ottoman army reached Baghdad and besieged it from three sides in November. The Ottoman attacks on the city penetrated the outer fortifications but failed to capture the city before the arrival of Shah Abbas's relief army. The Ottomans then withdrew to their base. In response, Abbas decided to cut the Ottomans' supply lines. This strategy paid off, so that the Ottomans were forced to risk an attack on the Persians, which, however, was associated with great losses. On July 4, 1626, the Ottoman army withdrew to Mosul.
In 1629, the Ottomans made peace with the Habsburgs under the new Grand Vizier Khüsrev Pascha and gathered their forces for a new offensive. A harsh winter with many floods made an invasion of Iraq impossible, so Khusrev Pasha directed his army to the east against the Persian core empire. On May 4, 1630, he involved the Persians in a battle near Kermanshah and sacked Hamadan . From there, Khusrev Pasha turned to Baghdad and besieged the city in November. However, he soon had to give up the siege as another harsh winter threatened his communication channels. Following his withdrawal, the Persians regained control of Iraq and suppressed the rebellious Kurdish population. Several skirmishes followed for a time without any significant change in the situation. Shah Safi I sent a peace delegation to the Ottoman court, but the Grand Vizier, Tabanivassi Mehmed Pasha, rejected the offer. In 1633 a revolt broke out in the Caucasus when King Teimuraz I of Kartli and Kakheti challenged Safavid supremacy. Teimuraz I was quickly defeated, but was able to Imereti to safety. In 1638 he was able to regain the throne of Kakheti with Persian approval.
In order to match his ancestors, Sultan Murad IV took over the leadership of the Ottoman army himself in 1635. He took Yerevan on August 8th and sacked Tabriz. The victorious sultan returned to Constantinople triumphantly, but his victories were short-lived: in the autumn of the next year, Shah Safi retook Yerevan and defeated the Ottoman army. A peace proposal by the Persians to the Ottomans was rejected. Murad IV stood before Baghdad at the end of 1638 and was able to regain control of the city after a 39-day siege in December. Peace negotiations ran a short time later.
Effects
The Treaty of Qasr-e Shirin, signed on May 17, 1639, cleared the Ottoman-Persian border for centuries to come. Yerevan remained with the Persian Empire and Iraq remained Ottoman. Mesopotamia, which had traditionally been one of the most important areas of the Persian Empire since the Achaemenid Empire, was irrevocably lost. The peace created a balance between the powers of the region. Apart from later minor conflicts and changes, the established border is still the same today between Iran , Iraq and Turkey .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Finkel (2006), pp. 104-105
- ↑ Finkel (2006), pp. 125, 135
- ^ Holt, Lambton & Lewis (1978), p. 338
- ↑ a b Faroqhi (2006), p. 47
- ↑ a b c Holt, Lambton & Lewis (1978), p. 339
- ↑ Finkel (2006), pp. 203-205
- ↑ a b c d e Cooper (1979), p. 631
- ↑ Finkel (2006), p. 205
- ↑ a b c Savory (2007), p. 89
- ↑ Savory (2007), p. 90
- ↑ Roemer (1989), p. 283
- ↑ a b c d Roemer (1989), p. 284
- ^ Cooper (1979), pp. 631f.
- ↑ Roemer (1989), p. 286
- ↑ Finkel (2006), pp. 215f.
- ↑ a b c d Roemer (1989), p. 285
- ↑ a b Finkel (2006), p. 217
- ^ Cooper (1979), p. 634
literature
- JP Cooper: The New Cambridge Modern History, Volume IV: The Decline of Spain and the Thirty Years War, 1609-48 / 59 . CUP Archives, 1979, ISBN 0521297134 .
- Suraiya Faroqhi: The Cambridge History of Turkey: The Later Ottoman Empire, 1603-1839 . Cambridge University Press, 2006, ISBN 9780521620956 .
- Caroline Finkel: Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923 . John Murray, London 2006, ISBN 978-0-7195-6112-2 .
- Holt, PM, Lambton, Ann KS; Lewis, Bernard: The Central Islamic Lands from Pre-Islamic Times to the First World War . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1978, ISBN 0521291356 .
- Andrew J. Newman: Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire . IBTauris, 2006, ISBN 9781860646676 .
- HR Roemer: The Safavid Period . In: The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1986, ISBN 0521200946 , pp. 189-350.
- Roger Savory: Iran Under the Safavids . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2007, ISBN 9780521042512 , pp. 189-350.